These five guides offer an alternative perspective to conventional destinations. Have a look?
Beijing Walks: Exploring The Heritage by Don J Cohn
Beijing Walks details six walking tours of important historic sectors around the Chinese capital. The guide provides information on the Forbidden City, the former Legation Quarter, Beihai Park, the Temple of Heaven, the Confucius Temple and the Summer Palace. Within the book are 172 photographs and 15 maps that offer directional aid. Another useful feature is the hotel and restaurant information that lists establishments near the tour routes.
Target users: History buffs
Publisher: Odyssey Publications
Year of publication: 2008
Price: US$24.95
Don't Go There!: The Travel Detective's Essential Guide to the Must-Miss Places of the World by Peter Greenberg
Don't Go There! is a guide that should not be judged by its title. It offers a twist to the conventional guidebook by warning travellers against common tourist traps and wasting travel time on attractions worth giving a miss. Know where the most dangerous theme parks are, airlines that have the worst safety records and even stinkiest cities, among many others.
Having authored five travel books, Peter Greenberg is a veteran traveller who dishes tips injected with entertaining and insightful candour. The guide should be read with an open mind and opinions should be taken with a grain of salt.
Target users: Armchair travellers with a good sense of humour.
Publisher: Rodale Press
Year of publication: 2008
Price: US$17.95 at www.petergreenberg.com
Offbeat Guides
In fives steps, this website allows users to create their personalised travel guide. Aside from gaining control over the sections of your travel guide, the time zone information, weather forecasts, exchange rates and events are catered specifically to your dates of travel. Input the hotel you're put up in and walking maps will be centre around your accommodation.
500 Offbeat Guides are also available on the Amazon Kindle. The guides provide current event listings on concerts, festivals, clubs and meetings during the month of your trip, thus enabling users to updated guides even on-the-go.
Target users: No-frill travellers who want their travel guide to contain the necessities. It also makes the perfect present.
Publisher: Offbeat Guides
Price: The downloadable PDF guide is available at US$9.95. The printed version goes for US$24.95. Amazon Kindle versions can be purchased from US$5.99.
The Eco-Travel Guide by Alastair Fuad-Luke
Going green is the latest trend as we enter the next decade. Travel habits have also been influenced by the change. Having already established himself in the world of sustainable and eco-friendly design, Fuad-Luke introduces eco-friendly destinations and travel products for the environmentally-conscious traveller. The first section of the The Eco-Travel Guide educates readers about the negative impact of travel and explores the idea of eco-travel. Armed with a more environmentally-conscious state of mind, readers continue on to the list of 200 international spas, camps, resorts and villas.
Target users: Leisure travellers needing a quick one-stop guide to environmentally-friendly destinations and those starting out on the road to preserving our planet.
Publisher: Thames & Hudsons Publishers
Year of publication: 2008
Price: US$29.95. Orders can be placed here
Where To Go When by Joseph Rosendo (editor)
Timing is crucial in travel. In Where To Go When, 30 destinations are featured monthly, informing readers of the best places to visit during that certain time of year. Functioning as more of a coffee-table book than a pocket-friendly travel guide, the accompanying photography is a real visual treat. Learn about the do's and don'ts of a culture, how to get around, what it costs to eat and even the recommended period of stay for your vacation.
Target users: Those who seem to always vacation in the right place at the wrong time.
Publisher: DK Publishing
Year of publication: 2007
Price: US$40 via here. The e-book version is also available at the same price.
Jarrel Tan
