Краткое описание: Throughout its long history, it’s been a green and pleasant land, a sceptred isle and a nation of shopkeepers. It’s stood as a beacon of democracy and a bastion of ideological freedom, as well as a crucible of empire and a cradle of class oppression. The Magna Carta, the King James Bible and the welfare state were all dreamt up here, but then again so were beer bellies, Bovril and Mr Bean. It’s a nation of tea-tippling eccentrics and train spotters, of dog lovers and footy fanatics, of punk rockers, gardeners, gnome collectors, free-wheeling city traders, pigeon fanciers, cricket bores and part-time Morris Dancers.

Краткое описание: A land of magnificent World Heritage Sites and a thousand tourist clichés, Egypt was enticing visitors millennia before Thomas Cook sailed his steamers up the Nile. It was here that the Holy Family sheltered, Alexander conquered and Mark Antony flirted. Napoleon stopped long enough to pilfer a few obelisks, the Ottomans paused to prop up the great and barbarous pasha Mohammed Au, and the British stayed around to get the train system running and furnish every spare nook of the British Museum.

Краткое описание: One of the most rewarding things about travelling through Eastern Europe is the rich variety of cuisine, customs, architecture and history. The flipside of course is that you’ll encounter a number of very different languages. Most languages spoken in Eastern Europe belong to what’s known as the Indo-European language family, believed to have originally developed from one language spoken thousands of years ago. Luckily for English speakers, most of these languages also use Roman script.

Краткое описание: You’ve bought this book, you’ve doubtless got lots of places you’d like to see, but what to do now? Whether you plan your trip from start to finish before leaving home or prefer to wait and see how you feel each morning before deciding what to do, there are some things you should definitely take into account beforehand. While Eastern Europe is a joy to travel round these days compared to how it was just a decade ago, you’ll still find a number of bureaucratic hurdles, largely manifesting themselves more clearly the further east you go.

Краткое описание: Among the many things East Timor doesn’t have is a beaten path. Whether it’s the relentless news coverage of its challenges or the hoops you have to jump through to get there, not a lot of people are visiting; maybe three or four a day.

And that’s just a shame because it is actually one of the most welcoming places you can visit. People are genuinely touched by your interest, and your greatest risk of injury travelling around the beautiful countryside will be hand fatigue from waving back to people waving at you.

Краткое описание: If you’re undecided about whether or not to bring an item from home, you can probably just leave it at home. It’s hard to imagine a more traveller- friendly place than Australia’s East Coast. You can get anything you need (including sunscreen to replace the big tube you had that was seized at the airport), prices are not outrageous, it’s easy to get around and if you can read this, they speak your language (at least in some form). Plus it’s amazingly gorgeous, a whole lot of fun and you’ll meet lots of people whose dispositions match the weather: sunny.

Краткое описание: East Africa has a wide selection of hotels and restaurants in tourist areas and major towns, plus some of Africa’s most elite safari lodges and luxury tented camps. If you re on a midrange or top-end budget, travel here is Africa made easy, with just enough adventure to keep things satisfying.

If you’re travelling on a shoestring, things get more rugged. Expect to stay in basic guesthouses, and to put in time bumping over rough roads on crowded buses. The rewards: getting into the pulse of East Africa, and seeing how most locals live.

Краткое описание: Definition of a great city: a place that makes virtue out of vice and knows exactly where to find fun. Welcome to Dublin, the greatest city in Europe.

At first glance, it’s kind of difficult to see why. Dublin isn’t as sexy or as sultry as other European capitals, the architecture is a bit of a jumble and it seems everyone has something to complain about. Dubs can be brutally unsentimental about their city. but their warts-and-all attachment is born out of a genuine love of a place that oozes personality, a city whose soul and sociability makes it the most charismatic of capitals.

Краткое описание: The world has never seen a larger construction site. Dubal stretches upwards and outwards — even underwater - paving the desert, colon ising the ocean and piercing the clouds.

Aboard approaching airliners, passengers wrestle against fastened seatbelts for an aerial view: traditional wind-towers yield to space-age skyscrapers mushrooming across the desert beside a coastline dominated by bizarre palm-shaped archipelagos that look like something from another planet.

Краткое описание: Sharing the island of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic (DR) and Haiti could be said to be two sides of the same coin. At first glance, culture seems to divide the two countries: while the DR is Spanish-speaking and obsessed with baseball, Haitians would rather watch the soccer World Cup and comment on the game in French, or the Creole that’s derived from their slave ancestry. But shared history and a common border mean that the DR and Haiti are both dependent on and obsessed with each other.