Choosing the Best Guidebook
Choosing a good guidebook is one of the most important
travel decisions you can make. I solve this problem by
obtaining at least two, maybe three books. That way I have an
excellent source of information from several knowledgeable
sources.
I rip the sections I need out of each
book so that I don't have to carry any extra weight. I read each
part thoroughly and highlight each location I wish to visit. I add
notes to the margins of any extra things I want to do, so that most of the information I need is in one place.
In this way I have a pretty good idea of what to do in
a country before I get there. Good information means a
good trip.
Then I do something very interesting. I basically
forget I have a guide. It sounds crazy, but it works.
I don't let a guidebook tell me what to do on my trip. I did my background studies. I know what I'm looking at when I travel. I, yes, I can decide how to plot out my trip, AS my trip unfolds. It's my trip. It's my life. I am in control. If I need to go back and check something, the guide is always there.
The main purpose of a guidebook is to get you
started, when you don't know what to do next.
- If you don't know where to stay for the
night, look around, and ask around. If you
can't find a place, then check the guide.
- If you want to reserve a hotel in the next
city, and you can't get a recommendation from the place you're
staying today, check the guide.
- If you don't know what restaurant to eat at
and can't get a recommendation from a local, check the guide.
- If you don't know which museums or tourist sites to go
to, check the guide. Be sure to rent an Audio Tour if they have one at the museum. Their great!
- If you don't want to miss any of the places
you wanted to visit, check your notes and your guidebook.
- Need medical attention, access to the internet, the train
station location, get the bus/subway number to the airport or a map to the
city - check your guide book. That's what a guidebook is for,
to get you started when you don't know what to do next.
- You get the idea...
Don't let a guidebook ruin your vacation. Don't
let it dictate what you should see and what you should do. Use it to
get lost in the city of your choice. Find locals to talk to and find
out what's really happening. It's a great way to travel.
As you become more experienced, you learn to rely less on
guidebooks.
- You also learn to better appreciate the
meticulous effort that goes into researching them. Rolf
Potts
Do the tourist things, if that's what you want to do. I do. I hit
every museum in London except the Tate museum, and now I wish I had
gone there to. But so what! I can always go back.
I used the Harry Potter movie locations as a
focal point of my walks through London neighborhoods.
Along the way I recognized the spot where the "Leaky Cauldron" was
supposed to be.
I also keep my eyes open for places to eat and things
to do. I had a great lunch at a fish and chips shop I
found. There I met Harry Potter fans from Palermo, Sicily in
southern Italy, of all places. We talked world soccer and quidditch.
That's the way to use a good guidebook. Figure out what you want
to do. And start doing it. And then look for the interesting, the
unusual. It's there. Go, find it!
Here's my pick for great guidebooks, travel magazines, and travel
books. Go to your local library's travel section and check which materials work for you:
1. Guidebooks, a sample in order of my usage.
- Lonely Planet is
based in Sydney, Australia. I like it because its focuses on the
whole world. Australians make good travelers. Their journeys
usually take one to two years, while they go around the world.
They are constantly finding new ways to expand their experience
and make their money last. Great insights. Great tips. Thoroughly well written guidebook.
- Rick Steves' Europe is
based in Seattle, Washington and deals mostly with Europe. Rick's
writing style makes it feel like you're getting great travel
advice from your best friend. His book, Europe Through the Back
Door, completely concurs with my own travel experiences. I
consider it required reading for any European Travel. It pays for
itself a thousand times over.
- Let's
Go Guidebook is a Harvard Student based guide. I used their guidebooks religiously in my travels in Europe during the 1970's. Its young,
student abroad viewpoint and observations made it easy for me to
hitchhike from Portugal to Ireland to Turkey back to my university
in Reutlingen, Germany where I was an exchange student. It's like
getting the inside story from your roommate at college.
- Frommer's Guides is a
common sense based guide that started the Cheap Travel Craze
way back in the 1956. It was the best selling Europe on $5 a Day.
Today Arthur Frommer's guidebooks are the world best sellers. Well
written and full of fun facts. I consider his magazine, Budget
Travel, a must subscribe to.
- Rough Guides is based in
London. It covers the world. I consider the English to be some of
the world's best travelers, and these guidebooks show it. The
guidebooks are sometime hard to find in the United States.
- Moon
Guides is Berkeley based and covers North and
South America. They are well written and timely. I've used them
for my trips to Brazil and Chile and had a great time.
- Fodor's
Guides is what I call a perfect guidebook for the
Middle Class, family based traveler. It focuses on Europe and is
surprisingly thorough. It will show you a good time and keep you
comfortable, too.
- DK Eyewitness Guides - I used these for my
trips to London including its museums.
If you're going to read any section of a guidebook,
read the pages about cultural and religious norms.
-
It's remarkable how just a bit of culturally specific
information can help you avoid misunderstandings. Rolf
Potts
2. Best Travel Magazines
- Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel
Magazine Subscribe to this awesome
travel magazine right now. Each issue is a blessing with timely
information including travel tips, road trips, destination pieces,
and great budget tour offerings.
- Transitions
Abroad was THE magazine for living abroad. It was a
sad day when they discontinued the magazine to concentrate on the
website. The Website is a must for long term travel and living in
other countries. Great tips. Timely advice. Much need support for
us innocents abroad.
- Wanderlust Magazine.
It advertises itself as the world's most exciting travel magazine.
I agree. Again, I believe the English to be some of the world's
best travelers. Wanderlust magazine showcases great travel like no
other. I love it. It has articles on Health, Travel Advice,
Columns, Interviews, Lists, Routes, Reviews, Trip planners,
Events, Hot Offers.
- Lonely Planet
Magazine. This is a brand new travel magazine brought to
you by the same wonderful people who bring you the Lonely Planet
guide book series. Lonely Planet Magazine showcases itself as a
monthly magazine for people who love to travel and enjoy new
experiences. It's easier to subscribe to than Wanderlust Magazine,
since it's published here in the US. I think it will be a great
source of travel info far into the future.
3. Travel Books, a sample.
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