Off the Tourist Trail: 1,000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives

What a wonderful book! Beautiful photos are accompanied by suggestions, comparisons, location details and more. In addition to alternatives to well-traveled (and overcrowded!) tourist sites are suggestions on how to best experience the familiar attractions if you still want to go there. I am fortunate to have been to many of the familiar sites when they were less touristed—and I was much younger, and have been to several of the suggested alternatives—some of which were too crowded to my taste even then. Part of the personal attraction this book holds for me is gratitude for having been to these remarkable sites before the hoards discovered them, plus interesting alternatives to consider when I get back to seeking them out. The book is so well done—with contributions from almost 40 authors—and there are so many entries, that travelers from neophytes to old hands should find many destinations that appeal and intrigue them. Perhaps the best travel compendium I have ever seen!