What guidebooks do you use?

Allan,

I tend to use the RS guidebooks most of the time as they cover the places I want to visit and I really like the logical way the information is presented. I usually use hotels listed in the guidebooks and have never been disappointed in those hotels.

If I'm visiting a location not covered by the RS guidebooks (Bologna is a good example), I tend to use Lonely Planet books as they're also a good choice. LP offers specific chapters of their books available as PDF downloads for a few dollars, and I often use those as I can load the information onto my phone or Netbook.

I really do prefer Rick's books, but if they are not available for a place then I get Eyewitness...however, I'm going to Romania this spring and the best choice was Rough Guide. I read the book through at home, then remove sections I will want when abroad.

Eyewitness is always my first choice, I love all the color photos and it gives me a good overview of a city and what to do there. I always buy hard copy and it’s a nice souvenir of when I get back to relive the trip. I never use them for restaurants or hotels so an Eyewitness guide is good for several years.

I’ll get the RS guide on Kindle assuming it’s a European trip, they’re certainly written more like a novel than a textbook which makes them easy reading. Occasionally the Rick kindle book go on sale so I’ll buy one at a discount even if the place isn’t on my horizon.

Lonely Planet, wow. I used to be fascinated by them and always checked them out of the library for all the exotic places they covered. While I’m never likely to visit Chad or the Central African Republic, they were always fascinating to read. Lately, the developed world guides have gotten a bit annoying, endless lists of hipster coffeehouses and vegan restaurants and not enough on local attractions.

Fodors are deadly dull, seemed aimed at the over 60 crowd that agonises over choosing the Marriott or the Hilton. I’ve read organic chemistry textbooks with more character.

I used to like Let’s Go, not sure if they’re still a thing. But my backpacking and hostel days are behind me and I don’t need a list of techno clubs open until 4 am.

Google maps and Wikipedia. There's no better way to pick a random town on your route, see a few pictures of what it looks like, read about the history of the location and some of the highlights. If you can read it, German Wikipedia is particularly strong as a travel reference for Germany, Austria and Switzerland (I've found Dutch Wikipedia less comprehensive, though).

These references work best if you already have some familiarity with a given country or region, however. Probably not the place to start for beginners. I like Eyewitness and Insight guides for my initial investigation because they are fairly comprehensive.

The Michelin Green and Red guides are quite helpful for restaurant recommendations, and as an on-the-go reference, but they're less helpful for planning.

I don't care much for Fodor's main travel series, but they had a sub-series of "Great Drives" which provided some very interesting driving itineraries.

The Roter Wanderführer are the best hiking guides I've come across for Europe, but they're only in German.

Rick Steves helped me find my travel legs, but I after one or two trips under his guidance, I realized that I wasn't his target audience. I still read him because I find his opinions interesting, but I generally avoid his restaurant and hotel recommendations. I'm also a little wary when he declares something "one of a kind" because it usually isn't, other than the high proportion of Rickniks you find among the visitors.

I appreciate the comprehensive nature of Let's Go and Lonely Planet, but I'm far beyond the target demographic now. Lonely Planet also seems to rarely update their guides, much less even proof read the new editions to make sure they've removed obviously out- of-date information... like noting that a certain museum will be closed throughout 2010... in the 2012 edition.

It’s a shame National Geographic traveler stopped production. My wife uses the RS guides and other guides depending on which seems to have the most information on the country we’re visiting, but I use Internet to conduct research. Like Tom, I check towns along my travel route and almost always find something interesting. I frequently do virtual drive-by’s using street view to get a feel for a location.

To quote Dale

Eyewitness is always my first choice, I love all the color photos and
it gives me a good overview of a city and what to do there. I always
buy hard copy and it’s a nice souvenir of when I get back to relive
the trip. I never use them for restaurants or hotels so an Eyewitness
guide is good for several years.

Ken posted exactly what I was going to post. Good going Ken.

Rick is always where I start for Europe. I also look at Rough Guide and Lonely Planet. I've found that for some places, one of these is much better than the other. At this point, I'm used to their writing styles, which used to annoy me (a good drinking game would be to have a drink every time a Rough Guide uses the phrase, "you're spoiled for choice.")

I find the formatting in Fodors makes them hard to read, and their idea of "budget" places are more like my "high-splurge." Frommers used to have a lot more detail than they do now, but some of them can be very good - it really depends on the author of that particular guide.

I used Let's Go religiously in the past, when I was younger and they had guides to lots of places. Looking at my collection, I see that it was in the 80's and 90's. Now, they are a shadow of their former selves, with only a few guides and not much information I need now.

I know many like the guides printed on heavy paper with lots of pictures, such as Insight, but I don't find them useful.

To decide where to go, Insight Guides and Eyewitness guides.

For detail in a major destination European city: Rick Steves hands down.

For traveling places other than major cities in Europe, Rough Guides and Lonely Planet (tie--I choose whichever has the most recent edition)--I use Rick Steves to eliminate or at least consider eliminating any small town he mentions, as his word seems sufficient to overcrowd almost anywhere.

I no longer use them much, but for young people doing the youth hostel thing, Let's Go is still a great resource.

For offbeat gems: google travel blogs.

It’s a shame National Geographic traveler stopped production.

I know they stopped production of the magazine but do you know if that includes the books as well? I couldn't find any info on that, I do notice though that the book prices are all about half price on the NG website. I hope NG is just having a fire sale and not closing down the entire Traveler line.

I read every guidebook I can get from the library, plus many websites and blogs. One of my favorites, no longer published, are the Cadogan guides --- very in depth, especially about art and history, and opinionated (like Rick's) so they are fun to read. Some Cadogan guides are available on Amazon.

As others have mentioned, it all depends on my destination(s). I usually start out at the public library to see what is available, then move on to a book store. Overall, here are my preferences:

• RS Guides: specifics for getting one's bearings, official website listings, tips for purchasing tickets/admissions, walks and museum tours.
• DK Eyewitness Travel: Photos and suggestions for neighborhoods to visit, especially for extended stays or return visits; city walks.
• National Geographic Traveler (have had great luck finding "recent" editions at thrift stores!): History, photography, lesser-known areas to visit.
• Insight Guides: Pocket-sized books on cities (like Bologna!) not on the RS Travel radar.
• Marco Polo Guides: Appeal to wide variety of interests.

My first guidebook was Arthur Frommer's Europe on $5 a Day, and I took that budget seriously because I had no choice. Much later I resumed traveling, but with a bigger wallet (OK, neck wallet) and RS is my first choice. Lonely Planet is good for a more comprehensive look at the places of interest in a country -- it tries to cover all, while RS limits to what he deems the "best," especially for first-time visitors. I love the Michelin Green Guides for their detail about sights, not for their hotel/restaurant recommendations. The DK and Insight series are fun to study beforehand but much too heavy to bring along. I'll review Fodor and/or Frommer (who has upped his budget a little since the 1960s) since my library usually has them, but they seldom offer more than I can get with the others.

Outside Europe, I guess it would be Lonely Planet.

I've spent about 600 days sightseeing in the EU, about 54 different trips, most by rental car. For car travel, there is only one choice: Michelin Green Guides. Otherwise, I still prefer the Green Guide, maybe because I have so many of them (my home collection of travel guides takes up about 40 linear feet of shelf space).

Green Guides rate sights on a scale of 0 to 3 stars. Here are 3 Green Guide *** sights in the Alps. Try to find them in any other guide book: 1] Oratory at Chazelet (Fr), Gosausee (AT), Traunertal(AT).

I prefer the Green Guides from the 1980s which do not include the recently added limited restaurant & hotel advice and whose initial maps are easier to use for planning than are the recent Green Guides.

For hotels/restaurants, top choice is the Michelin Red Guide. Fake News "comprehensive" guides that try to cover sights and eats and accommodations do none of them well. The Red Guide to where to stay and eat in France is 1,900 pages. Everybody knows the famous Michelin star rating system for restaurants (a few weeks ago, a French chef whose restaurant was demoted from ** to * killed himself), the Red Guides actually has 18 rating categories for restaurants and hotels. In the 30,000 miles we have driven around France (and more in the rest of the EU), we found that the best value is a red xxx for restaurants and a red bird hotel.

Another advantage of Red Guides is that they do not rate for American tourists. Their ratings are for natives. When we go out to eat, we want to be the only Americans in the place.

RS Guides: RS country guides are geared to "If this is Tuesday, it must be Belgium" (than's a movie) style travel. I hate that. RS city guides are # 1 if they cost less than Green Guides and Eyewitness Guides.

I found this article on this website, Rick explains his thought process for his guidebooks as well is opinion on the competition.

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/comparing-guidebook-series

I think the Bradt Guides are the "gold standard" . Well-written, comprehensive, plenty of local knowledge and an interesting read. Unfortunately, they don't cover most of continental Europe - but when they do, such as Flanders or Malta, they have always been excellent.

I also like DK guidebooks with the drawings and photos. But usually supplement them with one of the more "wordy" books such as Rough Guide or Lonely Planet (those two are largely interchangeable - especially now LP seems to have dropped a lot of the tedious faux "trendy" language they were ruined by in the old BBC ownership days).

Insight city guides are very good for a long weekend type of trip to one destination, with well-explained routes to cover the main sights in a few days.

All guidebooks are out of date almost before they are published and are selective in what they cover, as they have to be a certain size. The RS guide to England misses out huge areas of the country that have merit, by means of an example.

The internet contains far more information than any guidebook.

"The internet contains far more information than any guidebook."

True, but the internet also contains a lot of information that is out of date. And even more that is utter drivel. One needs to be able to navigate the internet to find the useful information. I think a trusted guidebook, even if published a couple of year's ago, gives a useful starting point.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-51576375

The internet contains far more information than any guidebook.

The problem is that it's all over the place (not collated, leaving you to do all the work). Plus, you have to separate the wheat from chaff, and there's a lot of chaff out there because it's free and much of it questionable in value and objectivity. Whenever people come on this forum to try to piece together somewhat complicated itineraries from the internet alone, they'd be better served looking at a guidebook first to get some baseline knowledge - there are simply too many gaps to be filled by well-meaning strangers on forums like these. People trust guidebooks due to a perception of expertise and experience from the authors.

I use whatever guidebook and resources that appear to be most helpful for the country I'm visiting. I found Lonely Planet and Bradt Guides to be very helpful, as well as the Rough Guide. Most of my travel doesn't focus on Europe (but I always recommend RS books to any newbie for European travel because they are the most accessible and well-written). I also like Moon Guides, National Geographic and Footprint Guides (for South America). For lodging and meals, I do use crowdsourced reviews a lot more because they contain more options and up-to-date reviews.

Bradt's "Switzerland Without a Car" is excellent for describing things to look out for through the window as you make train or bus journeys there.

In French-speaking areas, I find the "Routard" guides are absolutely superb for finding places to eat, if you can read a little French.

My favs are the ones I get for free from the library app - generally DK and Frommer's. Back when I bought guidebooks, I tended towards the Frommer's Day by Day, because they were compact and I could take them with us (before iPads made things so easy). I have a couple Fodor's 25 best city guides as well (I'm not sure they still make those - I don't recall seeing any lately).

Eyewitness travel guides for places like China, India, Japan, Peru, etc. However, for Europe, I prefer Rick Steves.

Allan, I’m not sure about the books. NG turned my Traveler magazine subscription into a regular NG subscription until it expires. Fortunately that’s only a few months.

I use exclusively Rough Guide on Germany, Poland, Vienna, Czech Rep.

Thanks to Fred, I use Rough Guides as my primary. Also have enjoyed those by Brandt.

I rarely use guidebooks because I find the internet, such as Google to be so much easier to use. You don't need a guidebook for major sights or for that matter any sights. You can drill down on any country, city, town or city in Europe. Save your money and buy a better dinner some evening or two.

Thanks for starting this thread Allan, very interesting post and responses.

I use to rely more on guide books, now I will look at Rick Steve's Guides for Europe as well as Rough Guides overall for a general itinerary and then use the Internet (combo Trip Advisor and blogs on a particular place and food blogs, especially Eater) to dive deeper into my planning.

On lodging, I may use the guide book to give me ideas and then cross-check reviews with various online sites and use forums like this to vet actual experiences.

Sandy

Allen notes "I found this article on this web site, Rick explains his thought process for his guidebooks as well is opinion on the competition. https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/comparing-guidebook-series

RS says "Michelin Green Guides: From a French publisher, these tall, green books are packed with color maps and photos, plus small but encyclopedic chapters on history, lifestyles, art, culture, and customs. Recent editions also list hotels and restaurants. The Michelin Red Guides are the hotel and restaurant connoisseur's bibles."

Mostly right, but some Fake News. RS only focuses on the * to *** establishments for " connoisseur's", but there are actually about 18 rating categories including identified bargain buys. I'm planning a trip to Vienna later this year, and I want to eat a particular Viennese special. Emily is a resident of Vienna and a frequent commentator in these forums, recommended a certain restaurant whose price for the dish is $5-8 cheaper than the places TripAdvisor and Yelp recommend. Michelin recommends a couple places more expensive that Emily but also several that are $3-5 cheaper than Emily's choice. Stay tuned for a post trip update.

In the past I have used, consulted with the Let's Go series, Michelin Green, Frommer's, Berlitz, American Express, and travel brochures from the German Travel Office, and DER travel agency in SF, as well as Rough Guide but never RS.

One of my favorites, no longer published, are the Cadogan guides --- very in depth, especially about art and history, and opinionated

@nancys8 — me too, I loved Cadogan guides. Glad I kept the ones I have. I used a 15-year-old one as part of my planning and sightseeing for Brittany last fall and it was wonderful, directed me to things I never would have known to seek out.

I also rely a lot on Rough Guides and the Gallimard Cartoville map-books for city breaks. And RS guides for the big overview and useful details!

I normally check everything out from the Library to start, then buy the ones that I'll use most. I really like how RS covers what it covers but there are lots of gaps that need to be filled. I especially like that I can "carry" a kindle version of RS guides because I like to travel as light as possible (only a 10-12 lbs. shoulder bag). Here are other guidebooks I use for planning and on the road:

The best coverage is Michelin Green Guide. These are normally the only book I carry (along with Kindle version Rick Steves). I like how they cover virtually everywhere. The books are relatively small, made so by reducing the geographic area covered. Sometimes that means you need two, or more, books to cover your itinerary (even in one country).

Eyewitness are great for my bookshelf at home. I like the photos but they are much too heavy, IMO, to be a practical guide on the road.

I've used Rough Guide, Fodors and Lonely Planet fairly regularly for planning but can't remember the last time I carryied one with me. I consider them just okay. I check them out of the Library and read them/refer to them for planning. If I'm not planning to pack a book, however, I don't buy one.

I've decided Frommer's is chock full of predictable/mundane/virtually useless information. I don't even use his books for planning anymore.

An "on the road" supplement to RS and Green Guide is the Trip Adviser App. If you find yourself in an unplanned destination, you can always pull up the top sights for the area and choose something that suits your preferences. I also use the app at least once or twice a trip to make last minute lodging reservations.

National Geographic Traveler. For some reason I can not read Lonely Planet for more than 10 minutes with out getting sleepy.
I also buy and read really old travel guides. Rand Mcnally had a whole series of these. For a good laugh, pick up a copy of Jetlag's "Molvania. A Land Untouched By Modern Dentistry" :)

No guide books. Online research only.