ToSRQ

I'm a bit surprised I couldn't find a discussion on travel books/guides.

For simplicity sake, I used to pick up the Frommers Guide to each city and or country I was visiting. However, planning for my upcoming trip to Thailand and Japan, I started to notice that the books really didn't do much beyond tell you where the attraction is. I absolutely hate the page after page analysis of every hotel in the city. Come on -- I don't need an analysis of EVERY hotel in the city.

One of my neighbors recently informed me of Blue Guides. He tells me that the book goes beyond the basics and tells you a bit of history on the popular attractions/cities. The Thailand book is not available through my library, but some other cities are. I can purchase the book via Amazon.

Any other suggestions? I love having print books on my shelf of my travels, and I'd like to add one for this trip, but please, I don't want to add another Frommers book.

tfar

If you are a "normal" tourist I really like the Eyewitness Guide series for city trips and also for regions (say California). I have never tried them for countries. The layout is very well done and the info is quick to find and well written.

When you do in-depth traveling or backpacking I'd go with the Lonely Planet. In terms of info quantity and detail those are hard to beat.

If you are very interested in culture, art and history (AND YOU READ GERMAN), the Dumont guides are excellent. Restaurants, Hotels and travel tips are really just an aside in these guides. I'd like to know if there is an English equivalent.

Till

EngineeringConsultant

The book you choose can depend on what style of travel you're engaging in, as well as the destination.

The lonely planet, while a groundbreaker in its day, is no longer the inside scoop on backpacker accomodations it once was. I've been to too many destinations around the world where I've seen LP recommended cafe's packed with tourists reading their LP guides in hopes of discovering the destination. Avoid the lonely planet books if at all possible.

I find the rough guide is great for south america and south-east asia. I agree that eyewitness guides are great for pre-travel reading, as they provide good visuals to get you interested in specific sites or activities.

In Europe you can find something different with the Michelin travel guides - although these are more targeted at a mid to high range budget.

Do the footprint guides still exist? I remember they were another way to avoid the crush of LP-toting lemmings.....

tcook052

After years of Michelin guides, I've switched more recently to DK Eyewitness guides and especially appreciate their condensed city Top Ten guides for major world cities. Good background if not as detailed as Michelin but way better 3D neighborhood or important sight maps. Being light also helps them travel well in pockets or camera bags. They get my ^

ace26

Another vote for Rough Guides, especially throughout Asia and the Middle East. Lots of actual useful information.

I also love Time Out guides for cities. They strike the right balance of local "insider" knowledge, touristy things, pictures, and practical knowledge.

Also great are the Luxe city guides. Truly local expert knowledge and it fits in your pocket.

the others:
-Frommers = the clueless tourist of guidebooks.
-Eyewitness = pictures/diagrams are nice, but lacking info sometimes.
-Lonely Planet = not what it used to be.

tfar

Sad to hear about the Lonely Planet. I used their guides in 1992 for India and in 97 for Mexico. They were invaluable.

If you read French (everybody does, no?) the Guide du Routard is supposed to be quite good, too.

Till

mhnadel

It depends on where you are going and what you are doing. I find that for short trips to major North American or European destinations, I can find most of what I want to know on various websites and don't really need a guidebook at all. I am also a big fan of the free booklets you can get at tourist offices and hotels. The Solomon Islands tourist office, for example, puts out a booklet that is infinitely better than the half dozen or so pages Lonely Planet bothers to include in their South Pacific guidebook. And I'd never have gone to the Paper Museum in Tokyo had I not seen a pamphlet at the tourist office there.

Despite that, I do still buy tourist guides.

I like the Eyewitness city guides because they have detailed walking tours, typically neighborhood by neighborhood, and often have very good details about what to look for. I find their Top 10 series less useful. I've used only one of their country books (for Poland) and it was OK, but not outstanding.

Both Frommer's and Fodor's often have good itinerary suggestions and decent city walking tour ideas. I often download their suggested walks from the web. Another good resource are the various city Walks books. I made a lot of use of Rome Walks, for example. What I like about those are that they can point you to some interesting areas that are not really in the tourist mainstream.

Rough Guides often have good background info, as do Moon and Cadogan. (The latter is seriously underrated, so may be hard to find, but I've found both of their books I've used to be excellent.) Bradt is very good in Africa. Footprints is also quite good, particularly in South America.

Lonely Planet is sometimes the only game in town. I'm not crazy about them because I think their maps suck (Footprints is the best in that respect and Eyewitness is quite good.) However, their single city books can be surprisingly good. I've used those in several cities (e.g. Brussels and Frankfurt) and found them to be pretty much on the mark as far as both accomodations and things to do and the size is convenient enough.

lskohn

+1 for the Blue Guides, but they are generally better read on the plane ride over, or in the evening before you go wherever - very dense architectural and historical info. If there's one available, I get it, but use one of the others mentioned above for general planning.

Also - not a travel book/guide, but if there is museum that concentrates on the history (and/or natural history) of the city or country, I try to hit it early in my trip - if it's good, it provides a great context for the rest of my visit. The Amsterdam History Museum (sorry, I'd murder the Dutch name) comes to mind - wonderful background on the art as well as the history and engineering of the city and Low Countries overall.

allset2travel

A few years back, I used to carry the DK Eye witness books. No more. Everything I research about a destination is all via the web. Much more current, and more precise.

globetrots

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Moon guides. They are by far the most in-depth and informed for many of the destinations they cover. In most of Latin America especially, it's no contest. Most of the guidebook publishers have now resorted to hiring inexperienced writers on the cheap and paying them on a work for hire basis. Moon still hires experts who know the country/city inside-out and who have been revising the book for several editions. It makes a huge difference.

But it varies a lot from country to country. Rick Steves ones are good for some European countries, Fodors ones are good if you care more about hotels and restaurants than cultural background, Rough Guides is good for giving you a real feel of that culture, Time Out guides are good for nightlife and the trendy restaurants of the moment.

If you're planning a trip south of the border for the first time, check out a book I co-wrote: Traveler's Tool Kit: Mexico and Central America.

dravenjustice

Hi, while traveling you always see the map for guidance.

manneca

I really like the DK Eyewitness guides. I like the pictures. I generally choose what pictures look interesting to me and then go there. We had a great surprise in Nikko Japan. It was stunning and off the beaten (western) tourist path. (Full of Japanese tourists, though.)

I just bought a Bradt guide for Ethiopia. I find it better than Lonely Planet--more detail. It feels like the writer understands the country. Lonely Planet has great restaurant recommendations.

I don't do Frommers or Fordor. You can get everything in them off the web. Before the web, they were good for hotels.

travelingmore

In Europe this year, we found we got the best info from the Rick Steves' books.

2nd choice - Lonely Planet (I seem to be in the minority here).

Thanks for the other suggestions as well - will check them out.

beckoa

The 'Blue Book(s)' are always excellent ^

by Wizard Publications

linsj

+1 for the Eyewitness Guides. I especially like the pictures.

For Hawaii, the [name of island] Revealed books; good for local recommendations.