“New travel guides, from Lonely Planet to luxury ... - The Oakland Press” plus 1 more

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New travel guides, from Lonely Planet to luxury ... - The Oakland Press Posted: 07 May 2010 09:57 PM PDT Click thumbnails to enlarge The Associated Press/Wiley: The cover of Frommer's Hawaii Day by Day. Frommer's "Day by Day" city guides have been among the brand's best-selling books for years. Earlier this year the publisher launched full-size "Day by Day" guides to countries, states and other large regions. By BETH J. HARPAZ Of The Associated Press Click to enlarge The Associated Press/Lonely Planet: The cover of "Discover Italy," part of a new series from the travel guidebook publishing company Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet's new series includes books on Australia, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Spain and Thailand. The books are ideal for planning one- to two-week trips. NEW YORK (AP) — Spring is the time when many travelers plan their biggest vacations of the year: Leisurely road trips, family getaways with kids out of school, and travel abroad over the peak summer season. Here are some of the new guidebook releases from this season to inspire you and help plan your itineraries. They include titles from Lonely Planet, Frommer's, DK Eyewitness, a luxury hotel group, and Budget Travel. LONELY PLANET'S DISCOVER SERIES: Once upon a time, the stereotypical Lonely Planet reader was an adventurous young backpacker on a budget, ready to rough it and explore. But today Lonely Planet fans include older travelers, travelers who don't mind spending more for comfort, and travelers looking for advice about basics and must-sees, not just offbeat adventures. To cater to this audience, Lonely Planet has launched a new series called "Discover," with thick $25 paperback books just released on Australia, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Spain and Thailand. The books are ideal for planning one- to two-week trips. "Discover Europe" will be added to the series May 10. The full-color books include maps, best-of lists, recommendations for a variety of budgets, tips from locals on visiting major attractions, and suggested itineraries organized by region, theme and length of trip. One especially nice touch: "If You Like" features direct readers to less well-known attractions by comparing them to better-known places. For example, the Venice section of the Italy guide says that "If you like the masterpieces of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, we think you'll like these other modern art gems," and it goes on to list Ca' Pesaro and Museo della Fondazione Querini Stampalia. FROMMER'S DAY BY DAY GUIDES: Frommer's "Day by Day" city guides have been among the brand's best-selling books for years. Earlier this year, Frommer's launched full-size "Day by Day" guides to countries, states and other large regions. The full-color books are itinerary-based, include more than 100 maps and a pocket with a large pullout map, and are chock-full of photos. "Frommer's Italy Day by Day," "Frommer's Ireland Day by Day" and "Frommer's Hawaii Day by Day" are available now, while Costa Rica and Spain are due out in October. The guides, all under $30, include easy-to-use features like what to see if you have a day, three days or a week, and "best-of" lists for lodging, dining and shopping. The Ireland guide, for example, includes a list of favorite moments (taking afternoon tea at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, visiting the Giant's Causeway, and seeing the murals of the Belfast peace wall), along with a list of favorite small towns (Carlingford, Inistioge, Kinsale, Kenmare, Dingle). Also new from Frommer's is "500 Adrenaline Adventures," providing inspiration for daredevils, geeks and other travelers with a taste for unusual, wacky and heart-racing experiences. Among the ideas listed in the $20 paperback: ziplining, wildlife encounters, extreme eating contests — like the famous Coney Island hot dog competition — and the annual Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling Race in England. DK EYEWITNESS TRAVEL'S BACK ROADS: Road trips are a beloved way to explore America, but DK Eyewitness Travel has launched a new series this spring to inspire road trips in Europe. The "Back Roads" series includes guides to France, Italy, Great Britain, Ireland and Spain. Each $25 paperback describes two dozen "leisurely drives" designed to take anywhere from a day to a week.   Tours outlined in the France book, for example, include the Alsace wine route, Obernai to Eguisheim; the Champagne route, Reims to Montagne de Reims; Normandy, from Giverny to Varengeville-sur-Mer; and the Pyrenees, from Collioure to St-Jean-de-Luz. Other features include mapped itineraries with highlights, detours and activities; "where the locals go" listings of small hotels and restaurants with regional cuisine; a pullout country map; zip codes to make it easy to coordinate the text with a GPS; and practical information on driving conditions, road signs and parking. LUXURY COLLECTION DESTINATION GUIDES: This set of six paperbacks from The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts, a group of more than 70 hotels and resorts in 30 countries, includes guides to India, Italy, the U.S., Spain, Argentina and Greece. The slim paperbacks do not offer the detailed content of traditional travel guides but do have lush photographs, inspirational quotes and a few pages of highlights listing select museums, cultural institutions, shops and restaurants in each destination. Each guide also includes commentary from celebrity chefs, with Mario Batali providing his thoughts on Italy, including a recipe for tortelloni with sage butter and his recommendations for favorite restaurants: Cibreo and Teatro del Sale in Florence; Al Covo, Da Fiore and Lina d'Ombra in Venice, and Ristorante Matricianella, Roscioli, Antico Forno and Checchino in Rome. The set of six, packaged in a beautiful oversized box, costs $140. The books will be available in Luxury Collection guest rooms, in Assouline Boutiques in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York, and online at www.luxurycollection.com and other retailers. THE SMART FAMILY'S PASSPORT: This book from Budget Travel, $14.95, is subtitled "350 Money, Time & Sanity Saving tips." Among the suggestions: Bring powdered iced-tea or fruit-punch packets to theme parks and add them to cups of water to save money on expensive drinks; find out if a membership to your local museum has reciprocal privileges at other institutions where you can get in free when you travel; and make your own picture dictionary. That way, if you don't know a foreign word for bathroom or taxi, you can get help from a local wherever you are just by pulling up the picture of the object on your phone or camera. Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Heaney questions chamber allocation - TriCities.com Posted: 07 May 2010 09:36 PM PDT BRISTOL, Va. – Councilman Jim Heaney wants the Bristol Chamber of Commerce to explain why it should receive funding from the cash-strapped city. The issue arose during a ponderous, day-long Wednesday work session as the council reviewed details of the city's proposed $55.3 million fiscal 2010-11 budget. The chamber is one of 18 "outside agencies" scheduled to receive a portion of $1.02 million included in the spending plan. "Why are we funding the Chamber of Commerce at all? This is basically a business organization," Heaney said. City Manager Dewey Cashwell explained the chamber works to help promote the community and has received financial support from the city for a "long time." "I'm not sure what they do to promote the community," Heaney said. The chamber is also involved with economic development efforts and promoting small business, Mayor Jim Rector said. At present, the chamber is scheduled to receive $142,500 during the upcoming fiscal year, down from the $150,000 during the present budget cycle. Heaney suggested that be reduced to $100,000. Vice Mayor Ernie Sprouse said before any funds are cut, the chamber should be invited to answer the council's questions. "I'm not advocating that we cut them, but they should at least have the opportunity to speak with us," Sprouse said. "The suits will be here that night," the mayor quipped, referring to local business leaders. The council has scheduled a called meeting at 1 p.m. on May 12 to discuss the chamber's funding request. Contacted Friday, Chamber President and CEO Lisa Meadows said they will be happy to make a presentation and answer questions. "That money is used to fund tourism marketing, advertising and promotion and is dedicated to the [chamber's] Bristol Convention and Visitors Bureau," Meadows said. "It comes from the meals and lodging taxes the city charges. In past years it was a percentage of that amount, but several years ago a past council decided to make it a fixed amount that is the same level as Bristol, Tenn." Funds are used to purchase online and print advertising, including Blue Ridge Country, America Heritage and McCall's magazines, websites operated by Great American Country, Home & Garden Television and Bluegrass Unlimited, plus a number of tourism websites, said Matt Bolas, executive director of the visitor's bureau. They also produce printed visitor guides and attraction maps, operate a Bristol visitor website, host a series of travel writers seeking stories in national and regional publications and promote motorcoach activity. "We have an inherent responsibility to those visitors we've invited here to give them maps and information," Bolas said. "You don't go to Disney World and not get information about the attraction." The efforts promote Bristol Motor Speedway, the Twin City's country music heritage, regional outdoor recreation, walking tours of historic downtown Bristol and an array of special events. The Convention and Visitors Bureau's allocation is among the largest of 18 for outside agencies – 12 of which were reduced by 5 percent and resulting in a $55,000 savings. In many cases, Rector said, the city has no discretion in funding for related governmental entities like the Appalachian Juvenile Commission, Health Department, Highlands Community Services and Mount Rogers Planning District Commission. | (276) 645-2532 Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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