Best travel guides

[RWJ777]

Hello there, I'm off to Italy in a couple of months' time for 4 weeks and was looking today at the Lonely Planet guide. I've bought them in the past for previous travels and have generally found them quite good (except for the fact that recommended restaurants end up becoming tourist haunts) but stopped short of buying it today. It feels a bit formulaic and of course is a bit of a tome to lug around.

Does anyone here have preferences for particular travel guides?

Just by context, I'm hardly the intrepid traveller -- and much prefer my comforts and good dining, to adventure or clubbing. I'm not a budget traveller but equally neither am I a high roller.

Cheers.

 

[RB]

I am not actually a buyer of paper guides. Prior to travel I get a lot of value of selective reading Trip Advisor & Fodors forums. Rick Steves seems to have a strong following of readers for various Euro destinations

 

[sergeyvzn]

Wikitravel does it for me. It has replaced Lonely Planet for a lot of people I know

 

[samh004]

You can also get the Lonely Planet guides on an iPad or iPhone, though not sure if it's cheaper, more expensive or same price. Saves you lugging round the book...

 

[seanpodge]

Would agree that wikitravel is pretty good, particularly for more popular destinations. The internet in general is making travel guide books look pretty superfluous, I think.

Haven't bought a Lonely Planet for years. Was rather put off when a book shop in Camberwell demanded over $40 for a LP Germany guide that was four years old. Just took it into the café section of the shop, took notes to use for online searching and put it back on the shelf.

 

[Mal]

Wikitravel. Frommers. Arrival guides. Tripadvisor are my usual ones.

 

[codash1099]

You can also get the Lonely Planet guides on an iPad or iPhone, though not sure if it's cheaper, more expensive or same price. Saves you lugging round the book...

Quite a bit cheaper, but there are cheaper ones as well.

 

[arraitch]

Although some destinations will determine which guide, you're spoiled for choice when it comes to Italy. Although I'd agree that LP guides can be formulaic, they're still essential reading IMHO. As is DK, not least because the way in which their photographs provide a sense of "being there". All of Fodor's, Frommer's, Bradt, Rough Guides and Rick Steves are worth a look; why not visit your local library for a browse before handing over the $$$? As with LP guides, other imprints are available in e-book format from Amazon. Sadly, Jetlagtravel.com appears to lack coverage just yet ...

 

[BAM1748]

I usually do all my research before I go, making photo copies of things I plan to visit or look at and bunch them all up and put a big staple through it. Then I tear off and dispose as I travel.

matt

 

[mole]

I am not a fan of lonely planet guides at all, my personal preference is the frommers guides as they are usually updated annually. I do the majority of my planning of tripadvisor.com but when I do buy guides I usually purchase them from the bookdepository.co.uk as the prices are much cheaper than here in Australia and free world wide postage.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

. As is DK,

Yes DK has become a must read for me due their quite different style with all their diagrams and pics. It gives quite a different perspective. Often buy from Book Depostry as the maps in them are quite handy too.

If going to a new country I will often visit the library to borrow a selection of guides.


For Italy check out: Italy Travel Guide to Hotels, Vacations, Tours for a lot of useful advice and tips (This used to be Jessica's site....but looks like she must have been bought out)

 

[RWJ777]

Thanks everyone for your counsel.

I ended up using the LPs as electronic files (although can't seem to save them onto my iPad) and so will also look at DK in hard copy.

 

[samh004]

Thanks everyone for your counsel.

I ended up using the LPs as electronic files (although can't seem to save them onto my iPad) and so will also look at DK in hard copy.

If they're a PDF you should be able to use iTunes to get them into iBooks, or email them to yourself and save them directly into iBooks.

 

[RWJ777]

If they're a PDF you should be able to use iTunes to get them into iBooks, or email them to yourself and save them directly into iBooks.

Thank you, I'll give that a go.