1,000 Places to See Before You Die

May 1, 2003
This hefty volume reminds vacationers that hot tourist spots are small percentage of what's worth seeing out there. A quick sampling: Venice's Cipriani Hotel; California's Monterey Peninsula; the Lewis and Clark Trail in Oregon; the Great Wall of China; Robert Louis Stevenson's home in Western Samoa; and the Alhambra in Andalusia, Spain. Veteran travel guide writer Schultz divides the book geographically, presenting a little less than a page on each location. Each entry lists exactly where to find the spot (e.g. Moorea is located"12 miles/19 km northwest of Tahiti; 10 minutes by air, 1 hour by boat") and when to go (e.g., if you want to check out The Complete Fly Fisher hotel in Montana,"May and Sept.-Oct. offer productive angling in a solitary setting"). This is an excellent resource for the intrepid traveler.

December 19, 2011
The original has formed the bucket list for hordes of eager travelers, and this updated guide will do exactly the same (but better). Schultz has added 200 new entries, hundreds of color photographs, and a great deal of new material that will whet readers' appetites for trips all over the globe. She does a decent job of striking a balance between offering high-end as well as budget travel options, and she covers destinations in creative ways, such as splitting the famed Irish capital into "Edible Dublin" and "Literary Dublin." For those with tight schedules, thoughtful delineations like these can transform a hectic day of sightseeing into a veritable curated tour. While the guide is unsurprisingly European and American focused (Europe gets more than 350 pages; Africa barely gets 70), Shultz covers familiar and obscure attractions with equal enthusiasm. The guide is not meant to be a photo album, but this new edition's photographs (though small) will surely get readers excited about new destinations. Supplemental online resources admirably compensate for the book's biggest flaw (no index) by providing travelers looking to tailor their trips with several themed indexes such as "Sacred Places" and "Gorgeous Beaches and Getaway Islands." This is a great resource for readers in the midst of packing their bags as well as those still waiting to feel the wanderlust.