Ireland (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive, engrossing and just plain fun-to-read guidebook than the Eyewitness Travel Guide: Ireland. Spilling over with all sorts of useful information for the traveler, you'll find three-dimensional drawings, floor plans, detailed neighborhood maps with a street-finder index, and even historical timelines. Broken into several sections (including "Introducing Ireland," "Region by Region," "Traveler's Needs," and "Survival Guide"), the guide paints a complete picture of the country. Readers will especially love the hundreds of color photos of everything from the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare to the Connemara landscape of County Galway to out-of-the-way pubs and street-by-street illustrated city walks (Dublin's Southeast walk takes in famed landmarks such as Trinity College, St. Stephen's Green and the Shelbourne Hotel). You'll also find listings for Aran sweaters, Waterford crystal, and Celtic recordings. --Jill Fergus