The Globetrotter

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

If the thought of standing on a noisy sidewalk in Tokyo’s trendy Shibuya-ku district with your nose pressed to a 400-page guidebook makes you shudder, a new collection of travel guides is designed to please. Launched in 2006, the Wallpaper* City Guides ($8.95, Phaidon Press) are light enough to toss into a Louis Vuitton waist purse, and slim enough to steal a furtive glance at without drawing attention from the locals.

For years, reliable resource books such as Frommer’s Travel Guides and the hipper Rough Guides collection have remained the go-to series for travelers heading into uncharted territories. But with Wallpaper, a monthly publication best known for its coverage of design, fashion, and art, readers are treated to the same clean aesthetic, a plus for the design-conscious traveler.

The City Guide series currently numbers 40 destinations, including Buenos Aires, Stockholm, Paris, St. Petersburg and, most recently, Israel, and features full-color, magazine-worthy photographs, plus maps and aerial photography for easy navigation. Each book is color-coded and divided into sections on landmarks, urban life, shopping, escapes, sports (and spas), hotels, “architours,” and 24 hours, the latter of which details how to see the best of a city in just one day.

Sections on “urban life” feature views of the interiors of emerging and tried-and true eateries, as well as an insider’s guide detailing the favorite gastronomic haunts, shopping outposts, and nightlife hangouts of a selected city resident. (In the Athens guidebook, the product design trio behind the high-end line of ceramic tableware, Greece is for Lovers, comments on some of the best places to enjoy a milk pudding and espresso in a 1950s setting, or to grab old-fashioned cocktails.) Among the highlights in the series are the shopping sections, for which the editors have scoured the best vintage flea markets, couturiers, and boutiques, as well as biannual fashion shows and other one-off finds worth booking a trip for. These tips are complemented by insightful information throughout on history, architecture, political movements, and cultural mores. Practical advice is also on offer: In the rust-colored guide to Istanbul, the editors lay out how to plot a course through the city’s streets without falling victim to overzealous carpet sellers.


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