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No other city comes close. It may no longer be caput mundi (capital of the world), but Rome is an epic, bubbling-over metropolis harbouring lost empires. One visit and you’ll be hooked.

Rome has a glorious monumentality that it wears without reverence. Its architectural heirlooms are buzzed around by car and Vespa as if they were no more than traffic islands. The city bombards you with images: Valentino, Bulgari, Dolce & Gabbana: elderly ladies with dyed hair the colour of autumn leaves; priests with cigars; traffic jams beneath Roman aqueducts; plateloads of pasta in shining cafés; sinuous trees beside rust-golden buildings; barrages of pastel-coloured scooters revving up at traffic lights as if preparing for a race.

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The name ‘Romania’ didn’t refer to Wallachia or Moldavia until 1859, and Transylvania remained part of the Astro-Hungarian empire until 1918 - even Dracula was actually a Magyar - so what is Romania? It s a fair question, and one that frequently yields long, philosophical answers when travelling around the country - often without much of a clear answer at the end of it. Romania is a product of many incarnations - sometimes tied with Slavic neighbours, Greece, Turkey, Saxon Germany, the USSR or Hungary. But more often Romanians link their past with the Dacians or (more fashionably, at times) with the century the Romans hung out in the area.

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The Cook Islands can be visited as a destination on its own, as a stopover when crossing the Pacific, or as part of a Circle Pacific or round-the- world trip. The vast majority of people visit the Cook Islands as a short stopover on flights across the Pacific, usually staying only a few days on the main island of Rarotonga. But if you can, it’s worth allowing at least a couple of weeks to visit some of the outer islands of the Southern Group, where you’ll be able to get right off the tourist trail and experience a much more traditional side of the Cook Islands.

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Here is India at its high-definition, surround-sound best. Prowling tigers, swaying elephants, hot and spicy bazaars, fabulous festivals, stunning saris and twisted turbans; all a pageant of colour and curiosity set against a backdrop of desert sands, secluded jungles, marble palaces and impenetrable stone forts.

This book also celebrates the Golden Triangle - a traveller’s trigonometric survey of emblematic India. Starting at the daunting megametropolis of Delhi with its majestic Mughal heritage, it then angles towards Agra, where the world’s most famous tomb, the Taj Mahal, defines a city, before heading to Jaipur, the city painted pink with a palace of winds and bustling bazaars, and the gateway to Rajasthan.

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For many Australian and overseas visitors, Queensland is an enormous slab of Australia put aside for their pleasure-seeking pursuits. If basking in the sun’s constant rays puts you in a languid state of bliss, stretch out under the many days of endless sunshine along the miles and miles of powder-white beaches that blend into crystal-clear, azure waters along the coastline. And if you need a bit more stimulation try white-water rafting, scuba diving, snorkelling, bushwalking, surfing, bungee jumping, skydiving, paragliding or rock climbing.. .just to start with.

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Traveling in Mexico requires little planning. You can just get on the plane or bus or into your car and go! You’ll rarely have trouble finding suitable accommodation on any budget, and travel by road or plane within Mexico is easy. If you have limited time and specific goals, work out detailed itinerary and reserve accommodations in advance. If this is your first trip to Mexico, be ready for more crowds, noise, bustle and poverty than you might be accustomed to. But don’t worry - most Mexicans will be only too happy to help you feel at home in their country.

Краткое описание: Puerto Rico is where the easygoing Caribbean collides with the slick efficiency of modern America over syncopated Latin rhythms and rose-tinted tropical sunsets. The result is a colorful, diverse and culturally unique island that is often as confusing as it is cosmopolitan. Hip funky restaurants nestle next to 15th-century Spanish forts; sprawling concrete shopping malls encroach upon fecund tropical rainforests; and glitzy casinos lie juxtaposed against some of the most stunning beaches, caves and offshore coral reefs in the Caribbean.

Краткое описание: The blanket ban on smoking in public places, will go down with little fuss in affluent fat-cat Provence and the Cote d’Azur, where the living is laid-back and easy - and wholly outside in the shade of the hot Mediterranean sun for a handsome chunk of the year. Not that the chic, avant-garde clubs and café terraces on the Cote d’Azur won’t feel it - this is, after all, where Jean-Paul Sartre scrolled parts of Roads to Freedom, cigarette in hand, and where a sultry Brigitte Bardot (a Gitanes woman through and through) set the trend for gals to smoke Cuban cigars. This privileged stretch of celebrity-studded coastline smacks of everything the cigarette in France embodies: sex, scandal, cinema, more sex and Gallic chic.

Краткое описание: Beyond booking accommodation, you can do as much or as little planning as you like - Prague is one of those places best explored at random, discovering hidden corners on your own. Getting around is easy, food is served all day (and half the night) and there are treats aplenty for budgets big or small.

Prague caters for visitors all year round, so there’s really no such thing as a bad time to visit. The city is at its prettiest in spring, when the many parks begin to bloom with flowers and the budding leaves on the trees are a glowing green.

Краткое описание: Poland is a user-friendly country that even the most disorganised traveller should find relatively easy to navigate. While a little bit of planning never goes astray, at least to pinpoint a few must-see attractions, no huge amount of advance planning is needed. Plus anything you forget to pack can be picked up in-country, and English is widely spoken in the main tourist areas.