Journey’s end for the guidebook gurus?
Lonely Planet has been sold and the creator of Rough Guides has stepped down. Carole Cadwalladr looks at how their growth from humble beginnings into publishing leviathans has transformed our guidebooks.
Back on the road again
Twenty-seven years after his epic round-the-world motorbike adventure, Ted Simon set out to do it again. He describes the highs and lows of travelling in his seventies
Our man in the blogosphere
Separating the wheat from the chaff is a tricky business online. Benji Lanyado on some more of his favourite travel blogs.
An imperfect German tale
Germans may strive for 'absolute perfection' but this journey to discover their culture is far from flawless, says Rory MacLean. Ben Donald's main failing is in forgetting to write from the heart.
The great escape – part 2
Updike's Rabbit novels on a tour of America, War and Peace in the sweltering heart of Africa, Moby-Dick on the South Atlantic and Anita Brookner in the midst of the Eritrean war - writers recall the most memorable books of their travels ...
From Lewis Carroll to Sid James
Alice in Sunderland: An Entertainment by Bryan Talbot is a gloriously ambitious mix of myth, history and autobiography that impresses Michel Faber.
Call of the wild
Jay Griffiths has always been an adventurer - but her expeditions are not heroic conquests. She is on a mission to understand the last wildernesses left on the planet, she tells Stephen Moss.
The pariah countries
For his latest book, Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler set out to travel along the 'axis of evil'. Rory MacLean applauds his journey.
‘Continent of catastrophe’
Rory MacLean is inspired by Peter Godwin's moving and politically-provoking memoir of Zimbabwe under Mugabe's regime.
How to … publish your own guidebook
The 'death of the guidebook' has been predicted for several years now, but the holiday essential seems to have remained in rude health.
The guidebook
A series of 'Real City' guides compiled by knowledgeable locals are now on sale.
A 30-year odyssey
From the Alps to Africa and from the past to the present, Cees Nooteboom's Nomad's Hotel is a lifetime of travel in one glorious book, says Rory MacLean.
Bowled over
A book about cricket in eastern Europe with a psychic twist? Don't be put off by the batty premise, says Rory MacLean in the first of a new travel books column.
The long read home
The best travel writing isn't about the journey from A to B - it's about the journey within. Travel writer Rory MacLean reveals his favourite travel books of 2006 Christmas shopping rush.
The loneliness of the long-distance cyclist
Alastair Humphreys spent four years cycling around the world. Reading his first book, about his journey through Africa, former Netjetter Susan Greenwood finds a kindred spirit.