Whetting your appetite before you lock up the house are numerous recipes for country dishes including lamb backstrap with red wine jus; duck confit with spinach pancakes; parmesan gnocchi with zucchini flowers; and saffron poached pear polenta cake.
There are plenty of pics of the countryside to give you an idea of what to expect as well as of the people you're likely to meet along your very own foodie and wine tour.
GREAT ADVENTURES, by Lonely Planet
With adventure travel so popular these days it's no surprise Lonely Planet has come up with a guide to help you find one that's perfect for you.
Great Adventures is a large coffee-table book featuring 75 "adventures of a lifetime''.
Listed throughout the pages, alongside stunning photographs, are challenges divided into the categories of hike, dive, bike, climb, ice and snow, animals, water, drive, and above and below (e.g. paragliding).
Adventures include trekking Corsica's 170km Grande Randonnee trail in France, often cited as Europe's toughest long-distance trek.
Also listed is dog-sledding in the Yukon in the far north of Canada and snowshoeing amid Bulgaria's Rila Mountains.
Animal lovers can be inspired to head to Uganda to track mountain gorillas or to go horse riding with Khampa cowboys through the wild valleys of western Sichuan in China.
Whether you're active or just love reading about action, there's something here for everyone.
FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO THE WORLD, by Lonely Planet
With more and more people travelling to foodie destinations it's fitting that Lonely Planet can help you on your way.
Food Lover's Guide to the World features culinary delights and where to find them, from savouring foie gras in southwest France to traditional dim sum in China.
The chapters are divvied up into countries including Australia, Morocco and South Korea and into regions including The British Isles and The Middle East.
The chapters feature listings of food festivals worth visiting as well as recipes of dishes such as India's pork vindaloo and the Turkish delight baklava.
You'll also find through the pages notes on the world's best restaurants: Tetsuya's in Sydney; Noma in Copenhagen; Le Gavroche in London.
There's also contributions from celebrity food lovers and tips on how-to-eat etiquette.
WALKS IN NATURE: SYDNEY, by Viola Design
If you're interested in exploring Sydney's national parks, gorgeous beaches and harbour foreshore then Walks in Nature: Sydney will help you along the way.
It's a handbag-size deck of cards containing details on 32 trails within a two-hour drive of Sydney's CBD.
The individual cards are colour-coded by season to help you find the right walk for the right weather and also feature detailed maps listing local swimming and picnic spots.
The trails covered include those with refreshing breezes following the coastline, as well as others meandering inland to Indigenous art.
Destinations include Bouddi, Blue Mountains, Ku-ring-gai Chase and Royal national parks, along with suburbs Blackheath, Manly and Drummoyne.
Each card, which you can keep in your pants' pocket while walking, list the distance of the trail, the grading and other titbits such as whether the track is sealed or not.
- AAP
