Epic Hikes of the World
Book
Epic Hikes of the World Book Review
I love leafing through books of all kinds. I especially love it when the book is about hiking and is filled with great information and stunning images. With the enticement on the cover to ‘Explore the planet’s most thrilling treks and trails’, the book Epic Hikes of the World delivers.
Epic Hikes of the World, released by Lonely Planet Global Ltd in 2018, has the engaging and informative style we’ve come to expect from Lonely Planet publications. In fact, the introduction ponders the reason why we hike. And Lonely Planet’s writers conclude hiking is:
- Life changing
- Personally challenging
- Rewarding
- Confidence building
- About connecting with nature and/or history.
This book reviews fifty of the ‘best and most inspiring routes’, urban and remote, from Lonely Planet’s pool of travel writers. It contains first hand accounts and stunning images, and will inspire your hiking.
Fifty trails and treks are covered in some detail within the book spanning Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. All trails are classified as Easy, Harder or Epic and while we can guess what those terms mean, there isn’t a definition. Each review contains:
- A sketched map
- Snippets of interest and relevance to each review for example
- The review of Tasmania’s Great South West Walk talks about its natural significance
- While the review of Boston’s Freedom Trail emphasises its historical significance
- Orientation information including
- Start/finish
- Distance
- Getting there
- What to wear
- When to go
- What to take.
And of course, those stunning images.
There is also a ‘More like this’ section at the end of each review which provides snippets of three alternative hikes. In total that is 150 more trails, treks and walks to add to your bucket list!
The guidance is clear, easy to read and helpful. An example is on the Kilimanjaro review we’re told to ‘expect to be hot, cold and wet’! Pretty relevant and helpful I’d say.
Epic Hikes of the World is an A4 sized book that would be a great coffee table book if it had something other than a stylised painting of two people hiking on the cover – it certainly didn’t encourage me to get this book. and then I opened the book and thought WOW! I’m reminded of the old saying ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’. Definitely apt in this case.
The index is very detailed and provides a quick reference to the trails so if you don’t have time to read the book cover to cover, you can dip in and out as you like. This book is excellent value having a RRP of $61.00 AUD!
This is great book about trails and treks. The only problem you’ll have is deciding where you’re going to hike next!
We Like
- A hard cover book full of fantastic images
- Fifty trails reviews plus another 150 ‘More like this’
- Great index so you can easily pick the trails of interest
- You can put it down and pick it up anywhere that takes your fancy
We Don't Like
- The cover will mislead you to think it is a children’s book, which it’s not
Buy One
You can purchase Epic Hikes of the World from Amazon Australia
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Investment
AUD $61.00 RRP
Cover of Epic Hikes of the World – see what I mean about looking like a children’s book?
Contents page
Example of a featured trail – Four Days on the Alpine Pass Route
Typical ‘More like this’ guidance – Tasmanian Treks
Disclaimer
This review was done with product purchased by Australian Hiker