REVIEW: New Lonely Planet Yellowstone & Grand Teton travel guide

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet Yellowstone & Grand Teton travel guide

Click HERE to buy the Yellowstone & Grand Teton travel guide

With its raging geysers and howling wolf packs, Yellowstone stands as one last pocket of a wild, primeval America. 

Lonely Planet Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Spot wolves and grizzlies in Lamar Valley, watch geysers erupt in Old Faithful and Upper Geyser Basin, or get out on the water in a kayak or canoe at Jackson Lake.

Lonely Planet writer Carolyn McCarthy explains why she loves Yellowstone & Grand Teton. "I've seen a wolf pack claim a bounding pronghorn, watched grizzly shake off after his alpine swim, and logged long backcountry miles to see peaks lapping to the horizon. At a time when the natural world is facing serious pressure, the Greater Yellowstone region remains one of the last intact ecosystems of the northern hemisphere. This is the great American wilderness. See for yourself - it's nothing short of sublime. yellowstone and the Tetons are nature as it is meant to be: both powerful and restorative."

Yellowstone & Grand Teton Top 10

1. Wildlife-Spotting in the Lamar Valley

2. Old Faithful Upper Geyser Basin

3. Paddling the Teton's Alpine Lakes

4. Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

5. Backpackingthe Tetons

6. Museum of theRockies

7. Climbing the Grand Teton

8. Grand Prismatic Spring

9. Moose-Watching

10. Skiing Jackson Hole or Big Sky

Inside the Lonely Planet Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks Travel Guide:

- User-friendly highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests

- Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots

- Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices, emergency information, park seasonality, hiking trail junctions, viewpoints, landscapes, elevations, distances, difficulty levels, and durations

- Focused on the best - hikes, drives, and cycling tours

- Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, camping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, summer and winter activities, and hidden gems that most guidebooks miss

- Contextual insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, geology, wildlife, conservation

- Over 47 full-color trail and park maps and full-color images throughout

- Useful features - Travel with Children, Clothing and Equipment, and Day and Overnight Hikes

Coverage Includes: Yellowstone National Park area, Mammoth Country, Roosevelt Country, Canyon Country, Lake Country, Norris, Geyser Country, Bechler Region, Grand Teton National Park area, Jackson and more

Curator: Bradley Mayhew

Writers: Carolyn McCarthy, Christopher Pitts

Get to the heart of Yellowstone & Grand Teton with this trusted guide and begin your adventure now!

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

New Insight Guides trip: Portugal fast becoming culinary capital of Europe

Portugal’s food scene has finally stepped out of the shadow of Spain. The gastronomy scene in Portugal is booming, and Insight Guides has created a trip to help travellers experience the country’s culinary delights.

While neighbouring Spain often steals the limelight as a foodie destination, Portugal shouldn’t be overlooked. Michelin has recently awarded three restaurants in Portugal with their first star. The country now boasts twenty restaurants with one star, and six with two stars, demonstrating that exceptional cuisine is served in restaurants across the nation. To give travellers a taste of the country's gourmet cuisine, the national airline TAP Air Portugal has introduced a 'Taste the Star' programme, through which Michelin star chefs create exceptional local cuisine which is served to business class passengers.

Now is the time to visit, as Portugal's food scene steps out of the shadow of Spain, and before the best culinary destinations become tourist hotspots. The new customisable trip from Insight Guides has been planned by a local expert with insider’s knowledge of the finest foodie options in the country – from exquisite codfish tasting menus in Aveiro to typical Portuguese snacks, known as petiscos, in Alentejo.

Insight Guides provides a personalised trip planning service that utilises the expertise of local experts across the globe. The local experts live in their destinations and use this knowledge to create fully customisable cultural excursions to over 70 destinations. The latest trip visits Portugal, where travellers can experience the burgeoning food scene in the vibrant cities of Porto and Lisbon, and visit the rolling hills of the Douro Valley wine region and the UNESCO world heritage listed cultural landscape of Sintra.

As the trip is planned by local experts who know the country better than anyone else because they live there, all the details are taken care of – from reservations at the best restaurants to exclusive wine tastings. Travellers can expect:

● A premium vintage port tasting at a prestigious Porto winery

● A picnic and boat trip in the verdant Douro Valley wine region

● Culinary walking tours sampling gastronomic treats in Lisbon and Porto

● Guided tours of Sintra’s forested terrain and the coastal resort town of Estoril

● Optional lunch and dinner reservations at Michelin-starred restaurants

Vanessa, the Insight Guides local expert in Portugal, says,

"Nowadays, Portugal is one of the most amazing and dynamic showcases in terms of food in Southern Europe: a bunch of new restaurants open daily in any corner of this beautiful country. Markets such as La Ribeira in Lisbon or Bolhao in Porto are full of starving souls looking for the best bite. Don't miss out petiscos (appetizers) paired with a glass of vinho verde or its outstanding seafood if you are near the Atlantic sea. Be impressed in 2019 for this lovely land!"

What are Insight Guides Trips?

Travel guide publisher, Insight Guides, uses local experts based all over the world to create and book customisable cultural guided trips to top locations. The trips are designed to help travellers experience the best of a location whilst taking away the stress of planning what to do and how to get around; everything will be planned and booked by the local expert in close contact with the traveller. The traveller can customise the trip as much as they like and pays just one lump sum for everything.

About Insight Guides

Insight Guides is also a pioneer of full-colour guidebooks with almost 50 years' experience of publishing inspirational and visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. The Insight Guides list comprises over 650 full-colour print guidebooks, maps, as well as phrasebooks, eBooks and apps that meet different travellers' needs, from pre-trip planning using the inspirational guidebooks to easy on-the-road exploration using the free accompanying eBooks and apps.

Click here to visit the Insight Guides website.

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet Scotland’s Highlands and islands travel guide

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet Scotland’s Highlands and islands travel guide

Click HERE to buy the Scotland’s Highlands and islands travel guide

The wild landscapes of Scotland’s Highlands and islands offer the ultimate escape – one of the last corners of Europe where you can discover genuine solitude.

Lonely Planet’s Scotland’s Highlands & Islands is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Sip the water of life, whisky, in an ancient pub; walk the West Highland Way (or a little bit of it) for some of the country’s finest scenery; and join a ceiliah for an evening of Scottish dancing. All with your trusted travel companion.

Lonely Planet's writer Neil Wilson explains why he loves Scotland’s Highlands & Islands. "It's the weather. Yes, seriously. We get four proper seasons here (sometimes all of them in one day) and that means that you get to enjoy the same landscapes over and over again in a range of different garbs - August hills clad in purple heather, native woodlands gilded with autumn colours, snow-patched winter mountains, and Hebridean machair sprinkled with a confetti of spring wildflowers. And the unpredictability of the weather means that even the wettest day can be suddenly transformed by parting clouds and slanting shafts of golden light. Sheer magic."

Scotland’s Highlands and islands Top 10

1. Whisky

2. Waling the West Highland Way

3. Castles

4. Seafood

5. Cuillin Hills

6. Whale Watching

7. Picturesque Iona

8. Glen Coe

9. Callanish Standing Stones

10. The Road to the Isles

Inside Lonely Planet’s Scotland’s Highlands & Islands:

- Full colour maps and images throughout

- Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests

- Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots

- Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices

- Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sightseeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss

- Cultural insights provide a richer, more rewarding travel experience - covering history, people, music, religion, cuisine, politics

Coverage Includes: West Highland Way, Central Highlands, The Great Glen & Lochaber, Skye & The Western Isles, Northwest Highlands, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, and more

Curator: Neil Wilson

Writers: Andy Symington

Get to the heart of Scotland’s Highlands and islands with this trusted guide and begin your adventure now!

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet Grand Canyon National Park travel guide

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet Grand Canyon National Park travel guide

Click HERE to buy the Grand Canyon National Park travel guide

The Grand Canyon embodies the scale and splendor of the American West, captured in dramatic vistas, dusty trails, and stories of exploration, exploitation and preservation.

Lonely Planet’s Grand Canyon National Park is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Go rafting on the Colorado River, explore the Grand Canyon by bike or view it from above on a helicopter ride – all with your trusted travel companion.

Lonely Planet writer Jennifer Rasin Denniston explains why she loves the Grand Canyon. "I came to the Gran Canyon for the first time with my toddler and newborn in tow. Frazzled and exhausted, and always the skeptical traveler, I was prepared to be underwhelmed. But seconds after walking onto the veranda of the north rim lodge, I understood. My canyon isn't about the view alone, which I knew from postcards and books, photographs and oil paintings. Its power lies in the grounding silence and dusty quiet, the smells of ponderosa and desert, the clarity that comes from feeling so very small. we return year after year."

Grand Canyon Top 10

1. South Rim Overlooks

2. Hiking Rim to Rim

3. Havasu Canyon

4. Grand Canyon Lodge

5. Widforss Trail

6. Phantom Ranch

7. Hermit Trail

8. Kolb Studio

9. Rafting the Colorado River

10. Cape Royal Point

Inside Lonely Planet’s Grand Canyon National Park:

- Color maps and images throughout

- Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests

- Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots

- Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices

- Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sightseeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss

- Cultural insights provide a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, people, music, landscapes, wildlife, cuisine, politics

Coverage Includes: Grand Canyon, Kaibab National Forest, Valle, North Rim, South Rim, Havasupai Reservation, Hualapai Reservation, Flagstaff, Sedona, Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, Colorado River, and more

Curator: Loren Bell

Writers: Jennifer Rasin Denniston

Get to the heart of Grand Canyon National with this trusted guide and begin your adventure now!

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet Madrid travel guide

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet Madrid travel guide

Click HERE to buy the Madrid travel guide

No city on earth is more alive than Madrid, a beguiling place whose sheer energy carries a simple message: this city really knows how to live.

Lonely Planet’s Madrid is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. View the marvellous frescoes at Plaza Mayor, enjoy tapas in La Latina and take a stroll with the locals in the Parque del Buen Retiro – all with your trusted travel companion.

Lonely Planet writer Anthony Ham explains why he loves Madrid. "More than a decade after I fell for Madrid and decided to call it home, the life that courses relentlessly through the streets here still excites me. Here is a place where the passions of Europe's most passionate country are the fabric of daily life, a city with music in its soul and an unshakeable spring in its step. But Madrid is also one of the most open cities on earth and it doesn't matter where you're from for the oft-heard phrase to ring true: 'If you're in Madrid, you're from Madrid."

Madrid Top 10

1. Museo del Prado

2. Plaza Mayor

3. Tapas in La Latina

4. Parque del Buen Retiro

5. Centro de Arte Reina Sofia

6. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza

7. Palacio Real

8. Plaza de Santa Ana Night-time Huertas

9. Malasaña Chueca Nightlife

10. Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida

Inside Lonely Planet’s Madrid:

- Colour maps and images throughout

- Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests

- Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots

- Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices

- Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sightseeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss

- Cultural insights provide a richer, more rewarding travel experience - covering history, people, music, religion, cuisine, politics

Coverage Includes: Salamanca, Plaza Mayor, Royal Madrid, La Latina, Lavapiés, Malasaña, Chueca, Parque del Oeste, Sol, Santa Ana, Huertas, El Retiro, and more

Curator: Anthony Ham

Writers: Josephine Quintero

Get to the heart of Madrid with this trusted guide and begin your adventure now!

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet Germany travel guide

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet Germany travel guide

Click HERE to buy the Germany travel guide

Prepare for a roller-coaster ride of feasts, treats and temptations experiencing Germany’s soul-stirring scenery, spirit-lifting culture, big-city beauties, romantic palaces and half-timbered towns.

Lonely Planet’s Germany is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Explore the glamour and grit of Berlin, tour hilltop castles in the fairy tale Black Forest and sail along the romantic Rhine – all with your trusted travel companion.

Lonely Planet writer Kerry Christiani explains why she loves Germany. "My first trip to Germany some 20 years ago sparked a lifelong love affair. The snowbound spruce forests and castle-topped villages of Bavaria and the Black Forest were more ludicrously beautiful than my wildest childhood dreams. I was so smitten with the south of the country that I spent six years living in the depths of the black forest: hiking, cycling and berry picking in summer, mushrooming in the crisp days of autumn, and cross-country skiing in winters where the landscape was transformed into a Christmas card scene. Still today, when I return to the Schwarzwald, it's like coming home."

Germany TOP 10

1. Berlin

2. Munich

3. Schloss Neuschwanstein 

4. The Black Forest

5. The Romantic Rhine

6. Heidelberg

7. Bamberg

8. Trier

9. German Food & Drink

10. Potsdam

Inside Lonely Planet’s Germany:

- Colour maps and images throughout

- Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests

- Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots

- Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices

- Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sightseeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss

- Cultural insights provide a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, people, music, landscapes, wildlife, cuisine, politics

Coverage Includes: Berlin and around, Saxony, Munich and Bavaria, Stuttgart and the Black Forest, Frankfurt, Cologne, the Rhineland, Lower Saxony and Bremen, Hamburg and the North, Central Germany and more

Curator: Marc Di Duca

Writers: Kerry Christiani, Anthony Ham, Catherine Le Nevez, Ali Lemer, Hugh McNaughtan, Leonid Ragozin, Andrea Schulte-Peevers, Benedict Walker

Get to the heart of Germany with this trusted guide and begin your adventure now!

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet France travel guide

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet France travel guide

Click HERE to buy the France travel guide

France seduces travellers with its unfalteringly familiar culture, woven around cafe terraces, village square markets and lace-curtained bistros with their plat du jour (dish of the day) chalked on the board. Have amazing experiences with this most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Grab a café crème at a Parisian sidewalk cafe, take in glacial panoramas above Chamonix and explore the Champagne-soaked city of Reims – all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of France and begin your journey now!

Lonely Planet writer Nicola Williams explains why she loves France. "France has been home for two decades yet i still feel on holiday - which is a testament to how good the French art de vivre (art of living) is. from Haute-Savoie house on lake Geneva's southern shore, the Jura's dark-green hills and un cafe in the wisteria-draped village bar are my wake-up call. Weekends of endless possibilities punctuate the gentle rhythm of village life: art museums in Lyon and Paris, Alpine hiking and sking, paddle boarding on the glittering lake, road trips to Beaujolais and Burgundy and other regions so different they could be another country. France's sheer variety is amazing."

France's Top 10

1. Eiffel Tower

2. Mont St-Michel

3. Champagne 

4. Loire Valley Chateaux

5. Chamonix Action

6. Dune du Pilat

7. Nice's Three Corniches

8. Carcassonne at Dusk

9. D-D Beaches

10. Pont du Gard

Inside Lonely Planet’s France:

- Colour maps and images throughout

- Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests

- Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots

- Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices

- Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sightseeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss

- Cultural insights provide a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, people, music, landscapes, wildlife, cuisine, politics

Coverage Includes: Paris, Lille, Flanders, the Somme, Normandy, Brittany, Champagne, Alsace, Lorraine, the Loire Valley, Burgundy, Lyon, the French Alps, Basque Country, the Pyrenees, Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence, Corsica and more

Curator: Nicola Williams

Writers: Alexis Averbuck, Oliver Berry, Jean-Bernard Carillet, Kerry Christiani, Gregor Clark, Damian Harper, Anita Isalska, Catherine Le Nevez, Hugh McNaughtan, Christopher Pitts, Daniel Robinson, Regis St Louis, Greg Ward

Get to the heart of France with this trusted guide and begin your adventure now!

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet Berlin travel guide

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet Berlin travel guide

Click HERE to buy the Berlin travel guide

Berlin’s combo of glamour and grit is bound to mesmerise all those keen to explore its vibrant culture, cutting-edge architecture, fabulous food, intense parties and tangible history. Visit the iconic Berlin Wall, enjoy local street art and nightlife, and be dazzled by the Reichstag. 

Lonely Planet will get you to the heart of Berlin, with amazing travel experiences and the best planning advice.

Lonely Planet writer Andrea Schulte-Peevers explains why she loves Berlin. "Berlin is a bon vivant, passionately feasting on the smorgasbord of life, never taking things - or itself - too seriously. To me, this city is nothing short of addictive. It embraces me, inspires me, accepts me and makes me feel good about myself, the world and other people. I enjoy its iconic sights, its vast swathes of green, its green, its sky bars and chic restaurants, but I love its gritty sides more. There's nothing static about Berlin: it's unpredictable, unpretentious and irresistible And it loves you back - if you let it in."

Berlin's Top 10 

1. Brandenburger Tor

2. Reichstag

3. Museumsinsel

4. Nighlife

5. Berlin Wall

6. Street Art Alternative Living

7. Schloss Charlottenburg

8. Holocaust Memorial

9. Potsdamer Platz

10. Kulturforum

Inside Lonely Planet’s Berlin:

- Colour maps and images throughout

- Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests

- Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots

Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices

- Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sightseeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss

- Cultural insights provide a richer, more rewarding travel experience - covering history, people, music, religion, cuisine, politics

Coverage Includes: Historic Mitte, Museumsinsel, Alexanderplatz, Tiergarten, Scheunenviertel, Kreuzberg, Neukölln, Friedrichshain, Prenzlauer, City West, Charlottenburg, and more

Curator: Andrea Schulte-Peevers

Get to the heart of Berlin with this trusted guide and begin your adventure now!

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet New York & Mid-Atlantic's Best Trips

REVIEW: New Lonely Planet New York & Mid-Atlantic's Best Trips

Click HERE to buy the travel book & visit the Lonely Planet shop.

Lonely Planet have selected 27 amazing road trips through New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Washington, DC, Maryland and Delaware, and Virginia, from three day escapes to week-long adventures, and packed them full of expert advice and inspirational suggestions. You can journey through the wine regions or explore small roads in postcard-perfect Pennsylvania Dutch Country, all with this trusted travel companion.

Backcountry wilds are a short drive from iconic skylines. This region, the heart of the East Coast, stretches along hundreds of miles of Atlantic Ocean and inland to remote mountains. And to take in all its variety, the physical and cultural landscape behind those peculiar accents and the local delicacies, you need to get in your car and drive. These 27 road trips take you through Virginian

backwoods to Chinatown alleyways. Up the Hudson Valley and down the Skyline Drive. They traverse the Adirondacks and the Appalachians and visit Niagara Falls and Chesapeake Bay. Explore colonial-era America and follow the route of Civil War armies. Make a pilgrimage to architectural and artistic icons. Escape to the beach or to far-off hiking trails. And if you only have time for one trip, make it one of our eight Classic Trips, which take you to the very best of New York & the Mid Atlantic states.

Check out Lonely Planet's amazing favorite routes:

1. Hudson Valley (5 Days)

2. Finger Lakes Loop (3 days)

3. The Jersey Shore (3-7 Days)

4. Pennsylvania Dutch Country (3-4 Days)

5. Maritime Maryland (4 Days)

6. Skyline Drive (3 Days)

7. The Civil War Tour (3 Days)

8. Blue Ridge Parkway (3 Days)

Inside Lonely Planet’s New York & the Mid-Atlantic’s Best Trips:

- Lavish color and gorgeous photography throughout

- Itineraries and planning advice to pick the right tailored routes for your needs and interests

- Get around easily - 42 easy-to-read, full-color route maps, detailed directions

- Insider tips to get around like a local, avoid trouble spots and be safe on the road - local driving rules, parking, toll roads

- Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, prices

- Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss

- Useful features - including Stretch Your Legs, Detours, Link Your Trip

Coverage Includes: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and more

Curator: Simon Richmond

Writers: Amy C Balfour, Ray Bartlett, Gregor Clark, Michael Grosberg, Brian Kluepfel, Karla Zimmerman

Get to the heart of New York & Mid-Atlantic's Best Trips and begin your road trip now!

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

Review: NEW Lonely Planet Munich, Bavaria & the Black Forest travel guide

Review: NEW Lonely Planet Munich, Bavaria & the Black Forest travel guide

Click HERE to buy the travel book & visit the Lonely Planet shop.

Hilltop castles and green energy, beer halls and luxury cars, Alps and edgy art – southern Germany blends thighslapping tradition with clear-headed modernity like nowhere else on earth. Discover this fascinating country with your trusted and easy-to-use travel companion. 

Lonely Planet writer Marc Di Duca explains why he loves Southern Germany. "Is it the sap-scented hills and trails in forests Black and Bavarian, the Franconian beer and dark tourism of Nuremberg or the emotions stirred by the tragic Ludwig II story? Or is it a mildly envious admiration for southern Germany’s knack of producing cars that work, its galleries packed with modern art or the awe I feel for the German intellect as I face yet another devilishly complex Deutsche Bahn ticket machine (perhaps not)? I suppose it’s all the above and heaps more that has me returning time and again to this quirky yet level-headed corner of Europe."

Top Tips for Your Trip

 - Holidays such as Easter or Christmas aren’t good times to travel

to Germany. Things are often completely dead.

- Schedule some time away from southern Germany’s big cities to

sample life at a slower, more traditional pace.

- If you are not going to Oktoberfest, don’t even think about going

to Munich in late September when the city is booked up.

 - Make sure you are insured for any extreme activities such as

winter sports in the Alps.

- When travelling around Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg by train, put off your journey until after 9am when you can use a Land ticket giving you unlimited travel in either region all day for €24 (BadenWürttemberg) or €25 (Bavaria).

Here are Lonely Planet's TOP 10 things to see and do.

1. Munich

2. Oktoberfest 

3. Beer Halls & Gardens

4. Romantic Road

5. Baden-Baden

6. Hiking

7. Nuremberg

8. Schloss Neuschwanstein

9. Salzburg

10. Christmas Markets

Inside Lonely Planet’s Munich, Bavaria & the Black Forest:

- Colour maps and images throughout

- Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests

- Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots

- Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices

- Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sightseeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss

- Cultural insights provide a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, people, music, landscapes, wildlife, cuisine, politics

Coverage Includes: Munich, Bavaria, Stuttgart, the Black Forest, Salzburg and more

Curator: Marc Di Duca

Writers: Kerry Christiani

Get to the heart of Munich, Bavaria & the Black Forest and begin your journey now!

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

Andalucia - Almeria Province (PDF Chapter) Lonely Planet

Download the Lonely Planet Andalucia - Almeria Province (PDF Chapter)

Andalucia - Almeria Province (PDF Chapter)

Silent mountain valleys, sublime beaches and vast tracts of semidesert scrubland – Almería province is an area of haunting natural beauty. Its obvious drawcard is its glorious coastline, but venture inland and you’ll discover plenty to explore in its sparsely populated and often other-worldly hinterland.

- hop around the heavenly beaches and plunging cliffs of Andalucía’s southeastern coastline

- patrol Almería’s formidable hilltop fort, once one of the most powerful in Moorish Spain

- go underground in the otherworldly cave complex of Cuevas de Sorbas

Coverage includes: Almería, Desierto de Tabernas, Níjar, Laujar de Andarax, Parque Natural de Cabo de Gata-Níjar, Mojácar, Los Vélez, Vélez Blanco, Cuevas del Almanzora.

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

Provence & the Cote d'Azur - Monaco (PDF Chapter) Lonely Planet

Download the Lonely Planet Provence & the Cote d'Azur - Monaco (PDF Chapter)

Provence & the Cote d'Azur - Monaco (PDF Chapter)

Squeezed into just 200 hectares, Monaco might be the world’s second-smallest country (only the Vatican is smaller), but what it lacks in size it makes up for in attitude.

- soak up Monte Carlo casino’s glitzy history on a day tour, or rubbing elbows with the high-rollers on an evening gambling spree

- thrill to the rhythm of revving engines at the world’s most iconic motor sports event, the Formula One Grand Prix

- watch fish frolic at the Musée Océanographique de Monaco, and dive into the history of underwater exploration

Coverage includes: History, Sights, Activities, Festivals & Events, Sleep-ing, Eating, Drinking & Nightlife, Entertainment, Shopping.

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

Great Smoky National Park travel guide by Lonely Planet

Download the Lonely Planet Great Smoky National Park travel guide

Great Smoky National Park travel guide

Get back to nature among mist-shrouded peaks, shimmering waterfalls and lush forests in the great American wilderness. Hike on the mother of all footpaths, the Appalachian Trail, cycle through the beautiful, historic valley of Cades Cove, and learn how early settlers made ends meet at the Mountain Farm Museum.

Coverage Includes: Grand Canyon, Kaibab National Forest, Valle, North Rim, South Rim, Havasupai Reservation, Hualapai Reservation, Flagstaff, Sedona, Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, Colorado River, and more

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast - Salerno & the Cilento (PDF Chapter) Lonely Planet

Download the Lonely Planet Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast - Salerno & the Cilento (PDF Chapter)

Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast - Salerno & the Cilento (PDF Chapter)

Salerno may not have the glamour of the Amalfi Coast resorts, but its gritty historic centre offers a great counter to the region’s more high-profile towns. The Cilento region has an undeveloped coastal strip and a little visited national park.

- visit Paestum and take a journey back to Magna Graecia at one of Europe’s most majestic archaeological sites

- count the multitude of patios, rooms, arches and columns in Certosa di San Lorenzo, the gigantic monastery in Padula

- stroll along Salerno’s tree-lined promenade in Campania’s most authentic southern city

Coverage includes: Salerno, Paestum, Agropoli, Castellabate & around, Acciaroli to Pisciotta, Palinuro & around, Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni.

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

Madrid - El Retiro & the Art Museums (PDF Chapter) Lonely Planet

Download the Lonely Planet Madrid - El Retiro & the Art Museums (PDF Chapter)

Madrid - El Retiro & the Art Museums (PDF Chapter)

With Paseo del Prado, one of Europe’s grandest boulevards that is lined with art galleries, other grand monuments and the city’s botanical gardens, El Retiro is very much a daytime neighbourhood.

- take a journey through the richest centuries of Spanish and European art at the Museo del Prado, beginning with Goya and Velázquez

- marvel at the sheer genius of Picasso as you ponder the many dimensions of Guernica, in the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia

- tick off just about every European master under one roof in the astonishingly rich collection of the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza

Coverage includes: Sights, Eating, Drinking & Nightlife, Shopping, and Sports & Activities.

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

Berlin - Potsdamer Platz & Tiergarten (PDF Chapter) Lonely Planet

Download the Lonely Planet Berlin - Potsdamer Platz & Tiergarten (PDF Chapter)

Berlin - Potsdamer Platz & Tiergarten (PDF Chapter)

This new quarter is a showcase of fabulous contemporary architecture. Culture lovers should not skip the Kulturforum museums. The leafy Tiergarten, with its rambling paths, monuments and hidden beer gardens, makes for a perfect sightseeing break.

- peruse an Aladdin’s cave of Old Masters – from Rembrandt to Vermeer – at the Gemäldegalerie

- stop for a beer and people-watch beneath the magnificent canopy of the svelte glass-and-steel Sony Center

- catch Europe’s fastest lift to take in Berlin’s impressive cityscape and enjoy refreshments in the sky at the Panoramapunkt

Coverage includes: Neighbourhood Top Five, Local Life, Getting There & Away, Sights, Eating, Drinking & Nightlife, Entertainment, Shopping.

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

Korea travel guide by Lonely Planet

Download the Lonely Planet Korea travel guide

Korea travel guide

Split by a hair-trigger border, the Korean Peninsula offers the traveller a dazzling range of experiences, beautiful landscapes and 5000 years of culture and history. Explore the graceful Changdeokgung palace and horticultural idyll of Huwon, hike the dramatic volcanic landscape of Jeju-do and get dirty at the Boryeong Mud Festival.

Coverage Includes: Seoul, Incheon, Jeju-do, Gyeonggi-do, Gangwon-do, Cheongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Sokcho, Samcheok, Chungju, Daejeon, Gongju, Daegu, North Korea, Pyongyang, Panmunjom, the DMZ, and more

Curator: Damian Harper

Writers: MaSovaida Morgan, Thomas O'Malley, Phillip Tang, Rob Whyte

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

Malta & Gozo - Sliema, St Julian's & Paceville (PDF Chapter) Lonely Planet

Download the Lonely Planet Malta & Gozo - Sliema, St Julian's & Paceville (PDF Chapter)

Malta & Gozo - Sliema, St Julian's & Paceville (PDF Chapter)

Malta’s cool crowd flocks here to eat, drink, shop and party, and if you’re looking for a base that mingles cosmopolitan sparkle with quiet backstreets, this is the perfect choice.

- wine and dine alfresco at the cafes and restaurants lining the compact coves at Spinola Bay and Balluta Bay in St Julian’s

- swim off flat, rocky and easily accessible Sliema Beach, then relax with a gelato or aperitivo cocktail at oceanfront cafes

- stay at one of the area’s good-value boutique hostels, offering either a party atmosphere or a quieter vibe

Coverage includes: Sliema & Around, St Julian’s & Paceville.

Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.

TAP Air Portugal to launch Conakry, Guinea, service in July

TAP Air Portugal will launch flights between Lisbon and Conakry, capital of Guinea, on July 3rd.

The Portuguese carrier will offer three weekly flights between the two capitals.

Tickets are already available for sale on the new flights which will depart from Lisbon on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 19:25 and arrive in Guinea’s capital at 23:10.

Return flights will depart from Conakry on Monday, Thursday and Sunday at 00:05 and arrive in the Portuguese capital at 05:30.

With the launch of a new route to Africa, TAP now covers 17 African cities in 11 countries.

British Airways to fly to Dammam, Saudi Arabia, from December

British Airways has announced it will fly from Heathrow to Dammam in Saudi Arabia from December 1st.

The route will fly daily, via Bahrain.

Flights will be operated by a four-class Boeing 777-200 departing year-round from Heathrow Terminal 5, landing into Dammam’s King Fahd International Airport.

Dammam is the capital of the Eastern Province and is known as the heart of the country’s petroleum industry. It will be the third city in Saudi Arabia British Airways flies to with the airline already serving Riyadh and Jeddah with non-stop daily flights.