“Back Roads Australia”
(DK Eyewitness Travel, $25)
This photo-rich guide to the Australian back roads — where the road signs warn of kangaroo, koala and even penguin crossings — consists of 22 drives that cover the length and breadth of the island continent. These include all types of terrain, from reef and rain forest to dust-choked, deserted highways in the vast Outback.
Among the most interesting drives is the journey from Hobart, capital of the island of Tasmania, to the historic site of Port Arthur, a formal penal colony. The colony is in ruins, but there visitors can learn about Australia’s convict past.
The Australian gold rush accounts for one drive, beginning in Melbourne and traveling through the former gold mine region of Central Victoria.
The most spectacular drive is the one that goes deep into the heart of the Outback, from Alice Springs to Kata Tjuta, home to many of the country’s indigenous peoples as well as Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock). Still another drive goes down the straight-as-an-arrow roads across Nullarbor Plain from Western to South Australia, considered, according to the authors, the ultimate Australian road trip.
“Top 10 Italian Lakes”
(DK Eyewitness Travel, $14)
This compact guide divides the Italian lakes region into five areas: Lake Maggiore; Lake Como; Bergamo, Brescia and Lake Iseo; Lake Garda; and Milan and Southern Lombardy. Lake Como, probably the best known of the Italian lakes, also is the country’s third largest and its deepest. Lake Iseo is considered among the prettiest.
An exception to the book’s the nature theme is the chapter on Milan, describing some of that city’s many urban highlights, from the massive cathedral known as the Duomo to the Torrazzo, at 413 feet the tallest bell tower in Europe.
The guide is interspersed with lists of various Top 10 sites and things to do, including Top 10 walks, Top 10 festivals, Top 10 cycling routes, Top 10 works of art, from Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” to Caravaggio’s “St. Francis in Meditation,” Top 10 elegant bars and cafes and Top 10 culinary specialties.
Bringing up the rear is practical information for planning your trip, such as transportation, security, health (tap water around the lakes may be safe, but the taste is not always “palatable”), dining and accommodations.
The guide also suggests things to avoid, such as driving on the fast-paced, narrow roads of the lakes region (take public transportation instead), visiting in August (too busy and too pricey) or having a cup of cappuccino after midday (it will mark you as an ignorant foreigner).
“Quiet Corners of Rome”
(Little Bookroom, $16.95)
Author David Downie assures us the title of this guide is not an oxymoron. Some of the quiet corners are obvious, such as the city’s many centuries-old churches. But others are less evident, such as the small and rocky Tiber Island, in the middle of the Tiber, or the cloister and church of Cosma and Damiano, a few hundred yards away from the ruins of the Colosseum.
Downie also describes the quiet corners of public parks, the courtyards of museums, hilltop parklands, the gardens of museum complexes and quiet neighborhood alleys of medieval vintage festooned with public gardens.