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Lonely Planet Epic
Lonely Planet Epic Road Trips of the Americas
Buckle up for the next installment in our Epic series and the follow-up to Epic Drives of the World . Showcasing 50 of the Americas’ greatest road trips across North and South America as well as the Caribbean, you’ll discover classic drives including the Pacific Coast Highway, Gaspesie Loop in Canada and the Hana Highway in Hawaii, plus lesser-known routes. We cover a huge variety of themes and experiences across drives that range from a few hours to a week or more. Each of the featured drives With a vibrant cover illustrated by Ross Murray, this beautiful hardback continues this collectible series. Whether you’re a regular road tripper or just want to explore your destination in a new way, Epic Road Trips of the Americas will inspire a lifetime of adventures out on the open road. About Lonely Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and phrasebooks for 120 languages, and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, videos, 14 languages, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more, enabling you to explore every day. '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)
- GenresTravelNonfiction
320 pages, Hardcover
Published September 20, 2022
4 people are currently reading
345 people want to read
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4,101 books943 followersOUR 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 31, 2023
Very colorful with pictures which take up an easy 50% of the book. But the Americas is North/Central/South America, which is too big a scope. South America 8 drives? Central America 3? Caribbean 4?
The first-person accounts feel casual to read. A short consistent summary/table of each is included. This book can give you a yearning to do these, but you need a much better resource on each one to really see what you are in for.
Again - too many targets. Thus making these books into coffee-table kinds of interest, instead of the depth that would make you take this book with you on your vacation/quest.
The first-person accounts feel casual to read. A short consistent summary/table of each is included. This book can give you a yearning to do these, but you need a much better resource on each one to really see what you are in for.
Again - too many targets. Thus making these books into coffee-table kinds of interest, instead of the depth that would make you take this book with you on your vacation/quest.
November 29, 2022
Thank you to @LonelyPlanet for sending EPIC ROAD TRIPS OF THE AMERICAS my way. Reading the first person accounts of the various road trips this book covers (North America, South America, & the Caribbean!) was so fun and inspiring. That sounds canned but it’s not - before Bookstagram, I used to write all about my travels and I even had a travel Instagram! Being immersed in writing & images from these road trips genuinely makes me happy.
This would be an amazing coffee table book or a gift for a travel lover!
This would be an amazing coffee table book or a gift for a travel lover!
April 21, 2023
See my full review here.
First, that cover! So gorgeous. And as I love road trips, and am planning some close-to-home travel, I was happy to discover this on our library's new books shelf. Not to boast, but honestly, I live in the BEST province for holidaying! I’m a few hours from hiking the Rockies, seeing wildlife in the Cariboo, exploring the canyonlands of Utah, and enjoying the surf on the stormy West coast and more. So I was delighted to sit down with this new release from Lonely Planet and start exploring my options. The book is nicely organized into four sections: North America (the biggest, comprising over 200 of the book’s 300-odd pages), South America (8 trips in 50 pages), Central America (3 trips in 20 pages) and the Caribbean (4 trips in 25 pages). Each entry features a mini map of the country with a red dot showing the location of the start of the epic drive as well as a slightly more detailed map of the route showing towns and a rough geography like trees and ocean or lakes. The text is narrative, and each is written by a different author, detailing the drive as a personal journey, and including recommendations for restaurants or accommodation. Some drivers use an electric vehicle, and include plenty of information about charging; the author of the drive along Colorado’s Top of the Rockies’ Scenic Byway is a bit obsessed, in my opinion, but range anxiety is real, I guess. The entries feature lots of descriptions of the landscape and the appeal of the highway, inspiring the reader to find out more. There is also a factbox for each drive, providing start/finish location, distance in miles and kilometres, how to get there, when to go, and where to stay. At the end is a two-page spread with three drives that are “More Like This,” along with two or three photos from those drives. The choice of photos is my biggest criticism of the book, in fact; there are some gorgeous landscape shots, but there are also pictures of the inside of a bar, or the outside of an inn; some of the photos are poorly reproduced; others are just bizarre choices. The single photo of John Muir’s country in the Sierra Nevada (Yosemite National Park, people!) is of a parking lot with a car next to a fenced grove of redwoods. There is also an index, though it quite failed my test. One of the Canadian trips in the book is the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island. Baddeck is the biggest town on the loop. Neither Baddeck, nor Cape Breton, nor Cabot Trail, nor Nova Scotia is listed separately. I found it under Canada, Coastal road trips, Culture-rich road trips, and Wildlife-rich road trips. It’s not listed under National Park road trips either – only American ones got that entry. I expect better from Lonely Planet. 2.5 stars rounded down; something I rarely do.
First, that cover! So gorgeous. And as I love road trips, and am planning some close-to-home travel, I was happy to discover this on our library's new books shelf. Not to boast, but honestly, I live in the BEST province for holidaying! I’m a few hours from hiking the Rockies, seeing wildlife in the Cariboo, exploring the canyonlands of Utah, and enjoying the surf on the stormy West coast and more. So I was delighted to sit down with this new release from Lonely Planet and start exploring my options. The book is nicely organized into four sections: North America (the biggest, comprising over 200 of the book’s 300-odd pages), South America (8 trips in 50 pages), Central America (3 trips in 20 pages) and the Caribbean (4 trips in 25 pages). Each entry features a mini map of the country with a red dot showing the location of the start of the epic drive as well as a slightly more detailed map of the route showing towns and a rough geography like trees and ocean or lakes. The text is narrative, and each is written by a different author, detailing the drive as a personal journey, and including recommendations for restaurants or accommodation. Some drivers use an electric vehicle, and include plenty of information about charging; the author of the drive along Colorado’s Top of the Rockies’ Scenic Byway is a bit obsessed, in my opinion, but range anxiety is real, I guess. The entries feature lots of descriptions of the landscape and the appeal of the highway, inspiring the reader to find out more. There is also a factbox for each drive, providing start/finish location, distance in miles and kilometres, how to get there, when to go, and where to stay. At the end is a two-page spread with three drives that are “More Like This,” along with two or three photos from those drives. The choice of photos is my biggest criticism of the book, in fact; there are some gorgeous landscape shots, but there are also pictures of the inside of a bar, or the outside of an inn; some of the photos are poorly reproduced; others are just bizarre choices. The single photo of John Muir’s country in the Sierra Nevada (Yosemite National Park, people!) is of a parking lot with a car next to a fenced grove of redwoods. There is also an index, though it quite failed my test. One of the Canadian trips in the book is the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island. Baddeck is the biggest town on the loop. Neither Baddeck, nor Cape Breton, nor Cabot Trail, nor Nova Scotia is listed separately. I found it under Canada, Coastal road trips, Culture-rich road trips, and Wildlife-rich road trips. It’s not listed under National Park road trips either – only American ones got that entry. I expect better from Lonely Planet. 2.5 stars rounded down; something I rarely do.
March 22, 2025
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy of this book; I am excited to share my thoughts!
📖 Book Review 📖 It may have been a quiet weekend at home but my mind is always dreaming of travel (it must be the Sagittarius in me) and this book was everything I wanted! Epic Road Trips of America is the perfect table top book for dreaming of your next adventure…from Canada to the tip of South America and everywhere in between (including the Caribbean)!!! The pictures and beyond stunning and the information is everything you need and more!
📖 Book Review 📖 It may have been a quiet weekend at home but my mind is always dreaming of travel (it must be the Sagittarius in me) and this book was everything I wanted! Epic Road Trips of America is the perfect table top book for dreaming of your next adventure…from Canada to the tip of South America and everywhere in between (including the Caribbean)!!! The pictures and beyond stunning and the information is everything you need and more!
November 25, 2023
This got 2 stars because the pictures are wonderful. But the description of the road trips lack terribly. It puts a map of where and give a paragraph on a state. It does not give what is worth stopping to see and the very few things it mentions does not say exactly were it is on the trip. It does not say stop and see this amazing place or eat at this amazing place or spend the night in this city. the whole road thrip has maybe 3 pages with pictures. I was dissapointed
December 8, 2022
𝘍𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘤!
This is the perfect book to plan amazing road trips. With gorgeous pictures and fantastic road trip routes this book is a must to every traveler. We love to travel and can’t wait to plan our next adventure with the help of this book.
Thank you Sabrina Dax and Lonely Planet for this gifted copy.
https://www.instagram.com/booksandcof...
This is the perfect book to plan amazing road trips. With gorgeous pictures and fantastic road trip routes this book is a must to every traveler. We love to travel and can’t wait to plan our next adventure with the help of this book.
Thank you Sabrina Dax and Lonely Planet for this gifted copy.
https://www.instagram.com/booksandcof...
January 26, 2023
I give 5 stars to books I would read again. This is one of them. It boasts great photography, small maps showing the location of the trips, and alternatives for the same experience in another place. If you like road trips and adventure, you will like this book.
October 18, 2022
Beautiful and very informative. I’m not a huge coffee table book person, but this one has earned a permanent home on mine.
March 24, 2023
Good trip ideas
August 18, 2023
Nice for armchair daydreaming. Added value is the little mini-narrative by author taking the trip. Nice photos. Not necessarily far off the beaten path but enough unique ones to merit scanning.
April 30, 2024
Got 50 trip ideas from this good shit
November 16, 2025
I enjoyed reading the different trips of the Americas and hearing first hand accounts. I loved the pictures. Now, I just need to figure out my next trip.
December 27, 2022
Got this book from library and loved it. Love the detail that went into this. Will be buying my own copy!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews