This book provides travellers with handy hints on how to make the most of the extensive rail network throughout the Alps, enabling them to see the most spectacular sights on offer.
A New York Times best summer travel book recommendation A nonfiction debut about an American’s solo, month-long, 400-mile walk from Lake Geneva to Nice. In the summer of 2015, Jonathan Arlan was nearing thirty. Restless, bored, and daydreaming of adventure, he comes across an image on the Internet one day: a map of the southeast corner of France with a single red line snaking south from Lake Geneva, through the jagged brown and white peaks of the Alps to the Mediterranean sea—a route more than four hundred miles long. He decides then and there to walk the whole trail solo. Lacking any outdoor experience, completely ignorant of mountains, sorely out of shape, and fighting last-minute nerves and bad weather, things get off to a rocky start. But Arlan eventually finds his mountain legs—along with a staggering variety of aches and pains—as he tramps a narrow thread of grass, dirt, and rock between cloud-collared, ice-capped peaks in the High Alps, through ancient hamlets built into hillsides, across sheep-dotted mountain pastures, and over countless cols on his way to the sea. In time, this simple, repetitive act of walking for hours each day in the remote beauty of the mountains becomes as exhilarating as it is exhausting. Mountain Lines is the stirring account of a month-long journey on foot through the French Alps and a passionate and intimate book laced with humor, wonder, and curiosity. In the tradition of trekking classics like A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, The Snow Leopard, and Tracks, the book is a meditation on movement, solitude, adventure, and the magnetic power of the natural world.
The second edition of this classic guidebook by Kev Reynolds on walking and trekking in the Alps. This book is a definitive guide to the many thousands of possible routes, with a geographical span that ranges from the Maritime Alps of southern France to the Julians of Slovenia, from Italy's Gran Paradiso to the little-known Türnitzer Alps of eastern Austria, and from the ice-bound giants of the Bernese Oberland to the green rolling Kitzbüheler Alps and the bizarre towers of the Dolomites of South Tirol, showing the amazing diversity of this wonderful mountain chain. There are walks to suit every taste: gentle and undemanding, long and tough, and everything in between. Written by Britain's most respected authority on the Alps, this is a fully updated edition of this important book.
“An entertaining, turbocharged race among the high mountain passes of six alpine countries.” —Liesl Schillinger, New York Times Book Review For centuries the Alps have been witness to the march of armies, the flow of pilgrims and Crusaders, the feats of mountaineers, and the dreams of engineers. In The Alps, Stephen O’Shea ("a graceful and passionate writer"—Washington Post) takes readers up and down these majestic mountains. Journeying through their 500-mile arc across France, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, and Slovenia, he explores the reality behind historic events and reveals how the Alps have profoundly influenced culture and society.
The Alps are Europe's highest mountain range: their broad arc stretches right across the center of the continent, encompassing a wide range of traditions and cultures. Andrew Beattie explores the turbulent past and vibrant present of this landscape, where early pioneers of tourism, mountaineering, and scientific research, along with the enduring legacies of historical regimes from the Romans to the Nazis, have all left their mark.
Hans Breuer, Austria’s only wandering shepherd, is also a Yiddish folksinger. He walks the Alps, shepherd’s stick in hand, singing lullabies to his 625 sheep. Sometimes he even gives concerts in historically anti-Semitic towns, showing slides of the flock as he belts out Yiddish ditties. When New York-based writer Sam Apple hears about this one-of-a-kind eccentric, he flies overseas and signs on as a shepherd’s apprentice. For thoroughly urban, slightly neurotic Sam, stumbling along in borrowed boots and burdened with a lot more baggage than his backpack, the task is far from a walk in Central Park. Demonstrating no immediate natural talent for shepherding, he tries to earn the respect of Breuer’s sheep, while keeping a safe distance from the shepherd’s fierce herding dogs. As this strange and hilarious adventure unfolds, the unlikely duo of Sam and Hans meander through a paradise of woods and high meadows toward awkward encounters with Austrians of many stripes. Apple is determined to find out if there are really as many anti-Semites in Austria as he fears and to understand how Hans, who grew up fighting the lingering Nazism in Vienna, became a wandering shepherd. What Apple discovers turns out to be far more fascinating than he had imagined. With this odd and wonderful book, Sam Apple joins the august tradition of Tony Horwitz and Bill Bryson. Schlepping Through the Alps is as funny as it is moving.
Experience 60 of the worlds greatest and most unforgettable train journeys, from classic long-distance trips like Western Canadas Rocky Mountaineer and Darwin to Adelaides The Ghan, to little-known gems on regular commuting lines. Weve always had a soft spot for trains. We know the moment a train pulls out of a station bound for somewhere fantastic is when the adventure truly starts. Amazing Train Journeys is the culmination of asking more than 200 travel writers for their absolute favourites. Some are epic international adventures, others short suburban routes along stunning coastline. There are incredible feats of engineering, trains that snake their way through mountain peaks, and even those which have achieved Unesco World Heritage status. Each profile contains practical information including ticket options, timetables and stops, plus inspiring photos and illustrated maps. Journeys include: Africa & the Middle East: Johannesburg to Cape Town (South Africa) Andimeshk to Dorud (Iran) Bulawayo to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) The Americas: The California Zephyr (USA) Perurails Lake Titicaca Railway (Peru) The Serra Verde Express (Brazil) Asia: The Darjeeling Toy Train (India) The Reunification Express (Vietnam) Beijing to Shanghai by High-Speed Rail (China) Europe: The Glacier Express (Switzerland) Belgrade-to-Bar Railway (Serbia & Montenegro) London to Fort William on the Caledonian Sleeper (UK) Oceania: South Coast Line (Australia) The TranzAlpine (New Zealand) The Northern Explorer (New Zealand) About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the worlds number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, weve printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. Youll also find our content online, on mobile, video and in 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more. Important Notice: The digital edition of this book may not contain all of the images found in the physical edition.
Buckle up for the next installment in our 'Epic' series and the follow-up to Epic Bike Rides of the World. Epic Drives of the World, a beautiful hardback, showcases 50 of the greatest road trips on Earth, from classic routes in America, Australia and Europe, to incredible adventures in Asia and Africa. Organised by continent, each route features a first-hand account, awe-inspiring photographs, illustrated maps and practical advice on when to go, how to get there, where to stay and what to eat. From Hawaii's Hana Highway and Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh Road, to Utah's National Park Circuit and Germany's Black Forest High Road, Epic Drives of the World will inspire any motorist to hit the open road. African and Middle East drives include: The self-drive Safari (Zambia) Crossing the Kalahari (Botswana) Passing over the Panorama Route (South Africa) Marrakesh to Taroudannt (Morocco) Cruising Clarence Drive (South Africa) The Americas drives include: The Highway to Hana in Hawaii (USA) The Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia) The Pacific Coast Highway (USA) Crossing the Carretera Austral (Chile) Canada's Icefields Parkway Asia drives include: On the trail of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) Crossing the Kathmandu Loop (Nepal) Hightailing from Thimphu to Gangtey (Bhutan) South Korea: From top to toe The road from Srinagar to Manali (India) Europe drives include: Black Forest High Road (Germany) The Wilds of Abruzzo (Italy) Croatia's Adriatic coast Norway's west coast The Magic Circle (Iceland) Oceania drives include: Southern Alps explorer (New Zealand) The Great Ocean Road (Australia) Northland & the Bay of Islands (New Zealand) Following the Captain Cook Highway (Australia) Alice Springs to Darwin (Australia) About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world's number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and phrasebooks for 120 languages, and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, video, 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more, enabling you to explore every day. Lonely Planet enables the curious to experience the world fully and to truly get to the heart of the places they find themselves, near or far from home. TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 winner in Favorite Travel Guide category 'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times 'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia) Important Notice: The digital edition of this book may not contain all of the images found in the physical edition.