DISQUS

Geoff · 10 months ago

I bumped into someone who was researching updates for the Rough Guide when I was in Laos last year and was impressed at how diligently she was doing her job, putting a lot of time and effort into visiting places (and not just phoning up or asking other people).

One of the things that guide books can be useful for is it find the places to avoid - if a sight is listed as a highlight in the Lonely Planet, you can guarantee it'll be mobbed. Places that only get a brief mention (or no mention at all) are usually much emptier.

I really regretted leaving my Central America guidebook behind when I was on a bus journey from Chetumal in Mexico to Tikal in Guatemala via Belize - we got loads of misleading advice from locals we asked questions from, badly advised on where to break the journey, and ripped off on the border (and this is despite speaking Spanish). Having the guidebook with us would have helped us to avoid some of those problems.

<abbr>Geoff´s last blog post..My own private world heritage site: the Plantin-Moretus museum</abbr>

Gillian · 10 months ago

The term is GUIDEbook, not YOU-MUST-DO-IT-THIS-WAYbook. I like to use them as just that, a guide, a starting point. And I agree with Geoff and try to stick with the lesser mentioned places.

<abbr>Gillian´s last blog post..Nostalgic Already?</abbr>

Keith · 10 months ago

The first thing you must do is check the date on the guide book. Through no fault of the author, there could be out of date stuff in the guides that's out of date as soon as it hits the streets.

I'm still a little bit embarrassed about the 'super bar' I once recommended in a magazine article. When I visited two years later, I found that it had, in the meantime a) been taken over by a biker gang, b) Raided at least three times by the Drug Squad and c) The owner received a jail sentence, and the place closed down.

<abbr>Keith´s last blog post..Sign of Spring</abbr>

Keith · 10 months ago

There is an 'urban myth' that guidebooks often contain a small piece of inaccurate, or even untrue information, so that the publishers know if the author's work has been plagiarised.

<abbr>Keith´s last blog post..Sign of Spring</abbr>

mich · 10 months ago

I usually do my research first before I travel. Those guide books are my must bring accessories. The Let's GO book was our bible when we were backpacking in Europe, it help us get around from point A to B. From then, I usually use Rick Steves in Europe and Frommers for everywhere else.

Sara · 10 months ago

I like using guidebooks, as a guide, especially in the early planning stages. My favorites are rough guides.

Motherofalltrips · 10 months ago

I do like guidebooks - but only as one piece of the puzzle that I painstakingly assemble before a trip. What I usually do is check a bunch of them out of the library. Then I choose the one or two I really like and buy them to bring along. But I always supplement what I find in them with lots of online research and also culling information from people I know who have been to the place I'm going (and since my parents are semi-professional travelers and have been most places, I can usually get some information from them.

I tend also to look for guidebooks about a specific aspect of the place I'm especially interested in. For example, I bought Hungry for Paris by Alexander Lobrano before our trip to France last summer. Every single one of the restaurant recommendations in there was dead accurate.

But I can't remember ever taking a trip and relying solely on a guidebook.

Carpool guy · 10 months ago

you could also ask the locals where they spent their own vacations to find some nice places :)

Gennaro · 10 months ago

Guidebooks are a helpful resource. I don't use them to determine my trip, but they are useful with border crossing (i.e. best towns in Vietnam to get over to Laos). The city maps are usually very accurate too. Good for an orientation. They also tend to have a lot of little towns that one would not know off hand, but are worth a visit.

The accommodations really comes down to the type of travel you're involved in. If you are traveling alone and want to meet other travelers then it's great. All migrate to the same places in the book. If not, skip the section all together.

<abbr>Gennaro´s last blog post..20 Travel Tips From Our Commenters</abbr>

Monna · 10 months ago

For us, it's absolutely Rick Steves for Europe. We own ten of his guidebooks and we have used them for over twenty trips over the last three years. He really knows his stuff; he and his people do their research thoroughly and they update the guide books each year. For our most recent trip, however, we found that Sardinia is not included in Rick's Italy so we used Lonely Planet. LP covers many more towns and cities than the Rick Steves guides but we were quite disappointed with the vague information provided. Also, we kept coming across the line, "Please check with the local tourist office" which we found hilarious... and not at all helpful.

Ultimately, people should do whatever they are comfortable with. We are not traveling around the world... we are based in Barcelona where we live and work full-time and have long weekends and week-long trips in which to see places we have always dreamed of visiting. As such, we don't have much time to get lost on the way to a museum. For some (ourselves included), Rick's detailed, information-overload approach is perfect. It's clear that others would prefer less information and planning... and opt for the more organic experience that unfolds when you travel without a guidebook in hand.

Tanya · 10 months ago

I've always loved Let's Go because they have tons of historical and cultural information about their destinations. It's nice to know a little bit more about the places you're visiting than simply directions to the nearest hostel.

James · 10 months ago

This post is a refreshing change from the "burn your guidebook" type posts that have become popular of late. I like researching online but I can't be bothered printing out reams of paper to take with me. Then once you are on the road printing is completely impractical.

<abbr>James´s last blog post..Travel Photo: Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai - China</abbr>

Jen · 10 months ago

So far Google and guidebooks (as well as travel blogs and hearsay) are what is planning our route. Being a beginner traveller you need somewhere to start and I definitely feel some (but not all) guidebooks do this. My favourite so far is First Time Around The World by Doug Lansky (Rough Guide) - excellent tips and snipets of info. I hope, once I become more travel savvy, to be able to just use the books for the basic info and plan a trip 100% myself. Great article and I'm glad to find that even the most experienced travellers still pick up the books. xx

Fly Girl · 10 months ago

I have to say that I don't use guidebooks like I used to before the advent of Tripadvisor, Facebook, Twitter, Travelwriters.com and the like. I typically used a guidebook as one piece of my research and was very particular about the type of guidebook too. Lonely Planet and Rough Guides worked for the most part. But in the last few years, I've discovered that I can gather more recent and relevant info online. Because I'm almost always traveling for a story, I need specific info and I've found what I need with other journalists online or expats. I do like the idea of a good guidebook, they can be very handy on the road. I just haven't used one lately.

<abbr>Fly Girl´s last blog post..A Taste of Gullah</abbr>

Melanie Waldman · 10 months ago

Your list is spot on, Christine! Like most of the folks here, I don't use guidebooks exclusively, but more as a skeleton upon which to build some decisions.

My husband and I both like DK's Eyewitness Guides, not merely because they're the general size of any purse I own, but because they cover all the regions of a country, have very detailed street maps, gorgeous photos, and alert us to random sights and towns we'd otherwise have missed. For instance, the crazy geological formations at El Torcal in southern Spain, between Malaga and Granada; I'd never seen anything like it, yet we were the only Americans there.

If something looks interesting in a DK Guide, we'll use any one of a gajillion sources to do further research online -- but still, the book travels with us.

I've also had a lot of fun with the Style City books, specifically for London, Paris, and Barcelona. Especially time-sensitive, these are guides to the most unusual, design-y, independent small museums, restaurants, boutiques and shops a city has to offer. In London, in particular, we made trips to parts of town we might not have found otherwise just to find a vintage record store or a Burmese restaurant.

In the meantime, we as bloggers will continue to fill in the gaps. After all, it's our collective job!

<abbr>Melanie Waldman´s last blog post..Travels Without Turtles</abbr>

poetloverrebelspy · 10 months ago

I too am a fan of the guidebook and have defended their use to budget-conscious travelers. I'll save space here and link to the original:

In Defense of Printed Guidebooks

In my own experience, I find they make it easier to simply take off somewhere without a plan and still end up with a well-rounded experience.

<abbr>poetloverrebelspy´s last blog post..Download February’s Desktop Calendar</abbr>

Vera Marie Badertscher · 8 months ago

I am addicted to guidebooks. Although I buy used books all the time, I buy NEW guidebooks because even new ones are already out of date, as you point out.
Second thing I've learned is that one imprint does not cover all places well. Slowly,I've learned to choose different guidebooks for different places and purposes. One is good for attractions, another for hotels. One knows Europe very well, but another is best for Southeast Asia.
And unlike some of your readers, I avoid Rick Steves because many people follow him too slavishly, turning his "unknown" spots into circuses. I still laugh when I think about walking past a Rome sidewalk cafe and seeing four couples consulting Rick Steves guidebooks.
Finally, I promote literature for travel at my web site. In a rare departure today, I'm posting on some guidebooks, and will include a link to your excellent post.

<abbr>Vera Marie Badertscher´s last blog post..Top 5 American Road Trip Books and The List</abbr>