Books about travel

After nearly two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson took the decision to move back to the USA. Before leaving his much-loved home in North Yorkshire, he took one last trip around the UK, and in this book, he turns an affectionate but laconic eye on his adopted country.

From the author of Notes from a Small Island and The Lost Continent comes this humorous report on his walk along the Appalachian Trail. The Trail is the longest continuous footpath in the world, and it snakes through some of the wildest and most spectacular landscapes in America.

Australia has more things that can kill you than anywhere else. Nevertheless, Bill Bryson journeyed to the country and promptly fell in love with it. The people are cheerful, their cities are clean, the beer is cold and the sun nearly always shines.

An account of one man's rediscovery of America and his search for the perfect small town. Instead he finds a continent that is doubly lost: lost to itself because it is blighted by greed, pollution, mobile homes and television; and lost to him because he has become a foreigner in his own country.

Bill Bryson shoulders his backpack, keeps a tight hold on his wallet and heads for Europe. He retraces his travels as a student twenty years earlier with caustic hilarity and his own unique brand of humour. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Bill Bryson lived in North Yorkshire for many years. First published in 1991 by Secker & Warburg.

This title describes 1000 must-see spots, from beaches to museums to cathedrals to bustling markets, grand hotels to backwater inns, rugged safaris to the most pampering spas. It includes addresses, phone and fax numbers, websites, costs and best times to visit with subject-specific indexes.

After nearly two decades in England, Bill Bryson returned to the country of his birth. Gathered here are 18 months' worth of his Mail on Sunday columns about that strange phenomena, the American way of life, in which he brings his bemused wit to bear on one of the world's craziest countries.

Elizabeth Gilbert is in her thirties, she has a husband, a house, and they're trying for a baby - she doesn't want any of it. A bitter divorce and a turbulent love affair later, she emerges battered and bewildered and realises it is time to pursue her own journey in search of three things she has been missing: pleasure, devotion and balance.

Peter Mayle and his wife did what most of us only imagine doing when they made their long-cherished dream of a life abroad a reality: throwing caution to the wind, they bought a glorious two hundred year-old farmhouse in the Luberon Valley and began a new life. This work lets you discover the joys of French rural living.

In 1960, the author set out to rediscover his native land. He felt that he might have lost touch with its sights, sounds and the essence of its people. Accompanied only by his dog, Charley, he travelled all across the United States in a pick-up truck. His journey took him through almost forty states. This book collects what he saw and experienced.

Offers insights into things that range from holiday romance to hotel mini-bars, airports to sight-seeing. This book explains why we really went in the first place - and suggests how we might be happier on our journeys.

Features the rhythms of 1950s underground America, jazz, sex, generosity, chill dawns and drugs, with Sal Paradise and his hero Dean Moriarty, traveller and mystic, the living epitome of Beat.

Featuring recipes, this book explores the nuances of the Italian landscape, history and cuisine. It about the tastes and pleasures of Tuscany.

Explains author's travels to a remote country in search of a strange beast and his encounters with the people.

The songlines are the invisible pathways that criss-cross Australia, ancient tracks connecting communities and following ancient boundaries. This is an account which recalls the authors' travels across the length and breadth of Australia seeking to find the truth about the songs and unravel the mysteries of their stories.