Going to Europe - How About a First Class Travel Guide?

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Are you thinking of traveling to Europe? Perhaps you might want to go now before they institute the cap and trade tax for airliners, which could increase the price of your airfare. Or, maybe you wish to wait until the Euro drops in price against the US Dollar, as the slow-motion train wreck of the European economy will finally make a trip to Europe affordable again. Still, whenever you do go, there is a great book and travel guide that I highly recommend. This is a book I own myself and have used; it's the best one I've found so far. The name of the book is;

"Travel Book Europe - The Guide to Premier Destinations," (Twelfth Edition) by a Contractor for the American Automobile Club, 2011, 576 pages, ISBN: 978-159508-400-2.

This book is totally comprehensive, and relatively small and compact. Just about everything you need to know including what you need before you go and it covers the following countries; Austria, Belgium, Britain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. There are maps of each country, all the best and safest places to go, all the museums, downtown areas, train stations, and information about history, and historical landmarks.

Best of all there are pictures, tourist information, and average climate temperatures, so you know what type of clothing to wear, and the temperatures are both in Fahrenheit and Celsius listed by season and month. This book will prevent you from getting lost, and it's small enough to throw in your backpack, if you are taking a walk or excursion down any European downtown shopping district. If you are going on a trip to Europe by way of cruise ship, this travel book has all the information outside of every port you might stop at.

The pictures are beautiful, and so is the architecture, it almost gives you a sense of being there, with plenty of trivia, history, and all the incidentals that you might need. If you get lost, need to contact the police, or perhaps even find a Hospital, everything is listed in this book. There are even phone numbers for information such as Rent-A-Cars, hotels, and some of the finest and/or most popular restaurants. There are detailed maps of airports, train stations, and just about everything you need to know. If you are traveling to Europe, you need to go pick one of these books up, and use it to help you prepare your itinerary.

Yes, I also have other books on this topic, but I would submit to you this is the best one I've found so far, because it is a practical travel guide that you can take with you, and it barely takes up any space. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Traveling and Vacations. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

Top 7 Books to Read Before Traveling to Turkey

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I like to read several books before each trip to have a better understanding of the culture and the local life of my next destination. Of course there are the travel guides I read before leaving or even before choosing my next destination, but my favourites are fiction novels. I like to read stories that take place in that country or whose authors are from that country.

Below is a great list of non-travel books about Turkey, some from Turkish authors. If you are considering travelling to Turkey soon, create time to read at least few of them, perhaps they will make you realize your dream trip sooner than expected.

1) Yasar Kemal, The Birds Have Also Gone

A short novel from one of Turkey's internationally recognised and widely read authors who has also been a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature. In this book, author tells the story of three boys who are struggling to survive in the constantly changing environment of the big city: Istanbul.

2) John David Tumpane, Scotch and Holy Water

Entertaining book on Turkish people and life in Turkey written by American author who lived in Turkey for 10 years. From the view of a Turkish person you may find the author arrogant and the observations exaggerated but it will surely be helpful to Americans in understanding Turkish thinking. "We arrived in Istanbul via Pan Am after midnight. On the way into the city, all the neon signs looked so strange to me: Tuzcuoglu, Haci Bekir Lokumlari, Koc. I thought, I'll never be able to learn this language. Then I saw a sign reading Is Bankasi and I was sure the word "bank" was lurking somewhere in there. Since I knew one word of Turkish already, I decided to stay"

3) Orhan Pamuk, Istanbul Memories and the City

The Nobel Prize winner recalls the Istanbul of his youth. Istanbul's melancholy enriched his childhood and continues to inspire him. "... the melancholy of this dying culture was all around us. Great as the desire to westernise and modernise may have been, the more desperate wish, it seemed, was to be rid of all the bitter memories of the fallen empire: rather as a spurned lover throws away his lost beloved's clothes, possessions and photographs"

4) Mustafa Ziyalan and Amy Spangler (editors), Istanbul Noir

Comprised of by 16 stories, all original, some of Turkey's most exciting authors; the result is an underground portrait of the city and of Turkey, told in evocative, often poetic, and powerful language.

5) Louis de Berni?res, Birds Without Wings

Birds Without Wings is a novel by Louis de Berni?res, telling the tragic love story of Philothei, a Christian girl and Ibrahim her childhood friend and Muslim. The story is set in Eskibah?e, a small fictional village; although fiction, the setting of Eskibah?e is based upon Kayak?y village near Fethiye, the ruins of which still exist today; a beautiful historic romantic novel.

6) Elif Safak, The Flea Palace

Safak is a young Turkish novelist, writer of best-sellers in Turkey, France and Bulgaria. The Flea Palace is a novel about daily routines of the inhabitants of an apartment building in Istanbul named BonBon Palace, miniature representation of the city itself, the city of contrasts and contradictions, the city where East meets West. Here is an extract from The Flea Palace: "Istanbul was under a heavy fog that morning, and as all Istanbulites knew too well, during foggy days even the city herself could not tell what her colour was. However, Agripina Fyodorovna Antipova had always been pampered with great care since birth and had been subsequently led to presume that others were to blame whenever she could not obtain anything she desired..."

7) Tales from the Expat Harem: Foreign Women in Modern Turkey

A nonfiction anthology created and edited by Anastasia M. Ashman & Jennifer Eaton Gokmen. The collection includes the life experiences of 32 expatriate women from seven nations and five continents, whose collective experience spans over the past four decades. These diverse women describe religion, culture, conflicts, traditions and customs with the perspective of foreign women living and working in Turkey. They will take you to Istanbul's narrow streets, to warm homes, and to steamy Hamams. If you are planning to visit Turkey soon this book is a great read to warm your heart to Turkish people.

Nil Aykut is the Marketing Manager of Anatolia Travels. Anatolia Travels offer private and escorted tours to Turkey, Greece, Italy Egypt, Jordan & Morocco. More information about travelling to Turkey at http://www.anatoliatravels.com/Turkey-Tours.htm

Original article available at: http://www.anatoliatravels.com/travelblog1/