Lonely Planet dishes out summer travel tips and chance at a Napa Valley trip

Summer is fast approaching and sure to fly by even more quickly than it came. To help Americans get the most out of the summer months, Lonely Planet has launched a special micro-site called “Weekends of Summer” that has 15 free guides for all the weekends between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

The guides reads like a summer to-do list, with suggestions like “pop a cork” and “explore the great outdoors” for each weekend, and then details on where to complete the mission with via a mini-guide. Although it would be great to escape to the Gulf Coast one weekend and then go hunt lobsters in Maine the next, the best thing most of us can do is take Lonely Planet’s advice on summertime diversions and try to complete as many as possible.

Of course, perhaps even more exciting than the actual guides is the fact that Lonely Planet and the Napa Valley Destination Council have teamed up to give one lucky reader a trip to wine country valued at over $4,000. Simply surrender your name and email to be entered in the contest and have access to all 15 of the guides for free.

[Image courtesy Lonely Planet]

More SXSW goodies: Free Lonely Planet Austin Guide for your iPhone

If you are heading to Austin for SXSW, you already know that you’ll be getting free Gogo Inflight Internet access on Alaska, American and Delta. And now Lonely Planet throws in another freebie.

The good folks at Lonely Planet have a very pleasant habit of lowering the prices of their excellent guides to celebrate events. Today, they follow that tradition by launching their new Austin guide – for free.

The app covers things to do, where to eat, , where to shop, neighborhood basics and more.

Since SXSW is a real strain on mobile networks, you’ll be happy to know that the app includes offline maps.

It is available for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad and can be downloaded from the App store. The promotion started this morning and lasts till March 15 at 5PM PST, after it ends, the guide will go back up to its usual price ($5.99).

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