Washington DC is more than a pretty face; it is a Southern city on the edge of the industrial North; it is a company town, where politics, as combat or spectator sport, is always the subject; it is a city of transplants and transients drawn from around the world, yet remains unexpectedly provincial. The major tourist attractions are well-known; you will need little help in that department. But a cup of coffee, a bit of shopping, a cocktail and a good feed will pep you up in between museums and monuments. Here are 33 choice suggestions to help get the most from your visit to the District of Columbia.

Here is the essential companion for those in search of la dolce vita. The itinerary includes good food, strong coffee, interesting shops and plenty of strolling the city's beautiful streets. There are clothes shops, restaurants, a cemetery and galleries and special sections on ice cream and fountains.

The desire to see and be seen is not shared by all. For those who prefer to conduct business away from prying eyes, this map is for you. We list 31 places with hidden alcoves and easy exits, neglected restaurants, unreconstructed wine bars, ancient pubs and even natural isolation. In these locations discretion is assured, it's entirely up to you to decide how you make use of that.

No visitor to this Basque city is likely to miss the stunning Guggenheim museum and nor should they, but our guide digs deeper: uncovering wonderful food, traditional shops and diverse cultural attractions. Alongside stunning modern architecture Gehry s Guggenheim, a metro system with stations designed by Norman Foster, Phillipe Starck s reinvention of a wine warehouse into cultural space there are dozens of tiny bars vying to serve the most elegant and delicious pintxos, extraordinary views and lively markets."

You will not go hungry in Melbourne, of that we are certain. This energetic city at the southeastern edge of the Australian continent offers food and drink of unmatchable quality and variety. The casual approach of its restaurants, bars and cafes and its spirit of invention ripple across oceans, into kitchens and onto counters around the world. Our guide comprises 40 points of interest, including galleries, markets, shops and parks, among them: Tailored cocktails at The Everleigh The open-air bar and cinema atop 1920s Curtin House Polish sausage and German bratwurst at Queen Victoria Market The unspoiled 1950s charm of Pellegrini's Espresso Bar The Royal Botanic Gardens' sylvan pleasures

Few writers are as inextricably linked with a city as Raymond Chandler and Los Angeles. The neon-lit streets, mobbed-up joints and seedy rooming houses portrayed in his fiction were real places, familiar to Angelenos of the time, and in some cases recognisable today. This is a guide to the world of Raymond Chandler and his noble alter-ego, the private detective Philip Marlowe. It mixes locations from the books, the films and Chandler's personal life. There's the crummy dive where Moose Malloy went looking for Velma; the actual lounge where Marlowe and Terry Lennox ordered gimlets; the top-floor suite where oil executive Chandler got his priceless education in how a dirty, sun-drenched city really operated. This is the Los Angeles that Raymond Chandler carried in his heart. And now, you can too.

Our European travels bring us to the Spanish capital, a huge and daunting metropolis, replete with interesting shops, galleries and wonderful food and drink. The map contains 36 selections which run the gamut of the city's attractions and its idiosyncracies. From the relative safety of cable car we gaze down at the vast expanse of the Casa de Campo, explore shops selling gloves, camping gear, old postcards and espadrilles, visit an abandoned station and one with its own forest. Refreshment is on hand throughout: cerveza, jamon, bacalao and innumerable other delights essential to keep the visitor well-nourished in this great city."

Out There: A Map of the Solar System for Tourists. If you have a spaceship capable of taking one of our three Grand Tours of the solar system, and a suit to protect you from its every lethal inch, within are some of the sights you should put on your itinerary. We have also included speculative observations from the great science-fiction writers that you may wish to verify or disprove on your journey. Bon voyage!

This compact guide comprises 40 places that bear the city's distinctive mark. There are survivors of beatnik-era North Beach, a vintage magazine shop catering to a very diverse clientele, taquerias and a Chinatown bar. There are clifftop eateries and cable cars, unconventional horticulturalists, entirely au courant exhibits and bison in Golden Gate Park.

This map celebrates the independent shops and businesses where global fashions have taken root. From modest Holts in Camden Town to psychedelic Hung On You in Chelsea there are more than 100 entries, spread across time and geography. The foreword is by Sir Paul Smith, whose own first shop in Floral Street features. The map is a collaboration with pop culture commentator Paul Gorman, author of The Look: Adventures In Pop & Rock Fashion, as well as books on designer Barney Bubbles and retail pioneer Tommy Roberts.

London is packed with pubs, but finding a really good one is not always easy. Whether you want to relax in a garden or shelter from rain, marvel at architecture or enjoy a live act, find a convenient meeting point or a place to hide, bring your dog to the pub or stroke the resident cat, it is Herb Lester's role to anticipate your desires and act as your guide. With 161 tried-and-tested pubs, plus a handy fold-out map of London.