TAKE A LITTLE TRIP TO:

New York City [250k MPEG-3] or [690k WAV] London [215k MPEG-3] or [600k WAV] San Francisco [270k MPEG-3] or [750k WAV] Paris [175k MPEG-3] or [485k WAV] (Courtesy Harper Audio)

POLL Would a taped tour enhance your travels? Yes No View Results

July 15, 1999
Web posted at: 12:34 p.m. EDT (1634 GMT)

In this story: 'All over the world' 'Dull, empty laundry lists' RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Jamie Allen
CNN Interactive Senior Writer

(CNN) -- If you like to travel, you might have seen books called "Access Guides" that give tourists the inside scoop on major cities around the world. But have you heard the latest version of "Access Guides"?

Joining the books-on-tape trend, the HarperCollins series is providing travel advice via cassette. "Access Walks" lets visitors make educated treks with their portable recorders through the streets of major cities. So far, the guided walks with maps are offered for London, New York, Paris and San Francisco.

"I think it is filling a void," says Nan Lyons, author of the text heard on the tapes. "I think people enjoy walking around hearing somebody tell them things, just the way they do in a museum, but this is really outdoors."

Though some might assume that following a Walkman's lead makes for an awkward and conspicuous tourist, Lyons says it's a natural progression.

"People are used to walking around with musical recordings," says Lyons. "It's an easy segue to go from that information, so that when you go down the street you don't miss that great shop that you would've passed by if somebody didn't tell you that inside that great shop is a fantastic collection of umbrellas. It's nudging you to do things."

'All over the world'

Lyons first became a travel writer after she and her husband penned the novel "Someone Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe" (1976). The book mixed food, sex and murder to become an international success and was made into a 1978 movie starring George Segal, Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Morley.

"With that kind of identification, we were asked by (the magazine) 'Bon Appetit' to write travel for them," says Lyons. She's been a travel writer ever since, and has been "all over the world," she says.

On the "Access Walks" tapes, Lyons offers specifically designed walking tours that focus on "what makes that city vital and wonderful and an extraordinary place to visit." The San Francisco guide has 10 tours; Paris has eight; New York, 11.

"New York is a big city, and it's very secure to know that you're going down the street with a pal," says Lyons, who lives in Manhattan.

'Dull, empty laundry lists'

The adventurous type might scoff at the idea of being led around on generic tours. But Lyons reminds critics that the tapes can be turned off whenever travelers want to seek out their own haunts, and they stop short of taking travelers inside popular destinations.

"I can't take you in Saks (in New York).... Of course, I'd like to," laughs Lyons.

She also believes her "Access Walks" stray from the bland city sales pitch so many tourists follow.

"I think what's wrong with travel books today is they're written generically and they have no opinion at all," Lyons says. "They're just dull, empty laundry lists of things that you could do. But nobody really comes out and takes a stand and says, 'No, if you're going to Paris for three days, do this, and you'll leave without feeling you've missed anything.' And I think that's what's missing in travel writing."

Lyons says she hopes travelers will try the "Access Walks" tapes. Otherwise they might not know what's they're missing around the corner.

"There are people who will forever want to do their own thing," she says, "but there are just as many who would prefer somebody to lead them around a little bit."