Just when you thought that you had had it up to here with Lonely Planet and Rough Guides and Frommer’s and Fodor’s and Michelin, out pops another travel guide series, this one from Indagare.

Indagare is a lot of things: a member-based travel Web site, a newsletter, a community and advisory and booking service that claims it offers insider information on cities and adventures worldwide. “Vogue” magazine seems to love what it sees. In its September 2010 issue, it gushes: “ Indagare.com offers its members the chance to discover best-kept secrets,” and it goes on to say that Indagare’s experts have “personal contacts with the best in the business, constant updates from around the world, and the influence to deliver.”

Wow, sounds impressive!

So, what kind of guides has this team of experts come up with for the discerning and picky and (presumably) financially comfortable travel aficionado?

Indagare’s “Mapped Out” series is comprised of city guides for five cities in Europe: Paris, London, Rome, Vienna and Venice. Many might think that there’s no way anything new can be dredged up on these perennially popular travel destinations, but Indagare begs to differ. The devil may in the details, but that’s not true in these guides, if you believe what the editors say.

Each guide has three daily itineraries and detailed maps for each of these days. One city in three days? Not bad! Activities are mapped out for the morning and the afternoon. There are lunch and dinners tips for the areas you’re exploring, shopping streets pointed out. Indagare suggests top 10 favorite boutiques as well as neighborhoods to know. Plus you get insider’s recommendations and tips from those well-connected local people.

Sounds like some pretty interesting details.

For example, “Mapped Out Vienna” has tips on which of Vienna’s more than 100 museums you want to spend time in. And if the noble grape is more your speed, the guide has advice on vinous day trips to Austrian wine country.

The guides – they are on paper and are small enough to fit, as Indagare explains, folded up in a men’s jacket breast pocket – are available at http://souk.indagare.com, for $12.95 each.

But geez, there is more to travel than Europeans cities. For expert advice and information on travel destinations worldwide, including India, Tahiti and Las Vegas, check out www.boomersafari.com.

Bon voyage!

Tags: guide, maps, recommendations, top 10, travel

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