1,000 Places to See Before You Die

As a travel lover, the idea of this list really appealed to me, but in applying it, the book has fallen short. For three years, when I traveled I looked up the places I was going to see what made the list in that spot. The actual recommendations were very disappointing. They mostly focused on insanely expensive accommodations and restaurants. I ended up being able to visit only a few. But somehow I had great trips without these supposed gems, and it seemed to me that many of the great, cheaper things I did see and do should have appeared on the list over a fancy hotel. Yes, a book like this is bound to inspire controversy; any top 10 list will. At least it gets you thinking about your real travel priorities.

This book is America-centric, and not necessarily in a good way. I assumed that the author was aiming the choose the best in every state -- the areas that I can comment on from experience -- and I was dumbfounded to see that Japan had 8 entries -- while Wyoming and Illinois each had six. And 3-4 of the Illinois entries were restaurants! The entries were well written and researched, but I believe the selection of 1000 places to visit was less researched. Heavy on events, restaurants, resorts, hotels -- the opposite of what I would like to see or tally up as an item conquered.

Like others, I am disappointed to realize that I won't see even a fraction of these in my lifetime. Sad. I am looking to get the 1000 Places in the USA book instead.

Be warned: this book isn't what you might think it is. Rather than a list of things to see on your world tour, half of the entries seem to be devoted to mega-exclusive rich-list hotels. A quote from the entry on Barbados (pp 858-859) should serve as an example: "Sandy Lane is one of the resort world's classiest acts, its houseproud Bajan staff treating every guest with the same degree of service they gave Queen Elizabeth when she visited... Things are done on a grand scale, from the snow-white Rolls-Royce greeting you at the airport to complimentary Champagne at breakfast and vast marbled bathrooms the size of most hotel guest rooms."

Can you afford to stay in places like this? If so, buy this book. The rest of us will probably flip show more through it for a little vicarious "travel pornography", but this can't quite get rid of the subtle irritation that the editor's idea of "places to see" should be geared to the moneyed traveller rather than to the average one. show less

It's nice to dream and make plans of where to go next. For this the book is fun, but I am a little disappointed and disturbed at the unequal distribution of places between the countries and continents. Dozens of places in the USA (almost 200 pages out of 900) and Europe, but only 11 in Russia, 5 of them in Moscow and 5 in St. Petersburg plus the Transsiberian Railway (that's a total of 8 pages)? You'd think Russia was the smallest country on the planet and only consisted of those two towns connected by a railway...
Also the places listed in Switzerland are definitely not on my list where I absolutely have to take my foreign friends. They're mostly very snobbish places.

Alright, so I'm a little late getting to my seat on this bandwagon. Late or not, I'm glad I made it. I love this book.

First, the relatively brief entries are perfect for someone with the attention span of a caffeinated gerbil (me). However, this aspect also left me wanting to know more.

The downside to this book is that it can leave you feeling a little depressed. Because, honestly, what are the odds you'll get to see each and every place?

Nonetheless, it does leave you with very high hopes and plenty of vicarious excitement.

Not the best travel guide I've ever read. It seems to be aimed primarily at the American traveller, especially the rich American traveller. While there are nearly 200 pages dedicated to the USA alone, there are less than 100 for the whole of Asia, and only 20 for the Middle East.

An indication of the 1,000 places is given by the very first one. Clivedon House is a country house hotel in Berkshire, England which costs from $320 per night to stay in. It seems to me a good third of the places recommended are expensive hotels or restaurants.

In future I'll be sticking to Lonely Planet or Rough Guide travel books.

If you are a fellow travel junkie like I am, this book absolutely belongs in your library. It gives you in-depth reviews on places that you probably have never even thought to discover and now, after reading through it, I feel like I have to visit them all.