Guiding Lites

Part of the price of being a tourist is often hauling around bulky guidebooks and trying to decipher unwieldy street maps. Now the innovative InsideOut City Guides give travelers a sense of direction without the hassle. The elegantly designed guides have everything needed to find one’s way, all between two sleek silver covers: Popout maps that open and close in a single motion; a colorful 64-page guidebook with six easy-to-navigate sections: See it (what to see), Watch it (what to do), Taste it (where to eat), Buy it (where to shop), Know it (everything else) and Speak it (how to pronounce the local lingo); a directory of hotel listings; a built-in compass to check your bearings; and a mini-pen for taking notes. Listings are cross-referenced on the maps, making it easy to stay on course.

Guides are available for London, New York, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Florence, Venice (pictured here), Madrid, Barcelona, Prague, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Guides for Boston and Berlin are due out this month; Las Vegas, Orlando, Dublin and Majorca debut in November.

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InsideOut City Guides, $9.95 at Rand McNally, South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa; (714) 545-9907; www.randmcnally.com.