Whenever possible, we recommend using several major, all-purpose travel guides, then supplementing these resources with lesser-known guidebooks, especially those that target specific interests, such as sightseeing, outdoor activities, restaurants, bed and breakfasts and so forth. No one travel guidebook can do it all! It has been our experience that if you get in the habit of taking three, four, five, maybe even six guidebooks along, you will be more likely to find the very best choices for your needs, interests and budget--where to go, what to see, where to stay, where to eat, etc.
That may sound like a lot of printed material, but it is worth it! You can spend a thousand dollars--or two or three or more--on a trip so why not spend $100 on the books you need to make that vacation really pop? It's not about planning every move; there's plenty of time to be spontaneous. But knowing what your best choices are from a variety of perspectives is worth its weight in gold. And if you need to put all that book weight on your back, consider tearing your guidebooks apart before you go and taking only the essentials.
This Web site doesn’t concentrate on the travel guides from the big-name guidebook series, although we usually have several of these Big Guys with us wherever we go. Nevertheless, a few words, based on our experience, may be helpful--you will also find additional comments at the beginning of most other pages on this site.
We usually begin with a Fodor’s travel guide from their standard (Gold) series, if available. We’ve gotten into the habit of starting with Fodor’s for many destinations because of the quality and frequency of their updating. In our experience, when it comes to updating, Fodor's sets the standard by which others should be judged. But we don’t stop there! In Europe we add a second, all-purpose guidebook or even two to help us “triangulate” (as the surveyors say) on the best choices for our interests. Guidebooks from Rick Steves are a great option for Europe. Sometimes we also add one from Frommers.
Other travelers rely on different standard guidebooks—to some degree it is more a matter of personal taste than anything else. The Access guides, for one, are very popular for those who like a more graphic organization to their travel guides. The Let’s Go travel guides continue to serve younger and small-budget travelers (they cover destinations around the world and they’re also known for the quality of their updating) as do the several "On a Shoestring" guides from Lonely Planet. For places like Eastern Europe or Africa, our personal selections turn to the Bradt guidebooks (a British series) or those from Lonely Planet, though you do want to note the publication date and bear that in mind when it comes to time-sensitive information. Asia, the South Pacific, and Central/South America—we again turn to Lonely Planet (they're based in Australia and started out covering their own neighborhood in the South Pacific and southern Asia) and the Moon Handbooks, plus Footprint's South America Handbook (see note in next paragraph). In the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, it's Fodor's once again, plus the Moon Handbooks.
Still other series have their loyal advocates: Footprint Guides, Rough Guides, Cadogan Guides, Eyewitness Guides, and Insight Guides (all five of these are from Britain; the Footprint series includes the legendary South America Handbook, now in its 84th edition.)
If you don’t know all these guidebook brand names very well, the best idea is to get your hands on them at your local bookstore and compare. Choose several for your next trip and see how each works out and how they work together. After a while you’ll have your personal favorites identified.
