Along with Glenn Tempest’s books, this guide raised the standard of Victorian walking guidebooks immeasurably. The Chapman’s have been writing walking guides to western Tasmania for many years and also wrote a weekly newspaper column covering Victorian day walks. John Siseman has written a number of guides to the Victorian high country and has also collaborated with John Chapman on Tasmanian guides.

This full colour book is produced to a very high standard. It has an excellent selection of 50 walks in many parts of Victoria and they are covered in a little more detail than those in Glenn Tempest’s Day walks around Melbourne. The walk descriptions are clear and comprehensive, the maps are detailed but uncluttered and for those apprehensive about hills, there are even gradient profiles. John Chapman’s website provides details of changed conditions on a few of the walks. Overall this is an excellent guidebook. In 2005 the authors published a complementary volume Day walks: Melbourne concentrating on walks near Melbourne. While this guide is getting a little dated, it is still a valuable resource covering a useful selection of day walks across the state.--© David Sisson