Drives of a Lifetime: The World's Most Spectacular Trips: Where to Go, Why to Go, When to Go

A visually stunning book, with great ideas about where to plan your next road trip. National Geographic have spared no expense in the production of this book, it is large and printed on high quality paper with excellent colours in the photos. The text is nicely printed and easy to read and the selection of trips is diverse and appealing to drivers of all types. Having driven 30 of the trips within the book, I am now able to use it to show people what some of those places looked like and convince friends to take similar trips. I also felt compelled to alter my upcoming New England itinerary to take in some of these drives. I found the structure of the book a little challenging to start with. It is broken down by types of drives rather than geographical region. You will find mountain drives in Switzerland alongside mountain drives in Cuba, whilst sea-view drives in Italy will be alongside similar journies in Alaska. Once you are used to that, it then becomes a great read because you can compare similar drives in different parts of the world - rather than skipping over countries you have not considered before. The bias of the book is undoubtedly towards USA and Western Europe, which wasn't a problem for me but could be for others.

Whilst essentially another addition to the "Spectacular Places to see in your Lifetime" book genre, what sets this apart from the rest of the pack are its National Geographic credentials. You know with NG you are getting first hand research and excellent photographs which have not just been lifted from the internet. Rather than simply showing you how wonderful these places are, the authors have woven them into road trips which, for the most part, can be travelled in a few hours or so. These range from a tour of Snowdonia (easy), to a trip from Cairo to Cape Town (don't do it - or at least read Paul Theroux's Dark Star Safari first to see how dangerous it is!) Overall there is just the right balance between armchair reading and dreaming, and practical advice for trips you might actually do. There are thumbnail maps for each journey and, helpfully, website addresses to take you further. The writing is crisp and surprisingly detailed given that 500 global trips are covered -no gushing, travel brochure prose here. A wonderful book which should inspire you to visit some of the most mouth-watering places on our planet.

Nice photos, and always good to get ideas. Probably not for the type of 'enthusiast' driver who likes to rag it round the EVO triangle - you'll find the more spirited drives around UK and Europe from spending your time on car forums. But if you just want a coffee table book, or are retired and can spend your time driving 500 pretty routes near interesting scenery or landmarks, sure.

This is not a map in a strict sense of the word. This is also not a comprehensive guide explaining and describing. There are just enough information for it to be clear and not overwhelming with unneeded facts. And these three aspects of the book are actually it's advantages, because in this book is a beacon of ideas, a guide to inspire to free up your imagination. It set you on a trip through the most spectacular trips around the world, first in your mind and then if you're adventurous enough, through the twists and turns themselves. I do sometimes sit in the morning on Saturday, still in warm bed, cosy, open it up and just fly..:) And then, I take my motorcycle and... if you need a source of great inspiration, that's the choice.

Really pleased - the book is excellent. Made a lovely gift. It’s quite substantial - a great coffee table book.

Got it as a gift for a dear friend.he loved it

Amazing pictures, worth buying it.

Im sure its very good but I didnt buy it for myself so guess it must be okay so there