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.
Boasting dozens of national parks and reserves, Uganda is a supremely diverse wildlife-viewing destination. Home to a wealth of forest and savannah mammals, as well as 1,000-plus bird species, here you can track chimpanzees, walk with white rhinos, get up close to shoebills, and take a safari in search of tree-climbing lions. But it's not just about the fauna : scale the lofty volcanic peaks of the Virengas, experience life among the Karamojong at a traditional manyatza, or simply enjoy some peace and relaxation at lovely lake Bunyonyi.
Now in its ninth edition, Bradt's Uganda remains the most comprehensive guide to this exciting country. Written by Africa expert Philip Briggs and Uganda specialist Andrew Roberts, it includes detailed background and freshly updates pratical information, plus a new 32-page colour wildlife section.
This new, thoroughly updated 5th edition of Bradt's Faroe Islands remains the only English-language guide to this isolated, unspoiled archipelago, home to Tórshavn, the world's smallest capital, and where there are twice as many sheep as people. Bradt's Faroe Islands offers detailed information about all 18 islands and the breathtaking landscapes which never fail to inspire visitors, from the highest sea cliffs in Europe at Enniberg on the island of Viðoy to the dramatic seascapes at Akraberg, the southernmost point of the Faroes. There's hands-on information about where to stay and eat, how to get around - be it by local ferry, helicopter or your own hire car - and what to see and do. Also included are details of how to reach even the remotest corners by bus using a travel card, the latest information on falling seabird numbers in the North Atlantic, and details of where to go sea angling and horseriding. Suggestions for visiting the island of Suðuroy are detailed, plus there are updated reviews of all accommodation, eating and drinking options. Fourteen clear and easy-to-use maps are also featured.
Written by expert author James Proctor, who has been visiting the Faroes since 1992, this latest edition includes all the most recent developments and provides all the information needed for a successful trip. Within the islands themselves, Bradt's Faroe Islands is recognised as the definitive source of information about the Faroes in the English language - and is widely respected as such. Whether you're visiting for the amazing birdlife, to walk some of Europe's least-known hiking trails or simply to sample real village life among the houses painted in a mêlée of reds, yellows and blues, Bradt's Faroe Islands is the perfect 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.
At the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Georgia unassumingly offers visitors the best of the Caucasus region - beautiful churches, wild and unspoiled countryside perfect for hiking and cycling, welcoming locals, homemade wines and marathon toasting. With up-to-date details on a growing number of ecotourism and adventure-tourism initiatives and the latest on the political situation and break-away states, Bradt's Georgia aids you in avoiding meal-time faux pas, reveals the country's hidden cultural treasures and offers practical details on varied activities from countryside caving, visiting ancient pagan ruins or tackling four litres of wine in a sitting. A land of cultural and natural diversity, Georgia greets you with open arms and an open bottle - or two.
Bradt's guide to Georgia will provide travellers and hikers with all the insights, hard facts and hidden treasures for this little-explored but very welcoming Caucasus state:
- Comprehensive details of where to stay and eat - A traveller's guide to Georgian hospitality, customs and transport - The flora and fauna of the region
A new, thoroughly updated edition of Bradt's Iceland, recipient of the Lowell Thomas Award (the highest travel writing award available in the United States) providing more context for individual places than any other guidebook, plus honest, investigative hotel and restaurant reviews that hide nothing. Based on 20 years of personal and business travel, exploration and adventure all around the country, Bradt's Iceland is in-depth, well-researched and comprehensive, featuring a year-round approach to travelling in Iceland in line with the development of the local tourist industry to offer attractions beyond the normal summer season. This latest edition covers the growing tourist infrastructure: the new, fully-paved road system, better routes through the interior, a wave of new hotels and resorts, more tour companies with more tour options, new adventure activities, plus day tours from port city destinations and tips for those travellers arriving by cruise ship. Natural history and wildlife experiences are featured prominently along with a focus on the outdoors and help in accessing even the most difficult corners of Iceland. Also featured is the most in-depth political and economic analysis offered by any guidebook since the turmoil of 2008. And, even though Iceland is notoriously expensive, there are now a lot more options for travellers, including more hostels, campsites, and budget airlines. This new edition also includes a foreword by the newly elected President of Iceland, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson. Containing information on remote offshore islands, the uninhabited interior and Reykjavik's bustling music and art scene, this remains the definitive guide.
This new thoroughly updated edition of Bradt's Namibia remains the essential guide for a successful visit to this vast country - more than twice the size of Germany but with less than 3% of the population. Written by expert author and long-standing tour specialist Chris McIntyre, this sixth edition incorporates all the most recent changes, including unrivalled coverage of places to stay and eat, from small, personal guesthouses to classy hotels and upmarket game lodges, and detailed information for self-drivers (including personally researched and checked GPS coordinates) as well as for fly-in and guided safaris. There's also in-depth coverage of wildlife and where to see it, including a new full-colour wildlife field guide section, covering mammals, reptiles and amphibians, marine life and birds.
Two background chapters covering everything from history and politics to people, ethnic groups and culture are complemented by two chapters on planning, preparation, health and safety and two on the practicalities of getting around and camping and walking in the bush (including canoeing). Helping you to discover Namibia in detail, 13 chapters offer a regional breakdown, from the capital, Windhoek to the Southern Kalahari, Namib desert, Swakopmund, Skeleton Coast, Etosha National Park, and the Kavango and Zambezi regions in the extreme northeast, including excursions into neighbouring Botswana.
With sweeping landscapes and empty roads, Namibia has long captured the imaginations of travellers and photographers. Its immense emptiness offers majestic sand dunes, seemingly endless gravel plains, vast tracts of farmland and rugged mountains hiding galleries of ancient Bushman rock art. Add to this the wildlife and the unexpected beauty of the rivers that define the country's northern and southern boundaries, and it's easy to see why Namibia attracts lovers of the great outdoors.
Bradt's Paraguay was the first stand-alone guide to Paraguay published outside of Paraguay itself and still remains the most comprehensive guide available, covering the whole country from the best-known sights to off-the-beaten track attractions well beyond the tourist trail, plus a cross-border excursion to the Iguazú Falls.
This new edition has been thoroughly updated to reflect all the most recent changes, including new themed tourist trails such as the Ruta Jesuítica Multidestino (Jesuit-Guaraní missions) and Ruta de la Caña Paraguaya (Paraguayan rum). Also covered are new luxury hotels for international events, and the increase in number of flights into Asunción. Of particular note is the dramatic increase in posadas around the country: small, reasonably-priced, government-vetted guest houses in private homes, the number of which has increased significantly.
Bradt's Paraguay offers all the background information required for a successful trip, from customs and etiquette to curious snippets such as the fact that football is believed to have been invented here in the Jesuit missions in 1793 in a game that corresponds to the game known today. Nature and wildlife are also covered, from the Pantanal in the north to the wetlands of Ñeembucú to the south, and to the Mbaracayu reserve to the east.
Immensely detailed, Bradt's Paraguay is written by a well-established journalist who has lived in the country for almost 20 years, who runs an educational charity and who has founded a small hotel which offers tours around Paraguay and is run for the profit of local people. With everything from phone numbers of local keyholders to museums and churches to a map of how to reach remote waterfalls, Bradt's Paraguay is the definitive source for a rewarding trip.
This new, fully updated third edition of Bradt's Uruguay remains the only dedicated English-language guide to a country that's small yet bursting with character. Bradt's Uruguay provides in-depth coverage of the capital Montevideo, where the once-derelict colonial Old City is undergoing a historic resurgence, plus detailed information on the UNESCO-listed coastal city of Colonia del Sacramento, as well as Punta del Este, where the Buenos Aires glitterati decamps to the beaches each summer. There's advice, too, for active travellers who can rattle their whips on cattle-ranching estancias and spin their sticks in a game of polo or two and for nature enthusiasts keen to watch wildlife in the western wetlands and birds in Cabo Polonio and Santa Teresa.
The guide also investigates the Brazilian influences behind Uruguay's music and dance, an active and upcoming food and wine scene, and the country's distinctive Afro-Uruguayan heritage, most noticeable during the world-beating 80-day Carnaval season. In addition, it covers the recent development of marijuana tours following the legalisation of marijuana.
Uruguay caters for all tastes, whether you want to ride with gauchos and spend time on a traditional estancia like La Sirena, visit Fray Bentos and discover the history of the town's former meat-packing plant, or take a tour of the Canelones department wineries. Montevideo's Splendid Art Deco architecture and colourful annual Carnaval are covered, and so too are the stunning sandy beaches of boho-chic fishing village José Ignacio and the Termas de Daymán - Uruguay's largest hot baths. Also included are San Javier, an ideal base for bird-watching trips along the Río Uruguay and details of hiking in Quebrada de los Cuervos National Park - a subtropical canyon filled with flowers and birds.
Most commonly known for winning the first soccer World Cup, electing the world's so-called 'poorest president', and raising a whole lot of beef on the pampa, Uruguay remains among South America's safest and most stable destinations, an destination replete with interest waiting to be discovered by both leisure and adventurous travellers
Bradt's Gabon remains the only English-language guide dedicated exclusively to what is considered by many to be 'Africa's last Eden' thanks to its sparse population and perhaps the highest percentage of forest cover of any country in the world. This new edition has been fully updated and covers all recent developments, including in the national parks. Several new maps have been added (taking the total to 31) and most sketch maps have been upgraded. Also covered is the discovery of the extraordinary orange-coloured crocodiles living in the Abanda cave system.
Full background, natural history, conservation, practical and health information is accompanied by a nine-chapter regional breakdown of the country, from Libreville and L'Estuaire to Moyen Ogooué, Ngounié, Ogooué Maritime and Nyanga, as well as Woleu-Ntem, Ogooué-Ivindo, Haut Ogooué and Ogooué-Lolo.
Visitors to Gabon will come face-to-face with nature in its rawest, wildest, most untouched form, from the impenetrable forests of the interior to the grassy plateaus of Haut-Ogooué and the windblown white-sand beaches of the coast - the latter known worldwide for the gorilla, buffalo, and elephant that come to wander the sandy shores and the 'surfing hippo' that - astonishingly - come to play in the frothy surf.
Gabon is more than just nature, however, and culture lovers will be taken with one of the region's finest carving traditions (in both wood and soapstone), floored by the furious tempos played on the moungongo mouth-harp, and transported to another place entirely by the all-night drums, dance, fire, and faith of the traditional Bwiti rites.
Bradt's Gabon offers the most thorough and up-to-date information available and is an ideal companion for wildlife enthusiasts, Africa aficionados and completists, and overlanders travelling along Africa's west coast.
Now into its seventh edition and written by Philip Briggs, the world's leading writer of guidebooks to Africa, Bradt's Rwanda has been the go-to guide for visitors to this historical and resurgent 'Land of a Thousand Hills' for nearly two decades, and it continues to be in a class of its own when it comes to in-depth information on this emerald slice of East Africa. With freshly researched and updated details on developments across the country, Bradt's Rwanda includes up-to-date maps of rapidly modernising Kigali, information on hiking to the summit of Mount Bisoke and a newly expanded chapter on excursions into the neighbouring DRC.
In this new edition are extensive and recently updated maps and natural history information, details of kayak and canoe excursions on Lake Kivu and the Mukungwa River, all you need to know about tracking not only mountain gorillas in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park but also lowland gorillas in the Congo, and information about overnight stays on tea plantations at Sorwathe or Gisovu. Also covered are Nyungwe Forest National Park, where a wealth of endemic birds and primates inhabit the largest surviving montane forest in East Africa; Nyanza, where the hilltop Rukari Palace Museum marks the site of the old mwami's (king's) palace; and the National/Ethnographic Museum of Rwanda, the top cultural site in Rwanda's second city, Huye (Butare). Coverage of nearby cities and national parks in the neighbouring DRC has been expanded since last edition, providing all the necessary information to take an excursion into Rwanda's enormous and poorly understood neighbour.
Rwanda continues to change and develop at an unprecedented pace, and there's hardly a more accessible part of Africa to be found anywhere on the continent. It's no less intriguing for the convenience, however, and Rwanda's superlative natural attractions seem to improve by the day, with growing animal populations and an on-going rhino reintroduction program in Akagera National Park.
Having now gone through nearly 18 years of editions, Bradt's Rwanda is not only the most in-depth guide available, but also the guide with the longest history in the country itself.
This new, thoroughly updated third edition of Bradt's Kazakhstan remains the only guide available dedicated solely to the world's ninth largest country. This new edition covers all the most recent developments, including an updated history section, additional cultural coverage, more practical information to make independent travel easier, and the most up-to-date and relevant maps. Kazakhstan is more accessible than ever: tourist visas are no longer required and there are now numerous direct flights and connections from Europe. Tourist infrastructure has also significantly improved over the past few years and there are faster trains connecting east to west and north to south, as well as many options for internal flights.
Kazakhstan is a modern country with a profound appreciation of its roots; numerous petroglyph sites with ancient rock art as well as the remains of Silk Road settlements testify to its varied history. The country offers a curious mix of Soviet nostalgia and architecture combined with the latest technology: Kazakhstan has better 4G coverage than Germany, France or Italy. For visitors, there are excellent opportunities for active tourism such as skiing, hiking, rafting, horse riding or simply gazing into the endless steppe.
Bradt's Kazakhstan is indispensable for discovering this extraordinary country, a place that is as geographically diverse as its cultural mix: around 130 different ethnic groups calls Kazakhstan home. From snow-covered peaks with excellent skiing opportunities and hiking trails through river valleys to the secluded lakes of the Tian Shan Mountains, to endless semi-desert steppes and then on to the blue waters of the Caspian, Bradt's Kazakhstan is a perfect companion for all travellers, from nature lovers to cultural explorers, teenage backpackers to family groups.
