18 travel books to inspire your next vacation or feed your wanderlust

The world's top 500 food experiences — ranked. We asked the planet's top chefs, food writers and our food-obsessed authors to name their favorite, most authentic gastronomic encounters. The result is a journey to Mozambique for piri-piri chicken, Japan for bullet train bento boxes, San Sebastian pintxos bars, and a further 497 of the most exciting eateries anywhere on Earth.

"Ultimate Eats" is the follow-up to the best-selling "Ultimate Travel" and is a must-own bucket list for foodies and those who love to travel. You'll discover the planet’s most thrilling and famous culinary experiences, the culture behind each one, what makes them so special, and why the experience is so much more than what’s in the plate, bowl or glass in front of you.

Don't let the idea of travelling alone stop you from living out your dreams. Packed with tips and advice for before and during your travels, "The Solo Travel Handbook" gives you the confidence and know-how to explore the world on your own, whether you're planning a once-in-a-lifetime adventure or short city break.

Developed with Lonely Planet's expert travel writers, it explains how and why individual travel is such a valuable and rewarding experience. It also ranks the best destinations for road-tripping, food, nightlife, culture, island escapes and more, as well as how to fund your travels while you're away.

Inspiring equal parts wonder and wanderlust, "Atlas Obscura" celebrates over 700 of the strangest and most curious places in the world.

Created by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras and Ella Morton, "Atlas Obscura" revels in the weird, the unexpected, the overlooked, the hidden and the mysterious. Every page expands our sense of how strange and marvelous the world really is. And, with its compelling descriptions, hundreds of photographs, surprising charts, maps for every region of the world, it will be as appealing to the armchair traveler as the die-hard adventurer.

Experience 60 of the world’s greatest and most unforgettable train journeys, from classic long-distance trips like Western Canada’s Rocky Mountaineer and Darwin to Adelaide’s The Ghan, to little-known gems on regular commuting lines.

We’ve always had a soft spot for trains. We know the moment a train pulls out of a station bound for somewhere fantastic is when the adventure truly starts. "Amazing Train Journeys" is the culmination of asking more than 200 travel writers for their absolute favorites recommendations. Some are epic international adventures, others short suburban routes along stunning coastline. There are incredible feats of engineering, trains that snake their way through mountain peaks, and even those that have achieved Unesco World Heritage status.

Covering the US and Canada like never before, and for the first time with full-color photographs, here are 1,000 compelling, essential, offbeat, utterly unforgettable places. Pristine beaches and national parks, world-class museums and the Just for Laughs festival, mountain resorts, salmon-rich rivers, scenic byways, the Oyster Bar and the country’s best taco, lush gardens and coastal treks at Point Reyes, rafting the Upper Gauley (if you dare).

And, for every entry, it includes what you need to know about how and when to visit.

Featuring communist bunkers, burning gas craters, and at least one sponge-rock fluorescent grotto built by Polish monks, this book reveals weird and wonderful sights the crowds don't reach.

This packed and fascinating title takes its readers on a journey through the world's lesser-known marvels. Dive into an underworld of the planet's most surprising, fun, perplexing, kitsch and downright bizarre sights, and explore human stories and mysterious happenings that you won't find inside a regular guidebook. From eerie natural wonders to historical oddities and bizarre architecture, this is a travel companion for the incurably curious.

The only world atlas updated annually, guaranteeing that users will find the most current geographic information, Oxford's "Atlas of the World" is the most authoritative atlas on the market. Full of crisp, clear cartography of urban areas and virtually uninhabited landscapes around the globe, the "Atlas" is filled with maps of cities and regions at carefully selected scales that give a striking view of the Earth's surface.

It opens with a fascinating look at world statistics, a six-page special on "Land and Maritime Boundaries," and satellite images of earth, including eight-10 stunning new images sourced from NASA's latest Earth Observation Satellite, Landsat 8, launched in 2013.

Get inspired, get outdoors, and discover the wild beauty of the United States. Inside you'll find coverage of all 59 national parks, from the misty mountains of the east and the redwoods of the west, to the glaciers of Alaska and volcanoes of Hawaii, organized by region, plus the best outdoor adventures in each of these parks. Choose from strategic lists and itineraries, and receive advice for linking multiple parks, interesting stops between them, and nearby attractions and state parks.

In addition to gorgeous, full-color photos throughout, you'll get a handy keepsake section for your national parks stamps and a detachable fold-out poster map.

The 40th anniversary edition of "Roadfood" includes 1,000 of America's best local eateries along highways and back roads, with nearly 200 new listings, as well as a brand new design.

Filled with enticing alternatives for chain-weary travelers, "Roadfood" provides descriptions of and directions to (complete with regional maps) the best lobster shacks on the East Coast; the ultimate barbecue joints down South; the most indulgent steak houses in the Midwest; and dozens of top-notch diners, hot-dog stands, ice-cream parlors, and uniquely regional finds in between. Each entry delves into the folkways of a restaurant's locale as well as the dining experience itself, and each is written in the Sterns' entertaining and colorful style.

This invaluable guide to fun, fantastic, and life-affirming activities features an eclectic range of ideas such as self-improvement, sports-related endeavors, natural wonders, cultural experiences, culinary delights, and more. From glassblowing in the Czech Republic to swimming with dolphins in New Zealand, "The Bucket List" is the perfect gift for the passionate traveler — an around-the-world, continent-by-continent listing of beaches, museums, monuments, islands, inns, restaurants, mountains, and more.

Beautiful, empowering, and exhilarating, "She Explores" is a spirited celebration of female bravery and courage, and an inspirational companion for any woman who wants to travel the world on her own terms.

Combining breathtaking travel photography with compelling personal narratives, "She Explores" shares the stories of 40 diverse women on unforgettable journeys in nature: women who live out of vans, trucks, and vintage trailers, hiking the wild, cooking meals over campfires, and sleeping under the stars. Women biking through the countryside, embarking on an unknown road trip, or backpacking through the outdoors with their young children in tow.

More a guide to travel than a travel guide, "Destination Earth" transforms how you view travel and its relation to life. It also provides a philosophical framework for embarking on more meaningful and purposeful travels, whether it's an around the world journey, or an exploration of a region, or even a city.

"Destination Earth" is the product of the author's unique 6.5-year, continuous around-the-world journey, during which he visited 70 countries on 6 continents and treated the world as if it were a single destination. From Chile and Argentina to Thailand and Japan, it explores the delicate and invisible interconnections of nations and countries, people and cultures, and delves deep into all aspects of travel and its transformational power.

Follow the locals to their favorite foods throughout the United States, state by state, with the help of this gorgeously packaged travel planner. Anchored by regional specialties and the best places to sample them, "Great American Eating Experiences" serves up real-deal comfort foods like New Orleans Po' Boys and Chesapeake crab cakes, sprinkled with fun food factoids, food surprises, and more.

The fifth and latest edition provides more than 300 possibilities for spectacular getaways in your local area and throughout the 50 states. Whether you're looking for a short day trip close to home or a several-weeks-long vacation, you'll find a host of ideas in this beautifully illustrated, detail-packed book, which celebrates America's regional diversity, rich history, and jaw-dropping splendor.

Suggested drives include Maine's rocky coastline, the Southeast's mystical swamplands, the Southwest's striking red-rock plateaus, the West's majestic mountains, and many more.

Compiled from the favorite trips of National Geographic's legendary travel writers, this fully updated, 10th anniversary edition of "Journeys of a Lifetime" spans the globe to highlight the best of the world's most celebrated and lesser-known sojourns. Offering a diverse array of possibilities, every continent and possible form of transport is covered, illustrated with glorious color photographs.

With 16 new pages; new destinations like Cartegena, Colombia; and updated information throughout, this timely new edition is the perfect resource for travelers who crave adventurous trips — from trekking the heights of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to mountain biking in Transylvania — and those searching for more specific experiences.

Inspired by the "Overview Effect" — a sensation that astronauts experience when given the opportunity to look down and view the Earth as a whole — the breathtaking, high definition satellite photographs in "Overview" offer a new way to look at the landscape that we have shaped.

More than 200 images of industry, agriculture, architecture, and nature highlight incredible patterns while also revealing a deeper story about human impact. This extraordinary photographic journey around our planet captures the sense of wonder gained from a new, aerial vantage point and creates a perspective of Earth as it has never been seen before.

After purchasing one-way flights from New York City to Paris, Kyle James and his girlfriend Ashley quit their day jobs, planned futures, and daily paradigms to see as much of the world as they could. In 114 days, they trekked across 15 countries and 38 cities with nothing but their backpacks, their smartphones, and each other.

"Not Afraid of the Fall" is the unvarnished story of their off-the-cuff journey: from cliff-jumping off Croatia's untouched coasts, to bathing with rescued elephants in Thailand; from crashing mopeds on gravelly mountain roads in Santorini, to hitchhiking with strangers in rental cars in Hungary.