Category Archives: Maps

How far is it ?

Posted on February 21, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

I’m a big fan of Helsinki-based geographer Topi Tjukanov’s always innovative presentations of data from new perspectives/ This clever graphic examines just how far you can drive in one hour from twenty different European capitals.

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Middle Earth Parks

Posted on February 7, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Dan Bell is a very talented amateur cartographer who loves J.R.R. Tolkien’s iconic Middle Earth maps and national parks too. He has combined his interests in a wonderful series of Tolkien-style maps of parks in the U.K. and the U.S.. … Continue reading →

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Literary Illustration

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

There is a long history of utilizing maps as a mode of literary illustration. The current exhibition Landmarks: Maps As Literary Illustration at Harvard’s Houghton Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts brings together a wonderful collection of more than sixty literary maps of places … Continue reading →

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Road Scholars

Posted on January 27, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Caught Mapping (see below) will likely only be of interest to cartography geeks and serious roadtrippers, but take a gander anyway.

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You can’t get there from here

Posted on January 19, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Helsinki-based geographer Topi Tjukanov is a wizard at using spatial data from new perspectives. If you’ve ever done any roadtripping in the US, this map of optimal routes by car from the geographic center of the country to all counties … Continue reading →

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Europe by Rail: The Definitive Guide

Posted on January 16, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

For the last two decades, many pundits and self-appointed experts have predicted the imminent demise of printed books. Travel guidebooks were voted most likely to disappear. While there’s no doubt that the travel genre has been impacted by digital books, … Continue reading →

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What’s Your Endonym

Posted on January 10, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

An endonym is the name of a country, region, or geographic area as it’s known by the people who live there. These names may legally designated by a government or just commonly used terms. The clever endonym map of the … Continue reading →

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London to Cairo in 7 Days by Train

Posted on January 3, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Throughout the 20th century European railway companies often incorporated route maps on their advertising posters. Due to size and design limitations, the cartographers involved in the map production often created distorted and geographically confusing maps. Still, the posters were attractive … Continue reading →

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Mapping the Past

Posted on December 27, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

In one of my frequent sojourns down the rabbit-hole of the internet, I stumbled on these wonderful 19th century railway maps. The map above was created by Joseph Beers in 1884 to depict the railroads of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His … Continue reading →

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Reasons to use a guidebook

Posted on December 9, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

As a former travel guidebook author, I am biased in favor of old-school print travel guidebooks. Not that I am completely averse to digital travel literature; I use e-book guides too. But print guides are easier to highlight and annotate, … Continue reading →

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