Product Description

From Arnold Palmer's ten finest golf courses to Luciano Pavarotti's ten favorite opera houses to the ten poshest train trips, classiest wristwatches, most atmospheric pubs, and much more, this is a blue-chip bible to delight any traveler for whom only the very best will do—and a rich dreambook for those of us still waiting for our own ships to come in.

Compiled by veteran travelers Nathaniel and Andrew Lande, this extravagantly entertaining volume collects superlatives galore: top sporting events and tropical island hideaways, glorious gardens and magnificent museums, stylish ski runs, superb cigars, and even the Ten Best Things to Do on a Sunday Afternoon in more than a dozen of the world's greatest cities. Here are the tastiest foods life has to offer to cordon bleu gourmets, barbecue fanatics, and hard-core chocoholics; here too are a whole host of trips and expeditions for any taste and to every continent including Antarctica, each complete itinerary a unique variation upon the theme of the 21st century Grand Tour.

Highlighted by 200 color illustrations, studded with cosmopolitan sidebars and savvy tips, and equipped with a wide array of detailed information on luxury hotels, resorts, restaurants, and more, as well as a wealth of transportation options via land, sea or air, this elegant and sophisticated treasury of travel lore will awaken the wanderlust in readers everywhere.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #424097 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-21
• Released on: 2006-03-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

About the Author
Nathaniel Lande has logged more than 4 million miles and circled the globe a dozen times as the director of Time World News Service. In addition, he has served as Creative Director for the Time magazine group, a founding director of Time-Life Films, and an executive producer for both the CBS and NBC networks. The author of eight books, he has been a professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Duke University, as well as a distinguished scholar at Trinity College, Dublin, where he earned his doctorate.

Andrew Lande, an expert in food and wine, holds degrees from the University of California and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He is the co-author of The Cigar Connoisseur and the highly acclaimed A&E Biography special, Bob Hope, America's Entertainer.

Customer Reviews

Terrific gift
I'm at the point in my life where I have the time and the money to travel. Where should I go? This book provides great ideas of where to start. Of course, it's subjective. But, it allows one to start researching about the authors' top 10 spots. Also, like all top 10 lists, it allows discussions and debates among friends and families which also spring up other destination spots not listed in the book.

Some of lists include The 10 Best:
* Beaches
* Islands
* Climbs
* Walk & Hiking Tours
* Gardens
* U.S. National Parks
* Hideaway & Inns
* Cruises
* Drives
* Vistas
* Delis
* Patisseries
* Chocolates
* and much more

Colorful and nicely pictured, it makes a great gift for the travel-challenged...like me.

The Best Of Everything, Anywhere On This Little Blue World
If. If. If. If only life was made for carefree voyages of exploration around this planet of ours. 10 Best of Everything is another volume in the genre of fantasy tourism. (Because who on earth could ever do even one fraction of everything that's listed?) This thick book details the best sites on earth in such categories as best golf courses, best tea shoppes, best sites along the Silk Road, best airlines to take, best places in the US National Park system, best sites in Rome, best places to have a good steak, best places to go in the Loire Valley, and many more bests as well. This is a nice book to peruse and if time and money were not factors, spending one's days trekking through the recommendations here would make for a memorable lifetime. 10 Best has beautiful photography worthy of the imprimatur of the National Geographic Society that rests on its cover, and everyone can probably find something in here that actually registers as a destination on their ultimate vacation list. Where other guides might be heavy on words, this one is loaded with illustrations and bite-sized snippets of fact, and it's as enjoyable to look at this lavish, heavyweight book as it is to read its well-written descriptions of cities, roadways, restaurants, hotels, diving expeditions, and the shopping malls of Madrid. It's a fun book!

Ultimate Companion
This superb book immediately earned a place of honor on the shelf of Very Special Favorites in my personal library, and has retained that position each time I've succumbed to the delightful temptation of re-reading it. I recommend it enthusiastically and wholeheartedly.

Unique in purpose and content, "THE 10 BEST OF EVERYTHING: PASSPORT TO THE BEST, An Ultimate Guide for Travelers" stands well above today's flood of look-alike travel and "best-of" books, and measures up to top travel literature from the past. Selective without being superficial, it's a great read. It evoked resonant memories of places I know and love (New York, Buenos Aires, the Amalfi Coast...), offered new takes on subjects I *thought* I knew (cameras, coffees, Paris...), and enticed me to add to my agenda much I might never have considered (Antarctica, comfy hand-made mattresses from London, a jet-boat safari through a New Zealand World Heritage area...). And it's great fun: the colorful tales with which these two master travelers and raconteurs regale us ("Waiting for MacPherson", "The Chair: Backstage at the Bolshoi"...) make me wish that I'd been along for the ride on their past adventures and that they'd accompany my future ones -- or at least plan my itineraries!

The clever organization and interweaving of this book's rich contents exemplify "thinking outside the box". It's really several books in one. Aside from the authors' personal recommendations and reminiscences and their wealth of ingeniously arranged lists, from which you'll be hard-pressed to tear yourself away, you also get what amounts to an exquisite art book -- the text is lavished with gorgeous historic travel posters and other travel-related art, providing evocative scenery for an armchair tour.

I marveled at the authors' combined range of experience and expertise, from high-end pursuits (Argentine polo, vintage wines, escapes to paradisiacal Malaysian resorts...) to equally satisfying simple pleasures that fit even the humblest budget (top-rated `burgers, flea/antique markets on several continents, awe-inspiring cathedrals for quiet contemplation, the religious experience of eating Arthur Bryant's barbecue in Kansas City...).

This book is a perfect and very classy gift at a reasonable price -- my holiday shopping will be VERY easy this year! It's already received raves from seasoned travelers to whom I've recommended it, and has inspired some friends who are confirmed homebodies to think about setting out to see the world.

More than all its absorbing narratives and intriguing recommendations, though, the real glory of this book is that it's a rare, totally unpedantic education in how to truly live well -- not necessarily expensively (although those seeking luxury couldn't have more savvy mentors than the Landes!), but to the fullest. The book has been a beacon illuminating the path between my dreams and the memorable journeys they're becoming.