2013 vs. 2019 Travel Guide

How much will your trip cost? What percentage of that will an up-to-date guidebook cost?
Hotels go down-hill, new places open every year.

You can always take the travel guide out of the library. We always do. I think 6 years is a big difference. If your library only has 2018, I'd take it out.

Get the book. Opening hours change, things close for refurbishment, prices change, etc. The book isn't the right place to skimp. Do yourself a favor and get the updated version.

That is a number of years during which I know a lot of research was done. (Seems like Pat O'Connor is never around the office when I want him!) Transferring your old personal notes to the new book would be a good strategy to get acquainted with the updates.

When i travelled to Germany last year i used my 2013 RS book. But i also did my own research, mostly tripadvisor and hotels and each attractions websites. (i'm not gonna lie, i like planning and researching for my trip). That seemed to work just fine for me. No need to buy a new book.

I'm with Holly. I use older guides to figure out the general outline of my itinerary. Then, I go online to museum websites, etc to get the current hours, fees, etc. Even if you bought the 2019 edition, the information is from 2018 because it has to be printed. So if there were a closure, online would have the more up-to-date information anyway. I'm using the 2015 edition for our 2019 trip.

It depends on what you're using the guide for. I tend to use RS guides for sightseeing purposes only, so a few years old isn't usually a big deal, and if there's some spectacular new tourist sight, odds are I probably would have heard about it on social media, etc. But if you're using the book for hotels and restaurants, then yes, absolutely get the new one as those things change a lot.

And don't forget to check the guidebook updates section of this website for any changes made after the most recent edition went to print.

Oh, what the heck ......... lash out and buy the new guide book.

I use old guidebooks all the time for ideas. Then I go a step further and research on the internet for the current hours, prices ,etc.

Even “current” guidebooks aren’t that current. It pays to confirm info on all major locations you are interested in. I use trip advisor and suggestions from this forum for hotel ideas.