NEW YORK — It's time to start thinking about travel in 2008, and several new books are out to guide you around the world.

Travel + Leisure's "100 Greatest Trips" ($20) offers offbeat itineraries in otherwise familiar places. In New York City, go shopping in Harlem at Atmos, the Japanese sneaker store, and N, a designer emporium. In Mexico, follow the tequila trail in Jalisco, where the agave plant used to make the drink is grown. And in London, take the tube to the London Bridge stop and eat your way around Borough Market, where you can grab a venison burger at Westcountry Venison and a house ale at Brew Wharf.

In Belgium, go shopping for vintage diamonds at Adelin or watch the jewel cutters and setters at Diamondland. Tour Versailles by bicycle, or take an unusual road trip through the Midwest to see great architecture, like the Toledo Museum of Art's Glass Pavilion in Ohio; the Des Moines Public Library in Iowa, described as "a low-slung building clad in a perforated-copper skin," and the Milwaukee Art Museum's soaring white Santiago Calatrava addition.

"The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World" by Edward Hasbrouck (Avalon Travel, $22), an updated fourth edition, is described by the author in his preface as a "how-to handbook of advice and tips for independent, on-your-own travel ... especially suitable for anyone planning — or dreaming about — the big trip: 'gap year,' 'wander year' or 'trip of a lifetime' around the world."

The book offers information on everything from budgeting to luggage to health issues to air travel. It can even help you make the decision to get up and go, arguing that world travel will enhance your career, be good for your children and cost less than you might think.

Lonely Planet's "Bluelist: The Best in Travel 2008" ($23) is a planner, an inspiration and ultimately, a conversation, since fans can visit www.lonelyplanet.com/bluelist to submit their own lists of must-see places. The book includes a section on events around the world by month, like the mimosa festival in January in Montenegro and the snow rodeo in Essex, Mont., in March. A "Golist" of places includes profiles of Mumbai, India; Chengdu, China; Cordoba, Argentina, and in the U.S., Miami, Colorado and Glacier National Park.

A special chapter on "Travel Islam" explores cultures and countries of the Muslim world, from camel-racing in the United Arab Emirates, to the 14th-century Alhambra in Spain, to Dahab, a diving and windsurfing town on the Red Sea in Egypt. "Bluelist" also offers a list of "bests" — from "best-value destinations" like Nicaragua and Laos to "best brews" — beer headquarters from Pottsville, Pa. (Yuengling) to the Mussel Inn, New Zealand's "remotest boutique microbrewery."