This travel guide-cum-coffee table book is an essential for the traveller who likes to avoid tourist hot spots. Take Niagara Falls, for instance, a must-see for visitors to the region that's packed in the high season. Skip it, suggest the authors, in favour of Iguaçu Falls on the Brazil-Argentina border, or Dettifoss Falls in Iceland. Want to eat your way through Paris? Try Lyon instead, or follow the authors' suggestions guide to the less-explored (and less-crowded) parts of the city to get a real feel for Parisian life.

$46, at bookstores and dk.com