1Cover's Lonely Planet Guide Promotion

Follow the heartbeat of America through towering forests, undulating fields, pulsating metropolises and offbeat oases. Whether day-tripping from the Big Apple's core or dreaming of the California Coast, this definitive, award-winning guide inspires you to go the distance and discover the USA's very best.

• Discover & deconstruct - in-depth culture and history sections offer political and paradoxical insights, while the arts section unveils America's top talents
• My way or the highway - full-color highlights, tailored itineraries and 140 killer maps lead you along and off the beaten track
• Run for the hills - escape the concrete jungles via the labyrinth of back roads, waterways and crest trails revealed in our authoritative outdoors section
• Rest easy - national park campsites, secluded B&Bs, five-star suites, the Heartbreak Hotel...our sleeping listings provide prime bedding for myriad budgets

Wanna get soaked by Niagara Falls? Stick your nose into Montréal's markets? Trek arctic Nunavut? Whatever your dreams of the Great White North, this authoritative guide will whisk you all the way from Whistler's mountains to the beaches of Prince Edward Island, stopping at must-see Canadian landmarks and for hidden vistas along the way.

• Explore - the country from coast to coast with the expert advice of our team of authors, including contributions by Will Ferguson and other notable Canadians
• Hit the road - and never get lost with 120 trustworthy maps – more than any other guidebook to Canada
• Find the fun - with opinionated reviews of epic sights, outdoor adventures, smart places to stay, tempting eateries and scintillating nightlife
• Be inspired - by full-color highlights, independent itineraries and in-depth culture, history and environment chapters
• Talk the talk - with our authoritative French language chapter

Australians will seize on just about any excuse for a celebration, and while you're visiting this country it only makes sense to follow the light-hearted, self-indulgent lead of its inhabitants.

The year gets off to a champagne-swilling start when fireworks explode high above Sydney Harbour on New Year's Eve. The new year is also vigorously celebrated further south during the Hobart Summer Festival, when Taswegians stuff themselves with food, wine and song. In late January the streets of Tamworth in NSW are littered with broken guitar strings and broken hearts during its famous Country Music Festival, while Sydney vamps itself up in February when the Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras overwhelms Oxford St with rowdy, colourful glam. The exuberant Adelaide Festival of Arts and its eccentric sibling, Adelaide Fringe, fill the SA capital with culture and idiosyncratic performances in March every two years. And in April in Victoria, Melbourne repeatedly smacks its own funny bone with the outstanding International Comedy Festival. The outback Queensland town of Longreach droves itself crazy with dust-raising thrills during the three-day Outback Muster in May. Meanwhile, for sheer quirkiness and dedication to silliness, the NT's long-running Beer Can Regatta in Darwin in July is an absolute must-see. Indigenous music is the highlight of Stompen Ground, held September/October in the WA town of Broome.

Golden beaches, baked red deserts and glam­orous cities. An ancient indigenous history and a young, vibrant culture: welcome to Australia! Stick around, hang out with us a while. With this bestselling guide to the Land Down Under tucked under one arm, let us show you why Lonely Planet calls Australia home.

• Relax - and let us take care of it; planning your holiday Down Under has never been so easy
• Get around - with the help of 193 maps to town and country, beach and mountain and everywhere in between
• Treat yourself - to the best wining and dining that Australia has to offer, served on a platter by our expert food and drink author
• Meet the locals – Bouncing 'roos, half-stoned koalas and sleepy wombats; Australia's fascinating wildlife is demystified in our full-colour Environment chapter
• Put your feet up - at Australia's best and best-value accommodation, handpicked by our troupe of roaming authors.

The sun shows up here first for a reason. Come for bracing light or caverns underground, glacial valleys or black volcanic sand. Tour every landscape on earth, all rolled into one country. Dig for pipis on the beach, or sample oysters on a platter. Savour solitude with a view, or city culture. Things are never just black and white in New Zealand.

• Stick out your tongue - taste the freshest seafood, world-class wines, or the best lamb roast there is
• Slap your thighs - a good time's easy to find, from happening Auckland to waterfront Wellington
• Get around - the country with the help of over 128 detailed maps
• Stand up proud - and experience Maori culture firsthand; take part in a powhiri, or fill your puku at a hangi
• Run at it shouting - bungy jump, sea kayak, surf, trek and hit the white water with the best of them

Grab that backpack and wave goodbye to routine and familiarity? Africa calls. Wander the deserts, surf the waves, ogle the landscapes and laugh with the locals. Written for backpackers by backpackers, this guide lets you go further, stay longer and pay less for an adventure of a lifetime.

This guide covers: Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritani, Senegal, The Gambia, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte D'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé & Príncipe, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Zaire), Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland, and South Africa.

Scale Mayan pyramids, worship the sun on palm-fringed shores and chill out in the shade of a smoldering volcano. Whatever your passion, Central America is jam-packed with possibilities. Written by experts who travel on your budget, this guide lets you go further, stay longer and pay less for the adventure of a lifetime.

The countries covered in this guide are: Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, and also part of Mexico – Quintana Roo, the Yucatán and Chiapas states.

Can't choose between the northern lights in Lapland, fairytale castles in Transylvania, picturesque beaches on the Mediterranean coast or the bright lights of Paris and London? Then why not try them all! Written for backpackers by backpackers, this guide lets you go further, stay longer and pay less for a trip of a lifetime.

Covers: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Britain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Morocco, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia & Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.

Scale Andean heights, explore endless Amazon rain forests, revel in the frenzy of a fiesta - whatever your passion, South America will work its spell on you. Brimming with travel secrets, this guide lets you tap into the Latin continent for the adventure of a lifetime.

This guide covers: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

The original and the best, Lonely Planet's 'yellow bible' is your ticket to endless adventure in Southeast Asia. Want nonstop parties in 24-hour cities? Feel like sunning your skin on a deserted, white-sand beach? Picture yourself having tea with a remote hilltribe? Written by backpackers for backpackers, this guide will help you stay longer, pay less and experience more.

Covers: Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

Welcome to China: vast, ambitious, proud, and transforming like never before. Speed down alleyways on your Beijing bicycle, slurp steaming noodles in the shadow of a Shanghai skyscraper and wake up spellbound to the desertscapes on Xinjiang. Whether you seek the Terracotta Warriors of ancient Xi'an or a few moments with the pandas of Chengdu, this bestselling guidebook will take you through the heart of China.

Let the bullet train whisk you from futuristic Tokyo to Kyoto's most exquisite temples. Join a sake-filled cherry blossom party or the drum beat of a local matsuri. Pick your own way through sophisticated mega-cities packed with world-class museums. Then meet the wild snow monkeys of Chubu. How could one country offer so much? This bestselling guidebook explains it all.