ENGLAND'S STONEHENGE is the most famous collection of standing stones, and other sites are spread across Scotland, Ireland and Wales. But the world's largest assortment of ancient stone circles is far to the south, in the tiny West African nation The Gambia.

"The Gambia has around a hundred stone circles," says the first edition of the Rough Guide To The Gambia ($28.50 Cdn), "mostly well over a thousand years old and very well preserved."

The circles were the work of one culture, about which we know nothing. As with Stonehenge, we aren't sure what they were used for. Clocks, calendars and compasses are among the guesses.

The sites are all on the north bank of the river that gives the country its name. The best-known is at Wassu, with 11 rings. The small museum has a watchman who prevents visitors from being harassed by the local kids "by running at them with a large stick."

Guatemala ruins

IF YOU want to play Indiana Jones, Guatemala is the place. "The metropolis at El Mirador," says the second edition of Lonely Planet Guatemala ($26.95 Cdn), "contains the largest cluster of buildings in any single Mayan site, among which is the biggest pyramid ever built in the Mayan world."

Unlike better-known sites, such as Palenque and Tikal, you'll have this one pretty much to yourself: buried deep in the Peten jungle near the Mexican border, El Mirador is a five-day, four-night trek from the nearest village, Carmelita.

In its prime (150 B.C. to A.D. 150), El Mirador was home to tens of thousands and covered 16 sq. km. Today, most of it remains unexcavated, hidden beneath thick vegetation, so exploration's a challenge. "The ants, ticks and mosquitoes never relent, the mud is knee deep," warns the guide book. Just the way Indy likes it.

Cape Cod charm

"There once was a girl from Nantucket ..." Yes, well, that would have been 150 years ago, when Nantucket was a whaling port and limericks about its residents were in line with the island's image.

Today, as the first edition of Moon Handbooks Cape Cod ($25.50 Cdn) says, the whole of Nantucket town is a registered historic district (2,400 buildings) and "every window shutter and porch railing [is] perfectly in place."

Enjoying Nantucket's Olde New England charm in season doesn't come cheap. The guide book recommends several value-for-money accommodations, including:

- Nesbitt Inn, 21 Broad St. The oldest purpose-built inn on the island (1872). Warm hospitality, few private baths. From $71 US.

- Chestnut House, 3 Chestnut St. "One of the best values in town." Owned by an artist couple. Cozy library. From $170 US.

- Union Street Inn, 7 Union St. Attractively colonial. Working fireplaces in six of its 12 rooms. From $245 US.

French sundials

In France's Southern Alps, in a crook on the border with Italy, could be one of the nicest treks in the second edition of Lonely Planet Walking In France ($34.95 Cdn).

The four-day hike in little-known Parc Naturel Regional du Queyras ranges through meadows and forest, crosses streams and delivers outstanding mountain panoramas.

It also takes walkers to a handful of traditional villages where one unusual feature stands out: the sundial.

Since the 18th century, local artists have painted and carved more than 400 sundials on buildings throughout the Queyras district.

Some of the best are in St-Veran (population 250), "a veritable Alpine architectural museum," says the guide book. St-Veran claims to be the highest inhabited commune in Europe, at 2,040 metres.

It's also an excellent place for sundials: the village gets 300 days of sun a year.