An enlightening and lighthearted exploration of 50 places around the world that you can’t—or maybe shouldn’t—visit.

This gift book is the guilt-free travel guide for the person who has been everywhere (or needs an excuse to stay on the couch), featuring a collection of 50 destinations from around the world that you can’t actually visit.

Prolific traveler and guidebook author Trent Holden has compiled a selection of big and small experiences that you can only read about. From legal no-go zones like the Andaman Islands and Fort Knox and sites of mystery like Russia’s Metro 2, to places of human destruction like the Lascaux Caves, or ones where the danger is in the name, like Snake Island, each entry is filled with fascinating facts, historical context, and collaged illustrations to highlight some lesser-known and unreachable parts of the world.

About The Author

Trent Holden has been a guidebook author for Lonely Planet since 2008, covering destinations as diverse as West Africa, North Korea, Mongolia, Brazil, Russia, and India. Having written over 50 books, he has a passion for far-flung places—the bigger, crazier and weirder, the better. Based in Melbourne, Australia, Trent has also co-authored guidebooks to his own city, including the Cycling Guide to Naarm with his wife.