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Best USA Guidebook

I know this is not a Europe question, but I can depend on individuals from this site to give me the best suggestions! Does anyone have a recommendation for the best guidebook for areas in the USA. I only wish Rick Steves's could clone himself and provide us with a great series of USA guides.

Posted by
3313 posts

Charlene -

Even more so than travel book series for Europe, travel series for U.S. vary by the type of traveling they are oriented to - backpacking, budget, first class. Also, few are updated annually.

For mid to lower budgets, I'd look at Moon and Lonely Planet. They do a good job with basic orientation to local history and significance with food and lodging recommendations. But I would also lean heavily on websites like Citysearch, Tripadvisor and Yelp for more specific and current recommendations.

Posted by
178 posts

Doug,

Thank-you so much for the suggestions, and I will check them out for sites to visit. We will be in a motorhome and are looking for the breath taking, memorable sites. I truly hated to post such a question on this site for I respect it highly. It has been a world of help to us, but I trust its readers for clear, concise advise. Keep traveling. :):):)

Posted by
15062 posts

Since you're traveling by motorhome, I'd suggest going to a large bookstore and browsing the travel section. There are lots of books on traveling the U.S. by motorhome. Plus lots of websites devoted to the subject.

The U.S. is very big...what parts will you be visiting.

My first suggestion is to visit many of our national parks and monuments.

Posted by
180 posts

There are a lot of good guidebooks for the USA, but I would actually start with the AAA (CAA here in Canada). Get a membership and pick up all of the tour books, camping books and maps you can for free. You will easily pay for your membership.

My wife and I did that before our road trip into the western USA early this year. We picked up a bunch of maps and books at home and then hit a few AAA offices in towns along the way for good local information and even some coupons.

Then if you still would like more information, hit your local library for a few books of specific places and get a feel for which brand of books you like best. Then buy the most up to date copies online at Amazon.

Pete

Posted by
588 posts

I preferr AAA (membership required but well worth it). Rand McNally has a great website for travelers. If you are using an RV, you might want to look up Good Sam Clubs.

Posted by
178 posts

Thanks for all of the excellent suggestions, so that I can do research for our trip into Canada, the northern and northwestern part of the US along with California and some of the national parks such as Bryce and Zion before heading back east. We will probably take our own motor home but we are wondering if anyone has a favorite rental company for RVs? Keep traveling!