This new, sixth edition of Bradt's Iran continues to provide the most detailed background, history and cultural information available when visiting this 'Jewel of Central Asia'. Thoroughly reviewed to provide all the latest information, including security and language, this new edition includes expanded information on travel to western Iran, namely Khorasan Province, which remains largely unexplored, with an emphasis on the uniqueness of Iranian cultural heritage combined with stunning landscapes. Also new are maps of Sadosaltaheh Caravanserai, Tabriz, Kerman and Shiraz and Tehran city centres. Travel through Iranian Kurdistan is also included, as are hiking in the Alborz and Zagros Mountains and expanded practical information for independent travellers. Food and arts, rugs and handicrafts are all covered, plus details of recommended Iranian movies. For outdoor enthusiasts, there are details of swimming, skiing, and desert and eco-tours.Expert authors give first-hand descriptions of attractions ranging from the exquisite mosques of Esfahan and the museums and palaces of Tehran to caravanserai, Nishapur, Qaleh Rudkhan and Kurdish villages on the Silk Road Trail. Up-to-date information on all the basics - hotels, restaurants, businesses and shops - help you to uncover the mysteries of ancient Persepolis, to enjoy a soak and scrub in a local hamam, or to pick up a pair of giveh slippers or a Persian rug in Kirman's baazar.This edition has been updated once again by Middle East expert Maria Oleynik, who is fluent in ten languages, including Persian and Arabic, and who is currently undertaking a degree in Middle Eastern Language (Persian) and Society.
New from Bradt is the first ever, standalone English-language guide to Hokkaido, Japan's second-largest island and northernmost prefecture. Home to under 5% of the country's population, this is a land of vast, wild expanses that demands exploration at any time of year - and feels a world away from Tokyo.
Penned by an outdoors-loving travel writer resident in Japan, Bradt's Hokkaido delves far deeper into this frontier land than country-wide guidebooks can possibly do. Author Tom Fay provides detailed coverage of the island's history, unique wildlife, local food, the Ainu (indigenous people), outdoor activities, skiing logistics, hiking courses and the practicalities of visiting in winter, when deep snow carpets the ground and the sea turns to ice.
Hokkaido's varied landscapes include remote mountain ranges, fertile lowland plains, sweeping forests and enormous wetlands home to rare birds and other wildlife. Even for the Japanese, Hokkaido has a somewhat wild and exotic aura - place names have distinct Ainu origins and the capital Sapporo is closer to Russia's Vladivostok than to Tokyo, while the Siberia-influenced climate and wide open spaces are unlike anything found in the rest of Japan.
Hokkaido's mild summers are ideal for sightseeing, cycling, camping and hiking. Why not climb the island's highest mountain in Daisetsuzan National Park - an untouched wilderness of simmering volcanoes and stunning nature - or marvel at colourful fields of flowers around Furano and Biei? In winter, you can go to snow festivals, walk on sea ice (or board an icebreaker) to explore the Sea of Okhotsk, watch flocks of sea eagles or track brown bears in Shiretoko National Park, or head to popular ski resorts such as Niseko where the huge dumps of perfect powder snow attract skiers and snowboarders from around the world.
Throw in hot springs (and ryokan hot-spring inns), active volcanoes, speciality seafood and quirky foodstuffs such as chocolate-covered chips, excellent transport links and renowned Japanese hospitality, and Hokkaido is a thrilling and varied off-the-beaten-path travel destination. Bradt's Hokkaido is instantly the essential companion.
This thoroughly updated fourth edition of Bradt's Lapland is the only standalone guidebook in English to this wintry wonderland, a region spanning the northernmost fringes of Norway, Sweden and Finland where there are as many reindeer as people, it never gets dark in summer and never gets light in mid-winter. In this new edition, expert author James Proctor covers all the latest developments, including the most up-to-date information on where to see the Northern Lights (Lapland is the best region in the world for Northern Lights viewing) and where to go husky sledding, reviews of the treehouse hotels which have sprung up across the region, the latest details of how to fly directly to one of the Europe's most far-flung destinations from the UK and USA, plus information on a wide range of summer and winter adventures, from hiking and wild swimming to snowmobiling, wilderness stays and staying in the Icehotel.
Everybody has heard of Lapland. Everybody knows it's the home of Father Christmas. Yet remarkably few people can accurately pinpoint Lapland on a map. Bradt's Lapland lifts the lid off this little-known, enigmatic region and shows that there's much more to Lapland than the man with the long white beard and the red suit. This is a land of elemental beauty with plenty to offer anyone who's looking to explore the great outdoors without the great crowds. Lapland is vast and empty, a place of indigenous villages, sweeping forests, mighty waterfalls - the raw side of nature here is the region's defining and inescapable characteristic and no visit is complete without leaving the creature comforts of the nearest town well behind.
Whether on an organized tour or travelling independently, Bradt's Lapland is the essential travel companion.
This 8th edition of Bradt's Ghana remains the only dedicated guidebook on the market and the most comprehensive source of travel information on the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence and the world's second-largest producer of chocolate. Covering everything from Ghana's 550km of Atlantic coastline to its remote and sparsely populated northern border with Burkina Faso, this new edition has been thoroughly updated and is an ideal companion no matter what your interests are. Written by Philip Briggs, arguably the world's most experienced guidebook writer, it covers everything from inexpensive opportunities to see wildlife to cultural and historical aspects such as the slave trading posts.
Background, practical and health information are complemented by a dedicated, illustrated chapter on wildlife, 63 maps and 18 chapters split across five regional sections, from Accra and surrounds to the coast, through eastern and central Ghana, right up to the north. The popular Cape Coast and the Ashanti regions are both covered, as is the increasingly high-profile Chale Wote Street Art festival.
Friendly, safe and inexpensive, Ghana is an ideal destination for first-time visitors to Africa. It is rich in little-visited national parks, forest reserves, cultural sites and scenic waterfalls and blessed with bleached white beaches and the lush rainforest of the Atlantic coastline. Bradt's Ghana is accompanied by a dedicated, updated website run by the author himself and caters for everyone from birdwatchers to bar-hoppers. Whether you want to cruise the world's largest man-made reservoir, Lake Volta, on a pokey old steamer, hike with elephants in Mole National Park, or party all night in Accra's glittering Osu district, Bradt's Ghana is an indispensable companion.
For the UK.
This new tenth edition of Bradt's Zanzibar, Pemba and Mafia remains the most in-depth guide available to these exotic and alluring islands. Thoroughly updated following extensive on-the-ground research, accommodation listings are near comprehensive, with over 300 properties spanning all budget levels featured, many newly built and the vast majority not featured in other guides. Bradt's Zanzibar also offers for more detailed coverage of the islands' cultural, historic and environmental status than other guides, and the authors make a point of featuring more ethically- minded hotels, tour operators and activities, from fair- trade shopping opportunities to marine awareness guidelines. All maps have been accurately updated with every property, major attraction, eatery and road recorded using GPS. No other guidebook provides this level of guidance.
Zanzibar, Pemba and Mafia have become increasingly accessible dream destinations. All offer some wonderful beach resorts catering to most styles and budgets, but they also offer superb diving and snorkelling, while Swahili-related cultural highlights range from the history-steeped alleys of Zanzibar Stone Town to a scattering of evocative ruins spanning several centuries, and the more low-key fishing villages that line the coast.
Bradt's Zanzibar is the most frequently updated book on the islands: the authors are personally known in the region for their face-to-face research methods and this is the book of choice for hoteliers and expatriate workers/residents on Zanzibar. The guide also includes a dedicated section on southern Tanzanian safaris in the Selous/Nyerere and Ruaha National Parks, making this the ideal choice for a bush and beach combination.
