Only in Athens
A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects
ISBN-13: 978-3-9505392-7-1
Author: Duncan JD Smith
Publisher: The Urban Explorer
Edition: 1
Specification: Paperback, 120 pages, 56 colour photos & two fold-out maps, 13.5 x 21cm
Prices: £ 10.95, € 12.90, US$ 16.00, CDN$ 22.00
ISBN-13: 978-3-9505392-7-1
Coming Autumn 2026! Discover Athens’ ancient ruins, characterful neighbourhoods, and little-known suburbs with this explorer’s guidebook to Europe’s oldest continuously occupied city.
In a world where places become ever more similar, it is an absolute joy to stumble on the Only In Guides. The author brings to the series the gaze of the enquiring outsider.
Hidden Europe magazine
- A ground-breaking illustrated Athens guidebook to 55 fascinating and unusual historical sites in the Greek capital. Ruined temples and reused factories, ancient bronzes and modern street art, historic cafés and traditional tavernas.
- From the perfection of the Parthenon and Plato’s ruined Academy to al fresco cinemas and the Hellenic Motor Museum.
- Locations include Emperor Hadrian’s reservoir, the Tower of the Winds, the Theatre Train, and Isadora Duncan’s Dance School.
- Also the Catacombs of Philhellenon, the Poet Sandal Maker, the home of Heinrich Schliemann, and the Pentelic marble quarries.
- The ideal Athens guidebook for travellers who want to escape the crowds and go beyond the well-known paths, as well as for those inhabitants who perhaps thought they already knew their city.
ATHENS REVIEWS AND ARTICLES
Reviews
ATHENS PHOTO GALLERIES
Only in Tangier
A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects
ISBN-13: 978-3-9505392-6-4
Author: Duncan JD Smith
Publisher: The Urban Explorer
Edition: 1
Specification: Paperback, 120 pages, 56 colour photos & two fold-out maps, 13.5 x 21cm
Prices: £ 10.95, € 12.90, US$ 16.00, CDN$ 22.00
ISBN-13: 978-3-9505392-6-4
Published October 2025! Discover Tangier’s ancient walled medina, bustling New Town, and little-known suburbs with this explorer’s guidebook to Morocco’s international port city.
I’ve read quite a few chapters in your book and it’s really excellent!
Richard Hamilton, author of “Tangier: From the Romans to the Rolling Stones”
- A ground-breaking illustrated Tangier guidebook to 55 fascinating and unusual historical sites in Morocco’s international port city. Old forts and new mosques, historic hotels and contemporary gardens, traditional crafts and modern art.
- From the Grand Mosque and the tomb of Ibn Battuta to the Teatro Cervantes and the street of the Beats.
- Locations include the Grand and Petit Socco, the Cinéma Rif, an abandoned bullring, and Morocco’s first pet cemetery.
- Also the Cave of Hercules, Paul Bowles’ apartment, the Perdicaris Affair, and the Sultan of the Mountains.
- The ideal Tangier guidebook for travellers who want to escape the crowds and go beyond the well-known paths, as well as for those inhabitants who perhaps thought they already knew their city.
TANGIER REVIEWS AND ARTICLES
Only in Marseille
A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects
ISBN-13: 978-3-9505392-5-7
Author: Duncan JD Smith
Publisher: The Urban Explorer
Edition: 1 (2025)
Specification: Paperback, 120 pages, 56 colour photos & two fold-out maps, 13.5 x 21cm
Prices: £ 10.95, € 12.90, US$ 16.00, CDN$ 22.00
ISBN-13: 978-3-9505392-5-7
Published Spring 2025! Discover Marseille’s ancient origins, bustling port life and exciting cultural scene with this explorer’s guidebook to the oldest city in France.
Duncan succeeds in telling the tale of Marseilles by taking you down unexplored streets and whisking you round the city’s hidden corners. If you’ve a taste for the unusual, the hidden or the plain weird, then this is the guidebook for you.
A reader
- A ground-breaking illustrated Marseille guidebook to 55 fascinating and unusual historical sites in the alternative French capital. Celtic ruins and modern museums, colonial ghosts and ethnic enclaves, street art and culinary delights.
- From the Count of Monte Cristo and the Abbey of the Black Madonna to Le Corbusier’s Radiant City and the Velodrome Stadium.
- Locations include an Underwater Museum, an Armenian Quarter, an Art Deco Opera House, and a traditional soap factory.
- Also rugged sea coves, Buddhist pagodas, country homes, and a game of pétanque.
- The ideal Marseille guidebook for travellers who want to escape the crowds and go beyond the well-known paths, as well as for those inhabitants who perhaps thought they already knew their city.
MARSEILLE REVIEWS AND ARTICLES:
A Unique Seaside Garden in Marseille
Only in Trieste
A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects
ISBN-13: 978-3-9505392-3-3
Author: Duncan JD Smith
Publisher: The Urban Explorer
Edition: 1 (2024)
Specification: Paperback, 120 pages, 56 colour photos & two fold-out maps, 13.5 x 21cm
Prices: £ 10.95, € 12.90, US$ 16.00, CDN$ 22.00
ISBN-13: 978-3-9505392-3-3
Recently Published! Discover Trieste’s Habsburg-era glories, multi-ethnic influences and burgeoning cultural life with this explorer’s guidebook to Italy’s alternative city destination. The first real English-language guide to the city in many years.
Trieste, long part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is the perfect city for Smith’s carefully-researched, inspiring treatment, bringing to life this most evocative of central European cities.
A Reader
- A ground-breaking Trieste guidebook to 55 fascinating and unusual historical sites in Italy’s unsung port city and beyond. Roman ruins and curious caves, wartime tales and seaside traditions, classic cafés and museums galore.
- From Italy’s best-kept dinosaur and the Theresian Aqueduct to Fascist skyscrapers and a Brutalist housing complex.
- Locations include the first Museum of Wind, the footsteps of James Joyce, the Pharaoh’s Villa, and Tito’s quarry of death.
- Also Miramare Castle, the Victory Lighthouse, segregated sea bathing, and the world’s biggest regatta.
- The ideal Trieste guidebook for travellers who want to escape the crowds and go beyond the well-known paths, as well as for those inhabitants who perhaps thought they already knew their city.
TRIESTE REVIEWS AND ARTICLES
Only in Dubrovnik
A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects
ISBN-13: 978-3-9504218-8-0
Author: Duncan JD Smith
Publisher: The Urban Explorer
Edition: 1 (2023)
Specification: Paperback, 120 pages, 56 colour photos & two fold-out maps, 13.5 x 21cm
Prices: £ 10.95, € 12.90, US$ 16.00, CDN$ 22.00
ISBN-13: 978-3-9504218-8-0
Discover Dubrovnik’s enthralling architecture, tumultuous history and artistic treasures with this explorer’s guidebook to Croatia’s culture capital.
Duncan’s book is sure to find those less hectic off-beat places in the city.
A reader
- A ground-breaking Dubrovnik guidebook to 55 fascinating and unusual historical sites in Croatia’s famous walled city and beyond. Fearsome forts and forgotten palaces, saintly relics and vestiges of war, converted convents and cursed islands.
- From a macabre cathedral treasury and an ancient arboretum to Dubrovnik’s Gibraltar and a holiday resort in ruins.
- Locations include the Red History Museum, a submerged river valley, one of Europe’s oldest quarantine hospitals, and a clifftop cemetery.
- Also a Game of Thrones’ tour, an historic pharmacy, Onofrio’s aqueduct, and the origin of the necktie.
- The ideal Dubrovnik guidebook for travellers who want to escape the crowds and go beyond the well-known paths, as well as for those inhabitants who perhaps thought they already knew their city.
DUBROVNIK REVIEWS AND ARTICLES
Flames and Flowers: Trsteno Arboretum (Mediterranean Garden Society)
Only In Seville
A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects
ISBN-13: 978-3-9504218-9-7
Author: Duncan JD Smith
Publisher: The Urban Explorer
Edition: 2 (2023)
Specification: Paperback, 120 pages, 56 colour photos & one fold-out map, 13.5 x 21cm
Prices: £ 10.95, € 12.90, US$ 16.00, CDN$ 22.00
ISBN-13: 978-3-9504218-9-7
Discover Seville’s colourful history, astonishing architecture and dynamic street life with this explorer’s guidebook to Spain’s most alluring city.
This was a fabulous book to have in Seville. We found loads of interesting places just slightly off the beaten track. It enriched our visit enormously.
Reader Review
- A ground-breaking Seville guidebook to 55 fascinating and unusual historical sites in the Andalucian capital. Grand palaces and closed convents, artistic havens and secluded patios, fervent traditions and epicurean delights.
- From Moorish minarets and medieval shipyards to Andalucia’s tallest tower and the most modern suspension bridge.
- Locations include the world’s largest wooden structure, Spain’s oldest tapas bar, a museum of tile making, and a former royal cigar factory.
- Also the legend of Don Juan, a hidden Moorish bath, the Pipes of Carmona and the treasure of El Carambola.
- The ideal Seville guidebook for travellers who want to escape the crowds and go beyond the well-known paths, as well as for those inhabitants who perhaps thought they already knew their city.
SEVILLE REVIEWS AND ARTICLES
All you need to discover this amazing city (www.timeless-travels.co.uk)
Only In Prague
A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects
ISBN-13: 978-3-9503662-4-2
Author: Duncan JD Smith
Publisher: The Urban Explorer
Edition: 2 (2014)
Specification: Paperback, 232 pages, 120 colour photos & two fold-out maps, 13.5 x 21cm
Prices: £ 16.95, € 19.90, US$ 22.95, CDN$ 32.95
ISBN-13: 978-3-9503662-4-2
Prague is beautiful and busy in equal measure. With this guidebook visitors can escape the throng and dive into the back streets for a great adventure.
A very good source of information for visitors interested in offbeat places in Prague.
Kamila Bakotová, www.praguecitytourism.cz
- A Prague guidebook to over 80 fascinating and unusual historical sights in the Czech capital. Hidden cellars and secret gardens, wild valleys and forgotten cemeteries, royal alchemists and firebrand clerics.
- From prehistoric man and the Přemyslids to the Communist era and the Velvet Revolution.
- Locations include the Faust House, the Hunger Wall, the English sewers, and the Alchemists’ Tower.
- Also the Prague Bambino, a one-armed photographer, the headless knight, and John Lennon’s Wall.
- The ideal Prague guidebook for travellers who want to escape the crowds and go beyond the well-known paths, as well as for those inhabitants who perhaps thought they already knew their city.
PRAGUE REVIEWS AND ARTICLES
Curious Cities – Prague (Timeless Travels magazine)
Insider’s Guide Prague (Summit Hotels magazine)
Prague’s Palace Gardens (www.timeless-travels.co.uk)
The Great Horse of Prague (www.lrgaf.org)
The Pursuit of Uniqueness (Hidden Europe magazine)
Only In Paris
A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects
ISBN-13: 978-3-9503662-9-7
Author: Duncan JD Smith
Publisher: The Urban Explorer
Edition: 2 (2016)
Specification: Paperback, 240 pages, 122 colour photos & two fold-out maps, 13.5 x 21cm
Prices: £ 16.95, € 19.90, US$ 22.95, CDN$ 32.95
ISBN-13: 978-3-9503662-9-7
Escape the crowds, find unusual locations, and make your own urban adventure with this explorer’s guidebook to the ‘City of Light’.
Ninety eight curiosities that have helped shape the texture of Paris both past and present. Each sight is the touchstone for a story. This is a delightful way to be led around a city. A great read and a handsome tribute to one of Europe’s loveliest cities.
www.eurocheapo.com
- A Paris guidebook to over 100 fascinating and unusual historical sights in the French capital. Roman ruins and underground worlds, unusual shops and eccentric museums, hidden communities and unusual places of worship.
- From the lake beneath the Opera and the curse of Vincennes to the mausoleum of Louis Pasteur and the best bistro in Paris.
- Locations include the Pagoda Cinema, a Museum of Magic, Foucault’s Pendulum, and the Angel of Nagasaki.
- Also an historic jazz cellar, the Duluc Detectives, Monet’s Sunrise, and Edith Piaf’s apartment.
- The ideal Paris guidebook for travellers who want to escape the crowds and go beyond the well-known paths, as well as for those inhabitants who perhaps thought they already knew their city.
PARIS REVIEWS AND ARTICLES
A brilliant guidebook to Paris (www.minorsights.com)
Not like your average guidebook (www.thegoodlifefrance.com)
A new guide to the French capital (www.eurocheapo.com)
Another peek into the secrets of Paris (www.secretsofparis.com)
Looking for the Lost Walls of Paris (www.timeless-travels.co.uk)
Forget Notre-Dame and look at the rats! (The Sheffield Star)
Parisian Prayers: A Litany of Liturgies (Hidden Europe magazine)
Only In Munich
A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects
ISBN-13: 978-3-9503662-0-4
Author: Duncan JD Smith
Publisher: The Urban Explorer
Edition: 2 (2014)
Specification: Paperback, 232 pages, 122 colour photos & two fold-out maps, 13.5 x 21cm
Prices: £ 16.95, € 19.90, US$ 22.95, CDN$ 32.95
ISBN-13: 978-3-9503662-0-4
There’s a lot more to the Bavarian capital than just beer and the Oktoberfest. Experience Munich off the beaten track with this explorer’s guidebook.
We like the book because even as specialists we were able to learn about some new aspects of Munich.
Munich Tourist Office
- A Munich guidebook to over 80 fascinating and unusual historical sights in the Bavarian capital. Historic breweries and atmospheric crypts, wartime shelters and intriguing cemeteries, curious buildings and eccentric museums.
- From medieval Munich and the Wittelsbachs to the Räterepublik and the Third Reich.
- Locations include a Jugendstil swimming pool, Little Asia, the sunken village, and Hitler’s secret headquarters.
- Also Saint Benno, Karl Valentin, Thomas Mann, and Sophie Scholl.
- The ideal Munich guidebook for travellers who want to escape the crowds and go beyond the well-known paths, as well as for those inhabitants who perhaps thought they already knew their city.
MUNICH REVIEWS AND ARTICLES
Inside Munich (www.inside-munich.com)
Jugendstil in Munich (www.timeless-travels.co.uk)
The Wanderer Returns (The Sheffield Star)
The Pursuit of Uniqueness (Hidden Europe magazine)
Only In London
A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects
ISBN-13: 978-3-9503662-5-9
Author: Duncan JD Smith
Publisher: The Urban Explorer
Edition: 1 (2015)
Specification: Paperback, 244 pages, 122 colour photos & two fold-out maps, 13.5 x 21cm
Prices: £ 16.95, € 19.90, US$ 22.95, CDN$ 32.95
ISBN-13: 978-3-9503662-5-9
Explore the treasures of old London and the delights of the new with this explorer’s guidebook to the capital’s oddities and hidden gems.
Set out on a unique expedition with this refreshing alternative guide to the capital’s hidden corners.
BRITAIN magazine
- An London guidebook to over 100 fascinating and unusual historical sights in one of Europe’s great capitals. Roman ruins and sci-fi skyscrapers, eccentric museums and novel art spaces, ancient customs and living traditions.
- From Roman Londinium and Shakespeare’s Globe to Winston Churchill’s bunker and Banksy’s street art.
- Locations include the Necropolis Railway, Soho’s Buddhist temple, ghost stations on the Tube, and the best Eel and Pie shop.
- Also Cleopatra’s Needle, Jimi Hendrix’s apartment, Florence Nightingale’s lamp, and the philosopher’s mummy.
- The ideal London guidebook for travellers who want to escape the crowds and go beyond the well-known paths, as well as for those inhabitants who perhaps thought they already knew their city.
LONDON REVIEWS AND ARTICLES
Curious Cities – London (Timeless Travels magazine)
Telling the stories (www.visitinglondonguide.com)
London’s Most Wonderful Railway Station (www.timeless-travels.co.uk)
The permanence of London (www.wizzley.com)
Ghost Stations on the Piccadilly Line (www.ernestjournal.co.uk)
The Most Extraordinary Office in England (www.minorsights.com)
A Corner of Cambridgeshire (Hidden Europe magazine)