National Tourist Offices

This is another one of the fun parts. Just call or write the national tourist offices listed in Basics #3 and in a few days your mailbox is miraculously full of brochures. Their heavy, glossy pages are covered with pictures of beautiful sights and happy, smiling people. Even a toxic waste dump would look like heaven in one of these. This type of information is good for getting a first glimpse of a country, and especially for revealing places, sights, or monuments you may never have heard of. When you call tourist offices, let them know your intended budget and your specific areas of interest.

Ask for maps, since good maps can be expensive, and tourist office maps are sometimes of surprisingly high quality. Maps of entire countries or regions are needed to plan effectively. If you have any special interest, such as long-distance walking, bicycling and so on, ask for information on that, too. Most tourist offices have an incredible amount of information, and most of it is free for the asking. Before leaving on your trip, copy whatever information you need out of these glossy brochures and then leave them at home - they’re too heavy and awkward to carry with you.