The Best Travel Guides

O, The Oprah Magazine | From the July 2008 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

Eyewitness Travel

Best for: Visual thinkers

Signature strength: Lavish, intricately detailed illustrations

For instance: Istanbul's Topkapi Palace and St. Petersburg's Hermitage get the show-don't-tell treatment, with cutaways and floor plans of major sights.