Lonely Planet Travel Literature

Explore the world's most thrilling waves with Epic Surf Breaks of the World. From Namibia's wind-swept Skeleton Bay to Java's G-Land, discover the best place to 'hang ten', whatever your surfing ability. Accompanied by a series of stunning photographs, maps and beautiful illustrations as well as first-person stories from surf writers all across the globe, including Pulitzer Prize winner William Finnegan, this is the quintessential guide for surfers looking for their next epic break. With 200...

Journey back in time with this collection of classic travel writing from great authors and adventurers. These extraordinary odysseys over land and sea captivated audiences and gave them a glimpse into countries, cities and cultures like never before. Tales include Robert Falcon Scott’s doomed Antarctic expedition of 1910-13; Robert Byron’s ten-month journey through Persia to Afghanistan in the early 30s; Jack London’s 1907 sailing adventure across the south Pacific; and Teddy Roosevelt’s...

Discover the freedom of open roads with Lonely Planet's France's Best Trips, your passport to up-to-date advice on uniquely encountering France by car. Featuring 38 amazing road trips, from 2-day escapes to 2-week adventures, you can get lost among the snowcapped Alps or taste your way around Champagne's hallowed vineyards, all with your trusted travel companion. Get to France, rent a car, and hit the road!Inside Lonely Planet's France's Best Trips:Lavish colour and gorgeous photography...

Life-changing food adventures around the world.From bat on the island of Fais to chicken on a Russian train to barbecue in the American heartland, from mutton in Mongolia to couscous in Morocco to tacos in Tijuana - on the road, food nourishes us not only physically, but intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually too. It can be a gift that enables a traveller to survive, a doorway into the heart of a tribe, or a thread that weaves an indelible tie; it can be awful or ambrosial - and...

A timely collection of 26 inspiring tales, The Kindness of Strangers explores the unexpected human connections that so often transfigure and transform the experience of travel, and celebrates the gift of kindness around the world. Featuring stories by Jan Morris, Tim Cahill, Simon Winchester and Dave Eggers. I greatly appreciate the theme of this book that gathers stories of kindness received when it was most needed and perhaps least expected. I am sure they will inspire everyone who reads...

Humorous tales of travel and misadventureLonely Planet knows that some of lifes funniest experiences happen on the road. Whether they take the form of unexpected detours, unintended adventures, unidentifiable dinners or unforgettable encounters, they can give birth to our most found travel lessons, and our most memorable and hilarious travel stories.This 31 globe girdling tales that run the gamut from close-encounter safaris to loss-of-face follies, hair-raising rides to culture-leaping...

From Lonely Planet, the worlds leading travel guide publisher, Better Than Fiction 2, the follow-up to 2012s Better Than Fiction, is a second serving of true travel stories told by some of the worlds best fiction writers including Dave Eggers, Jane Smiley and Karen Joy Fowler. Varied in place, plot and voice, these are stirring and evocative pieces that all share one common characteristicthey manifest a passion for the precious gift of travel, from its unexpected but inevitably enriching...

Stories of life-changing trips from 35 great writers including Dave Eggars, Cheryl Strayed, Tim Cahill, Mary Karr, Richard Ford, Fiona Kidman, Simon Winchester Sloane Crosley, Kerre McIvor, David Baldacci, Pico Iyer, John Berendt, Ann Patchett, Jane Smily, Alexander McCall Smith and Stanlet Stewart.A misunderstanding in Morocco. A Cuban con. A family reunion in Italy. An epiphany in the Czech Republic.Some of the worlds best-loved writers share the travel experiences that made them the people...

Lonely Planet knows that some of lifes funniest experiences happen on the road. Whether they take the form of unexpected detours, unintended adventures, unidentifiable dinners or unforgettable encounters, they can give birth to our most found travel lessons, and our most memorable and hilarious travel stories. This 31 globegirdling tales that run the gamut from close-encounter safaris to loss-of-face follies, hair-raising rides to culture-leaping brides, eccentric expats to mind-boggling...

Founders of the phenomenally successful publishing company Lonely Planet, Tony and Maureen Wheeler have produced travel guides to just about every country across the globe.Lonely Planet Publications was born in 1973 when the Wheelers self-published a quirky travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. This was quickly followed by what soon became the backpackers bible, South-East Asia on a Shoestring. Going boldly where no other travel publisher had ventured, they catered for a new generation of...

In an age of plastic knives on planes, Tony Wheeler can make the extraordinary claim of having visited all the rogue countries currently on new readers' lips. Badlands is a witty first-hand account of his travels through some of the most repressive and dangerous regimes in the world: Afghanistan, Albania, Burma (Myanmar), Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Saudi Arabia. Taking into account each country's attitude to human rights, terrorism and foreign policy, he asks 'what makes a...

Sean and his friend David explore Australia in a 1966 Ford. Over 8,500 death-defying miles, they check out the re-runs on TV, get fabulously drunk (again), listen to Neil Young (again) and wonder why they ever left home...

From Ecuador to London, from Morocco to Brazil, from California to Indonesia, bad things can strike a traveller anytime. Illness, imprisonment, mistaken identities, riots, close encounters with bears, foreign toilet ettiquette and stewed rat, it's all in this collection of travel disasters.

David Monagan is a restless, middle-aged father of three who for years has dreamed of relocating from the USA to Ireland, the land of his forebears. In his elegantly written, often hilarious narrative, Monagan describes his family's evolving struggle to come to terms with life in a strange land. The result is an honest, heartfelt and penetrating portrait of a contemporary Ireland that is so often portrayed through the wistful lens of clichs that no longer apply. Jaywalking with the Irish is a...