Great Adventures: Experience the World at its Breathtaking Best

by Lonely Planet

This beautiful hardback takes the reader on 75 of the most amazing adventures on the planet. From the ultimate challenge of climbing Mount Everest to less strenuous but equally inspiring experiences like kayaking with orcas in Canada and cycling Vietnam's backroads, this is the definitive companion to the world's most spectacular adventures.

With stunning photographs, sumptuous descriptions and practical information, this inspirational coffee table book will delight armchair explorers and bone fide adventurers alike.

'While it is lovely to linger over the stunning photos, there is a lot more to this sumptuously designed title - a follow-up to "Great Journeys" - than meets the eye? This is a perfect gift for the traveller in your life who might be tempted to ride the Tour de France's high passes or paraglide from Mont Blanc's pearly summit.' "Sydney Morning Herald"

'Whether you're active or just love reading about action, there's something here for everyone.' "Australian Associated Press"

'If you liked Lonely Planet's "Great Journeys," you'll love the next in the series - "Great Adventures"? Even if you're not planning a trip it's great for armchair travelling.' "The Times"

About Lonely Planet: Started in 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel guide publisher with guidebooks to every destination on the planet, as well as an award-winning website, a suite of mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet's mission is to enable curious travellers to experience the world and to truly get to the heart of the places they find themselves in.

"TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Awards 2012 winner in Favorite Travel Guide category"

"'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times"

"'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia) "

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference, Photography

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

OUR STORY
A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies and Lonely Planet was born. One hundred million guidebooks later, Lonely Planet is the world’s leading travel guide publisher with content to almost every destination on the planet.

Reviews

[John Orman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book makes a huge Bucket List for the adventurous types.
Hiking, Diving, Climbing, on Ice, Snow, and Water!
Dive in Bikini Atoll, bike through Vietnam, climb El Capitan (or even Mt. Everest!). Some animals get in the picture too--pandas in China, and wolves in Yellowstone. Been to Yellowstone, but did not see any wolves, much less walk with them. Maybe I will windsurf the Columbia River Gorge, since it is near me. Kayak in Antarctica? Maybe not! But hiking the John Muir Trail is doable.

Seen some of these places, and have rafted the Colorado River--and exciting adventure for sure! But have not rafted the Amazon! Been to the start of the Milford Track, but not hiked it. Seen Mt. Kilimanjaro, but not climbed it. Have swam with sharks, but not deliberately!

Maybe I will add "drive the world's most dangerous road" to my Bucket List. That would be the El Camino de la Muerte (Road of Death) in Bolivia. The crude road marks a spectacular descent from the Bolivian Andes to the Amazon Basin. Epic!

But the reader can also wimp out and just enjoy the vicarious adventure of viewing the book's many wonderful, large-format photos!

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations
Easy to read text

Highly recommend

Great coffee table book

[Rudi Opperman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some amazing locations appear in this book. Have to say that some of the adventures are really on the extreme side. Would only be something that a very few people in the world be able and willing to attempt.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well organized book… With lots of ideas for your next great adventure. It’s not a book to plan with… More for a jumping off point. Did love the armchair travel suggestions.

[Onoskal · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you're expecting to go to distant lands, braving new adventures, but only got some change for the bus way home, this would be the book which you seek. It has interesting tourist destinations, accompanied with thought-evoking pictures, and of course, well-written accounts of each location.

I find the written reviews of each location brings excitement more than the pictures in itself, so this book would be better accepted by those who enjoyed reading, thus having more vivid imagination.

[Sivaram Velauthapillai · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want some ideas for travel--the wild adventurous type--this book provides an overview. Although the book only covers a limited number, the full colour pages printed on large size paper with descriptions is good enough to dream your way to your next trip. One thing I liked about the book is that it covers diverse ideas that are unrelated to each other. This isn't a travel guide; it is an idea generator,

[John Eliade · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel weird giving this book any stars at all. It includes a great reading list (of which I tried to add to my Goodreads) and tons of beautiful pictures. But Great Adventures is basically just a wishlist of amazing places and routes to travel along in the world. Many routes and places I'd love to go myself. Makes a great coffee-table book, but only odd folk like me will probably enjoy actually reading it from cover to cover.

[Nicole Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really beautiful photos and that’s about it.

[Britt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I grabbed this while getting some other travel books at the library. The whole time I was going through it I was like, "Come on!" I know the purpose of the book is these ridiculous adventures, so I probably shouldn't rate it low, but most just seem a bit far fetched. This is a book where you probably pick 1 to 2 to do in a lifetime, but you would need to have lots of time, money, and physical ability to do a bunch of them. I'm not really looking for month-long hikes in remote regions or deep cavern dives that require at least 50 dives beforehand and possible exposure to poisonous gases. However, swimming with sharks or pampering elephants at a sanctuary....that's a little more up my alley. This book might give you some lofty goals to consider, but I would take it more as an educational read than travel guide. There isn't much specific details about logistics, cost, etc.