Buying the new 2010 book

Thanks, Frank!
Great suggestions!
I really appteciate it.

Probably not but without a line by line comparison it would be hard to tell. I am sure prices have been updated. We have used books as old as three and four old. Prices always change but that is not important to us and a few hotels/restaurants are added or dropped but again we don't view that as significant. The general information/walking tours, etc. stay the same.

My local library stocks the current RS books. Yours may, too. You could look at the 2010 book for newer info. I buy a new RS book every 2-3 years, usually not every year.

diane,

That's something I always wonder about also. I've found that if there's only a year's difference in the books, there usually aren't too many major changes.

However if a book is 3+ years old, it's a good idea to pick up a new one, as there are often some signifcant changes in Hotel & Restaurant listings, opening and closing times and especially prices. Some businesses will have closed, new ones added, there may be new phone numbers or E-mail addresses, etc.

Happy travels!

i thought along the same lines as you all. thanks very much for you sharing! :>

Diane...one year will probably not make a big difference. What you could do is after getting all the info you need from your book....either check to see if your local library has a copy of the newer book or go to a large bookstore, get the newest edition, sit down, get a cup of coffee and see if there are any updates. If there are, take some notes and then correct them in your book. And while you're at it, look at other guidebooks because just using one is limiting yourself to one travel writer. And Rick leaves a lot out that he doesn't find interesting.

Like Ken said, it's rare that from one year to another, there will be that many changes.

I have the 2009 on my Kindle. Since Rick appears to have decided NOT to support this technology going foward, I did NOT buy the 2010 before I went this Oct even though it was out. No problems with the 2009 version.

(Hint to the editors... those of us moving to the new technoloy will direct our purchases that way. So failure to adapt may result in fewer sales)

Diane - I cannot tell you if much has changed, but when I weigh the price of the newest book against the cost of my vacation, I ALWAYS buy the newest book as I plan my trip. Before I return home, I usually write a note inside the cover and leave it on the bookshelf at the hotel for some other traveler to use.

I have not found a lot of difference between books that are only one year apart. I used a 2008 book on my trip to Paris last month.

What I usually do is use the book for planning. When I narrow down what I want to see, I check dates/times/prices on the web and mark the changes in my book.

Gosh,, I would never buy a new book each year,, do some of you really do that?

I mean,, the Eiffel Towers location hasn't changed,, same with Louvre and Orsay,, and as for opening times,, the books are less current then looking it up ONLINE,, and all major tourist sites seem to have webpages,, that will list up to date closures and exhibits,, which, no book can do.

I personally assume prices go up a little each year,, so if an attraction was 8 euros last year,, it may be 8.50 or even 9 this year,, but certainly won't have jumped by much more then that,, so its not going to break my budget figuring for a years price difference.

I find online resourses are so much more upto date and relevent( hey,, guess what,, Rick Steves Guide book does NOT tell you the Catacombs in Paris are closed due to vandalism,, so if you use his book , you may arrive to a closed venue anyways!)

What I do like and think is valuable about
Ricks books is the basic travel tips Rick gives,and I enjoy his commentaries and brief histories on sites,, and neither of those change much in ONE year.

The argument for most-up-to-date books goes like this.

You are spending umptabajillion dollars to get to Paris and stay there, using (probably) precious vacation days. Every hour there is valuable and comes at a high premium to you.

Things change, and if a newer book saves you from one unexpected disappointment (it's closed!) or missed opportunity (e.g., online Eiffel Tower tickets), it will have earned its price. Your 2009 book was researched in 2008.

That said, the answer depends on two things: how well you use guidebooks, and how often the book is revised with new information. Rick, alone among major travel writers, used to do this annually, but he recently announced he was switching to a biannual schedule for many of this books.

I don't know what schedule Paris is on, but the implication if his blog post is that if the guidebook has a year in the title, it was revised for that year. That policy may have changed.

OR.....you might want to go off in a different direction. RS is RS is RS; Rue Cler was probably in his 1916 Guidebook. Paris has thousands of eateries and sleeperies in addition to the ones he touts. His publications are updated by himself(?) and a few disciples. The man has some great insights, especially for first-timers who are so overwhelmed with the enormity of their first grand adventure that they can't/won't think for themselves. But, do I really need somebody to tell me that I should see Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and the Louvre? Do I really have to hike to Ile Saint-Louis for ice cream when I'm wandering Montmartre with three perfectly good ice cream places in sight? Do I really want to spend my time in Paris playing "Where-are-you-from?" in the middle of a hoard of people clutching blue and gold books so tightly they look like street-corner bible hawkers?

For a different perspective chunk out twenty bucks or so for a Michelin Green Guide. (Green refers to the color of the cover on the travel series, it has nothing to do with the political correctness of tree huggers. Red guides essentially cover restaurants.) The France Guide alone has forty or fifty pages on Paris that covers more about the city than you probably want to know. I've thumbed through, but don't own, the Paris Guide since I'm years and years from needing one, but it has, obviously, a lot more detail. What's great about the Michelin series is that they're put together by a cast of hundreds (if not thousands) of experts in all areas, and if the guide reflects that something has merit / is worth seeing (and there's a priority ranking system) then you should make a point to do so if it's in your area of interest. They don't address any of the cutesy stuff; but that's more fun when you stumble on it yourself.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions, thoughts, and opinions. :>

I can see the point of view on both sides, but since your book is a year out (rather than three or four), I would combine it with thorough web searches, and then you should be fine. So for example, if you want to go to Versailles, just browse their website for 15 minutes or so and make the changes, if needed. I also agree with the argument that another $15 won't hurt the bank on a $5,000 trip (although that could be a hot chocolate/coffee and pastries somewhere good). Again, since your book is only a year old, my opinion would be that if you do your own brief independent research, you should be fine. I rarely, if ever, follow Rick’s suggested restaurant recommendations, which I think would be the part (as well as hotels) that would change from year to year. Again, a Google search should take care of any discrepancies.

Maryann makes a good point.

Instead of spending money on a new book, get online and double check the things you want to see.

Even Rick's newest book are months old. They aren't printed the day they are finished. It takes time. There will be mistakes even in his newest books. And that's the case with all guidebooks.

The internet however is usually more up to date (And that's why even Rick puts updates to his guidebooks on this website.) Don't forget to check there.

It's really your own choice. Everyone does differently. Some feel a one year old book with internet checking is fine. Others act as if they want to work for RS so they push everything that would benefit him.

The most current information is on the internet. And what stops anyone from "updating" a year old book by writing in the margins. Heck, I've updated brand new guidebooks because they were months old.

And I never use just one book....no one book tells everything. I pick and choose what I need.

I'm also a big proponent of utilizing the online tourist bureaus for countries and cities. Lots of "free" info and always up to date.

I guess I would never solely rely on a guidebook to travel, and given that even if I had the 2010 version, I would still go on-line and check things out, I don't see the big deal.

You just have to look at both sides of the issue, analyze your personal travel style, and make the best decision that you can. For example, are you more spontaneous or do you plan things out a bit more? Do you make hotel reservations once you get to your destination or do you do it ahead of time? Do you just go to museums/sights as the mood strikes you or do you have a list of preferred places to visit? If you are the former, then get the latest book, if the latter, I think you'll be fine with the 2009 guidebook.

I think this is a case of no right or wrong way to do it, but rather do what works best for you and what you are comfortable with.

I've used the same Germany book since 1998 and just broke down to buy the 2010 version. About half of it is the same.

Sue, where did you get the 2010 book for Germany? I didn't think it was out until 9 Dec.