Secret Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Best Hidden Travel Gems

Excellent book, very helpful and easy to consult. A must for any unusual trip you want to plan. Superb pictures.

Was a gift - very much loved thank you.

Great product Arrived safely as described

I can't claim to have an obsession for visiting far-flung parts of the world but this book really whetted my appetite for travel, even to places like Yemen which I'd never considered before.The big attraction here is the full-page colour photography, as you might expect from a coffee-table tome from National Geographic. Everything looks beautiful. And the text is equally authorative and interesting. I didn't find any mistakes (and I usually do with most popular guidebook series) even for countries and places I know well.Like other reviewers, I didn't think a lot of the locations ranked as 'secret' in any way. However, the authors get around recommending some of the major tourist spots of the world by highlighting unusual aspects of them, such as bird-watching in Central Park or hiring a study room at The Victoria and Albert Museum. My one bugbear was recommending London's Monument - it's next to an Underground station named after it and you wouldn't particularly want to walk there (or climb its steps) after visiting St Paul's Cathedral as they suggest.Overall, this book is an inspiration. It really made me want to get my credit card out and start booking trips!

Really nice book if you are into traveling. Amazing pictures and places. It has some interesting tips and curiosities too.

Secret Journeys of a Lifetime is an impressive volume, beautifully illustrated as one would expect from a book with the National Geographic imprint. I thought I was reasonably well travelled, but I had only visited, or indeed known of the existence of a small number of the incredible places covered in this book.For the armchair traveller, just browsing through is a very rewarding experience, but for anyone who is prepared to travel to far flung places it is a great source of inspiration. The book is split into nine separate sections eg Spiritual Havens, the Road Less Travelled and City Secrets. Every so often there are useful top ten lists covering various topics such as Roman Sites or Islands Within Cities. Strangely there is no index of these top ten lists which seem to be just scattered throughout the book.The format is that for each of about 200 of the chosen sites there is a page devoted which includes a picture, some description and a useful summary of when to go, how to find it, planning and websites which can be consulted. The other 300 odd sites are included in the top ten lists and just include a very brief description and a few words on planning.Since the publishers have chosen to group these places in the way described above, there is, of necessity, no geographic grouping which may have been more useful. However, where, within one of the ten sections, places are geographically close together these are grouped. For example, in Last Wildernesses, there are five sites in the USA and these are described consecutively. If visiting an area, the easiest way to locate places in the book is to look through the index at the back. eg if you look up Wales in the Index, the 11 references to Wales in the book are listed.So to summarise, this is a book which looks and feels quality and which nearly anyone would be pleased to receive as a gift. On a practical level it is a great source of ideas for the traveller and a pleasure to read for the armchair traveller.

I love traveling, i love everything to do with exploring and darting around our amazing planet, but at late i have been toning down my travels due to moving in with my misses and making a home....So when this landed on my lap i was swiftly reminded of what is out there and more importantly, what i have missed!.This is a fantastic collection of beautiful places which are often not mentioned in tour guides etc, these are the places you need to go out and find! Some absolutely stunning places which will drive you to the internet to book a flight somewhere!!There are some places near by in the uk but its the other hidden gems which realy set you off. Its delightfully written and has some great photos but these will only encourage you to book a holiday so be warned!!I am now heading over to Expedia.....god help me

This is a sumptuous coffee table book that offers 'travel ideas' - the travel gems of the subtitle, rather than the "secret journeys"(?) of the main title. Each of these 500 locations occupy one page of the book, with a photograph, a paragraph of description and very brief information under the headings 'When to go', 'How to find it', 'Planning' and 'Websites'. The places are grouped together in rather random sections including - "The world at your feet (Stunning views from the world's highest points)" and "Secret history (Ancient sites off the beaten track)". Again the places are randomly listed within the sections, skipping about from country to country and across continents. The book does have an index but this is only an alphabetical index of the places listed.The book also contains various Top Ten lists, including 'Ocean views', 'Coral reefs', 'Roman sites' and 'castles with accommodation', with a sentence of information on each place and a brief note on "planning". These sort of fit into the sections that they are inserted in and although I found most of them quite interesting there is no index of the lists, so good luck in trying to find them again!Although this book is nicely presented and will undoubtedly reveal places that you will like to visit, I'm afraid that I considered it was badly organised. For example if you were inspired to visit the Roman city of Palmyra in Syria, you would have to scan the whole book again to find if there were any other nearby places mentioned in Syria. Ultimately you would also have to consult a much more detailed travel guide. However, this is a fun, nicely laid out book that will definitely provide travel inspiration and, particularly in Winter, will provide a portal to warmer climes.

Für Reisefans dürfte die "... of a Lifetime"-Reihe des National Geographic ein Begriff sein, ans Herz legen kann ich sie allen, die einen kleinen Eindruck der schönsten Orte unseres Planeten haben wollen.Auch bei "Secret Journeys of a Lifetime" verhält es sich nicht anders, 500 Reiseziele aus aller Welt, wobei diesmal ein größerer Fokus auf Südamerika und Asien gelegt wurde. (Es sind aber alle Länder ziemlich gleichmäßig vertreten), die großformatigen Bilder und die nützlichen Reiseinformationen (die aber nur für einen groben Überblick reichen, das Buch versteht sich nicht als klassischer Reiseführer) runden den Gesamteindruck ab!

I have so many of these books and love every one of them. Great photos and good information

Come tutti i libri di National Geographic , anche questo una perla preziosa da leggere con immenso piacere e da svogliate x le bellissime fotografie.

Love this book. A great book just to enjoy and dream about planning your bucket list. Great ideas, photos, descriptions. I saw this at a hotel and ordered it immediately. I have not regretted getting this wonderful book.

Awesome and motivating