Greatest historical journeys

Oct 5, 2011 4:56:20 AM

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Imagine the days of long-haul travel when you didn’t have a zippy backpack or a phone card or a couch to crash on…these wild explorers knew nothing of such accepted luxuries. To mark the release of Great Journeys, here’s a three-part series of great historical journeys, taken from Lonely Planet’s 1000 Ultimate Experiences.

So pack your compass, shoe your donkey and step out onto the trails of these famous travellers.

Part one: Go around the world in 80 days with Jules Verne, rampage across Mongolia with Genghis Khan and trek the Muslim world with Ibn Battutah.

Part two: Take the ‘Voyage of the Beagle’ with Charles Darwin, decide whether Alexander the Great should be Alexander the Grotesque and see if you think Marco Polo was a fibber.

Part three: Get satirical with Evelyn Waugh, explore the Wild West with Lewis & Clark, and trek across the Australia with Burke and Wills.

Lonely Planet’s Great Journeys presents more than 70 of the greatest journeys you could undertake, from ancient trails, like Machu Picchu, through to modern classics, like Route 66.

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Comments

23 December 2010 12:46AM cherubino Report this comment
Genghis Khan was more Grotesque. If you follow in Alexander's footsteps, a lot of the historical sites on the route bear witness to his legacy - the Hellenistic period in the middle east. Why just focus on his military achievement?
14 October 2011 8:13AM goandsee2011 Report this comment
This is a wonderful adventure. So far from reality, but the center of a civilization! Happy travels!
15 October 2011 12:43AM vasenka Report this comment
Ah Wilderness... It still exists...but you have to leave Starbucks to see it... Darn...!
Perhaps the great journeys of today would be walking across Detroit or Chicago...and exploring the ruins of a once great civilization... The New Angkor...?
15 October 2011 8:58AM dant Report this comment
Haven't done this all the way around the world, but the hot-air balloon rides are well worth it. I've toured Napa Valley via balloon and been to the Albuquerque Festival and love it. Off to the Southwest next week for a photo shoot for Destination360 and planning on a hot air balloon ride over Monument Valley.
In the meantime, I'll be adding Mongolia to my list of places to go. Beautiful!
19 October 2011 7:28AM jdubyu Report this comment
I've travelled a fair bit in India and Eastern Europe and I've been to places on the main tourist trail such as Prague's Charles Bridge (way too crowded) and the Taj Mahal (well worth seeing) but the most fulfilling travelling has been when I've left the beaten track on my own personal voyage of discovery. When you head off into the (relatively) unknown there is more sense of adventure. And I do avoid Starbuck's as there's usually an independant coffee shop friendlier and cheaper.