Travel guidebooks: Cashing in on "The Da Vinci Code"

Fodor's, the granddaddy of travel guides, wants you to hit the road with the "Code."

For the first time in its 70-year history, the publisher of more than 300 travel books is bowing to the gods of popular culture and publishing a book tied to an already popular travel trend: visiting the European destinations in Dan Brown's best-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code."

"Fodor's Guide to The Da Vinci Code" ($14.95) will have a first-print run of 150,000, said Fodor's publisher Tim Jarrell — the largest for any Fodor's guide. A typical first run is 20,000 to 50,000.

Numerous travel agencies offer them for Paris, London and other locales mentioned in the novel, and Fodor's has a "Da Vinci Code" tour of Paris posted on its Web site. But the book traces a complete 12-day European "Code" tour, which begins in France and ends in Scotland. The Fodor's guide will be in bookstores March 28, the same day as 5 million copies of Anchor's paperback edition of "The Da Vinci Code" and Broadway's paperback edition of "The Da Vinci Code Special Illustrated Edition." It's no coincidence. Fodor's, Anchor and Broadway, as well as Doubleday, the publisher of the "Code" hardcover, are all divisions of Random House.

On May 19, "The Da Vinci Code" film starring Tom Hanks will be released.