Paul Brummell

This is the most comprehensive guide to Kazakhstan on the market with full details on where to stay and eat, plus background information on the country's history and people. This new, fully updated and revised second edition includes an expanded section on winter sports in Kazakhstan, more detailed sections on nightlife in Astana and Almaty and recommended itineraries for travel within Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan

Maria Oleynik

This new, thoroughly updated third edition of Bradt's Kazakhstan remains the only guide available dedicated solely to the world's ninth largest country. This new edition covers all the most recent developments, including an updated history section, additional cultural coverage, more practical information to make independent travel easier, and the most up-to-date and relevant maps. Kazakhstan is more accessible than ever: tourist visas are no longer required and there are now numerous direct flights and connections from Europe. Tourist infrastructure has also significantly improved over the past few years and there are faster trains connecting east to west and north to south, as well as many options for internal flights. Kazakhstan is a modern country with a profound appreciation of its roots; numerous petroglyph sites with ancient rock art as well as the remains of Silk Road settlements testify to its varied history. The country offers a curious mix of Soviet nostalgia and architecture combined with the latest technology: Kazakhstan has better 4G coverage than Germany, France or Italy. For visitors, there are excellent opportunities for active tourism such as skiing, hiking, rafting, horse riding or simply gazing into the endless steppe. Bradt's Kazakhstan is indispensable for discovering this extraordinary country, a place that is as geographically diverse as its cultural mix: around 130 different ethnic groups calls Kazakhstan home. From snow-covered peaks with excellent skiing opportunities and hiking trails through river valleys to the secluded lakes of the Tian Shan Mountains, to endless semi-desert steppes and then on to the blue waters of the Caspian, Bradt's Kazakhstan is a perfect companion for all travellers, from nature lovers to cultural explorers, teenage backpackers to family groups.

Kazakhstan is vast – the ninth-largest country in the world – yet there is relatively little information available in English about the attractions of this remarkable country. With the Kazakh government seeking to promote the development of tourism, publication of the Bradt guide is timely. Located between Russia and China, the state of Kazakhstan possesses an incredible diversity of natural beauty; this guide includes arrangements for visiting natural parks and reserves and special features such as singing sand dunes and the Sharyn Canyon - Asia’s equivalent of the Grand Canyon. Key historical and archaeological sites are also given due prominence, Kazakhstan having been inhabited since the Stone Age.

Lucy Mallows

This new, third edition of Bradt's Romania: Transylvania remains the only standalone English language guide to this legendary and enchanting region. Comprehensive chapter-per-county coverage is offered, including details to cater for the diverse range of travellers to the region, from city breaks to rural escapes, ski enthusiasts to charity volunteers. Thoroughly updated, this new edition reflects all the changes of the past few years, from improved transport infrastructure (in particular the regional airports at Cluj, Sibiu and Târgu Mures) to the completion of new motorway routes, such as that between Sibiu and Deva. Also covered are a number of striking new accommodation options: for example the sustainable guesthouse in Valea Zalanului owned by HRH The Prince of Wales, and the mountaintop retreat of Raven's Nest in the Apuseni Mountains. More attractions have opened up, such as Baroque palaces formerly owned by Hungarian aristocrats, seized under the Communist regime and now being restored by the descendants of their original owners. And the region is developing its offer for new types of tourism, such as summer rock festivals, notably the Untold Festival at Cluj and Electric Castle Festival at Bontida. Transylvania, literally the 'land beyond the forest', is a wild, wooded, intensely romantic region, filled with mountains, gorges and valleys, myths and legends, dragons, bears, wolves - and vampires. Bram Stoker called it 'one of the wildest and least-known parts of Europe' a description which remains true today. One of the most beautiful regions in central Europe and home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Transylvania preserves its cultural and artistic treasures in a unique landscape, bordered on three sides by the Carpathian Mountains. The hay meadows of the lower Carpathians form a man-made, high nature-value grassland ecosystem of extraordinary diversity, offering a beautiful display of wild flowers. The Carpathians are home too to lynx, wild boar, and one of Europe's largest populations of brown bear. Other natural phenomena include the Scarisoara ice cave in the Apuseni Mountains and the Sfanta Ana volcanic crater lake in Harghita. Whatever your interests, with Bradt's Romania: Transylvania, you can discover all of the region's many and varied attractions.

Paul Brummell

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