Life: Dream Destinations: 100 of the World's Best Vacations [Hardcover]

Editors of Life (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2008

This is a book of enticements or memories -or both. The things we remember best and longest are the lovely times on holiday with family or friends. That sublime afternoon on the secluded beach on Martha's Vineyard, or that unforgettable crimson sunset as seen from the top of Coppertop Mountain. That extraordinary safari in Africa, and snorkelling along Australia's Great Barrier Reef. In stunning photographs and evocative text, the editors of "Life" take you there - to the best, most beautiful, most relaxing, most inspiring places to holiday on the planet. This book is an enticement - to go there. And it is a remembrance of those magical places you've already gone. Live that holiday again, every time you open this special volume.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Life (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 160320010X
• ISBN-13: 978-1603200103
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 0.6 x 13.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #830,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, March 14, 2009

By 

N. Ferguson (Nebraska) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Life: Dream Destinations: 100 of the World's Best Vacations (Hardcover)

The cover of this book would lead to think the whole book was filled with pictures like this. Pictures of exotic places from all over the world that make us wonder in awe what it would be like to visit. Unfortunately, pictures and locations like the one on the cover are few and far between.

When I think of 'dream destinations' I think of spectacularly beautiful, far away places I may never have a chance to see in my lifetime. This does not seem to be the case for the books writers.

Out of the 100 locations in the book, 35 are located in the U.S. If you are from the U.S., where this book is marketted, most U.S. destinations are not what I would consider a 'dream' to see. Such locations listed in the U.S. are Orlando, a sculpture garden at Standford, a Montana dude ranch, golfing in Oregon, and New York City, Memphis, and a host of other not-so-amazing places.

You would think many of the destinations would be found in foreign countries and other continents. Not so. There is only one place in South America, four in Africa, and one in Australia.

Out of the 100 places, I would only consider maybe 30 to be a dream destination.

The descriptions of the places are not very impressive either. More than half of the write-up for Snowmass, Co talks about other ski resorts in the U.S. rather than Snowmass.

The book wasn't horribly bad, just disappointing.

2.0 out of 5 stars Just a Sample Not a Travel Guide, January 23, 2011

By 

Herbert L Calhoun "paulocal" (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Life: Dream Destinations: 100 of the World's Best Vacations (Hardcover)

This beautifully composed book, is not a travel guide but just a sample of Life's authors "imagined dream destinations." The text is a maximum of two paragraphs of highlights of exotic "must see before you die," places. Some are lavishly inticing -- such as the Pyramids of Khufu; and others are more "historical musts," like Vietnam or Antietam. And while all will hit someone's list, not all will.

Since the authors gave no hint as to their selection criteria, the book amounts to a kind of random walk across the world. A more focussed set of criteria would have given the list of destinations a sense of coherence and would have been more meaningful to those of us in search of new more exciting vacation destinations. A bibliography also would have been useful, both for historical purposes as well as for deeper insights into the places sampled.

To its credit, Hawaii stands tall, as the islands rated more than four entries. I was disappointed that only Cuzco and Montezuma represented all of South America, and that Spain, one of the most beautiful countries in the world, contained only one entry: Seville. As well, the whole African continent conatined only four entiries. Had the authors ever heard of Timbuctu? But for sheer beauty and quaintness, how could Montreaux, Switzerland be left off the list? Montreaux seems to me a must for any list of this sort. Also, the pictures are good, but not great. Two stars

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dream destinations, June 26, 2008

By 

Linda Jenny (Bucks County PA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Life: Dream Destinations: 100 of the World's Best Vacations (Hardcover)

The book is wonderful and what is even more wonderful for me is that I LIVE in one of the dream destinations...beautiful Bucks County PA.