Guides, memoirs inspire travellers to discover new destinations

Special books highlight world’s greatest hiking, top global destinations and more

BETH J. HARPAZ

Travel books can get you NEW YO R K dreaming.

They can provide practical information for your trips. And they can also just tell a good story.

Here are a few books out this season to consider for yourself, or to give as a gift for Christmas, Hanukkah or whatever you’re celebrating.

COFFEE- TABLE BOOKS

They’re way too big and heavy to tuck in your suitcase.

But these beautifully illustrated volumes with big themes will get armchair travellers smiling and real-world travellers planning.

The Cities Book: A Journey Through the Best Cities in the World from Lonely Planet looks at 200 cities from Abu Dhabi through Zanzibar, offering everything from the best time to visit to ideas for a perfect day.

Great Hiking Trails of the World covers 80 trails in 38 countries, including Peru’s Inca Trail, Japan’s Shikoku Pilgrimage and the U.S. “triple crown” of hiking, the Appalachian, Pacific Crest and Continental Divide trails.

Timeless Journeys: Travels to the World’s Legendary Places from National Geographic explores 50 once-in-a-lifetime destinations.

PRACTICAL INFO

Moon Travel Guides has a new series, City Walks, exploring neighbourhoods in seven cities: Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, London, New York, Paris and Rome. The walks include descriptions, maps, attractions, dining and shopping.

FOR FUN AND INSPIRATION

These books about places and travel offer laughs, eye candy, a good read or some combination thereof.

For New Yorkers, former New Yorkers and wannabe New Yorkers: Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York by cartoonist Roz Chast is absolutely laughout-loud hysterical. It’s an illustrated memoir about city life told through the eyes of a native New Yorker who moved to the suburbs.

Van Life: Your Home on the Road by Foster Huntington grew out of the author’s three-year adventure travelling around North America in a Volkswagen van.

Ultimate Journeys for Two: Extraordinary Destinations on Every Continent by Mike and Anne Howard grew out of the writers’ five-year adventure across seven continents as “the world’s longest honeymooners,” an experience they chronicled on their blog HoneyTrek.com. The book includes 75 featured destinations; top 10 lists of day hikes, festivals, beaches and more; and travel advice.

Holy Rover: Journeys in Search of Mystery, Miracles, and God, by Lori Erickson, is part memoir and part travel guide as the author reflects on her pilgrimages to 12 sites around the world, from Our Lady of Lourdes in France to Machu Picchu in Peru.