With all of the travel book options out there, how do you select the right one? Do you reach for Frommers, Rick Steves, Blue Book, Rough Guides, Lonely Planet, Let’s Go…the list goes on and on. You absolutely need a guide book and we think it’s even a good idea to grab one for a quick weekend trip of a city. Guide books can give you a wealth of knowledge of top sites, off-the-beaten path areas, and sometimes decent lodging and restaurant recommendations. We’re picky about our travel books but generally this is what we’ve found to be helpful.
1 – You want opinionated.
You’re going on vacation for maybe a few weeks or so and it is frankly impossible to see everything on a single trip. The whole point of a guide book should be to help you pick out the must-see places, the can’t-miss spots, and to generally suggest the best combo to get the feel of the place you’re visiting. In Paris? Of course you need to see Notre Dame, the Louvre Museum, but do you need to see Disney France (personally we think not). Some guide books are better than others at offering opinions of what you should see first versus what you can add on with additional time. Some guide books aren’t so great at this and list out every single option, leaving the vacationer confused as to what should be their priority. We recommend you seek a guide book that offers opinions. You can’t see everything so you need some advice. The ones that offer opinions are usually better. You may not agree with everything they say but having an opinion matters.
2 – Look for a rating system.
Does the guide book give you a rating system of must sees and maybe sees? You don’t have to see everything as detailed above. On top of opinionated, we find books that offer a rating system of things to see in a city or country particularly helpful.
3 – Know your budget.
Some travel books tend to suggest pricier options. Some books tend to suggest more American oriented hotels and restaurants (also usually pricier). Some books pride themselves on offering budget travel and give a nice array of hostels. Pick a book that offers hotels and restaurants in your budget. And know yourself: is it important your hotel feel westernized? If so, you may want a book that suggests Marriots, Radisons, and Four Seasons. Would you rather have a more cultural experience in your stay? If so, look for a book that suggests pensions and bed and breakfasts. We like a book that is willing to offer both. Having a range of options from cheap to fancy is nice. It gives you a sense of what your choices are and what seems like a reasonably priced option in the neighborhood if you choose to look for hotels or restaurants online instead. Frommers tends to be pricier. Let’s Go tends to be cheaper. Lonely Planet and Rick Steves tend to offer an array of options.
4 – Self-guided walking tours are additional perks.
The best thing to do in a city is to explore it on foot. Some guide books offer walking tours of a place as part of their book. We are big proponents of hiring a guide, but for some smaller cities you can save some money and lead yourself around. Look for books that can bring you through a city, explain the history of what you’re looking at, and can really help you know the place you’re staying.
5 – The same guide book may not work for every country.
For instance, Rick Steves only covers Europe, so you’ll have to pick up a different guide for Southeast Asia. Visiting an area not listed in one guide book but listed in the other? Check before you go. On top of that, we’ve found the quality of the guide book actually varies by country. Most guide books use locals to help them write up sites so as authors are different, of course books vary. You may find Lonely Planet extremely helpful for Panama but find Rough Guides aligns more closely with what you want to see in France. As it varies country by country, you may want to browse a book shop or the library to see which one looks ideal for your specific trip.
6 – City Guide vs. Country Guide
If all you’re doing is visiting one city in a country, consider a city guide or a walking book. These tend to go far more in depth with sites, off-the-beaten-path recommendations, and restaurants than a chapter of the city within the country. These books can also be a bit smaller, helpful for packing. How do you find the right city guide? Look for ones offering self-guided walking tours through different areas of the city. Look for ones that suggest city on-foot tour guides for an organized walk (not all are the same). Look for one that mentions all of the main sites, but explores less popular/touristed neighborhoods too.
7 – Specialized books can be problematic.
Some guide books are focused on culture, art, food, etc (think a title like The Art of Paris or The Food of Portland). With too much emphasis on one subject you may be missing the best part of the city. Even if you don’t love music, shouldn’t you try it out with a classical concert in Vienna? Traveling is about broadening your horizons. Allow your travels to give you a little tast of all that a city or region has to offer. While an additional book on your specific interests may be a nice adjuvant to a more generalized guide book, you do yourself a disservice by being too focused.
8 – Sometimes you need a specialized book, though.
While we just stated why specialized books can be problematic, you may on occasion need a specialized guide book. Why? What if you want to hike? It may be a great idea to pick up a hiking book of the area to know the best hikes ahead of time and plan your travels. Do you know you’ll be in a single city for multiple days? Along with a city guide maybe you want a walking tour book of that city.
9 – So many books, so little money.
With each trip you warrant a new guide book. This can get expensive, take up room on your shelves, and guide books can become somewhat outdated (in terms of restaurants and hotels, probably not 14th century monastaries) in a few years. There are a few ways we’ve gotten around this. 1) You don’t always need to buy the book: Head to your library. Libraries now offer both downloadable versions and paperbacks. Having a downloadable version may be great because it decreases the weight of books if you’re visitng more than one country, you can use the search tab on your tablet/kindle if you’re looking for a particular site, and you can stash multiple books on one device. You also may look slightly less like a tourist pulling out a giant book at lunch. Another good idea is to head to the library to browse the different books for a country and see which one looks like it will work best for your trip before you decide to buy. If you want to own a copy of the book so you can write in it and fold down pages, consider looking at a used book store. Many people don’t want to keep their travel books when they’re finished with a trip and donate or sell them back to a used book store. There are some amazing options in ones I have headed to. I highly recommend.
10 – Rick Steves is our favorite.
When Rick Steves is available, we always use it. Why?
- The guide book is opinionated.
- He doesn’t try to take you every spot. The problem with most books is not everything is equal. Not everything can be the best. You have limited time so you need to be selective. He suggests what you should prioritize.
- His books give a good option for all budgets and typically the hotels and restaurants he recommends are at least decent if not fantastic (and some really are fantastic).
- The books give some nice suggested itineraries of how to approach a country with a certain amount of time.
- His books offer great walking tours – extremely comprehensive and historical.
- We have found the books less overwhelming than others in terms of where to start the planning for our trips. They’re user friendly, budget friendly, and thorough without trying to suggest too much.
That being said he only covers Europe, and because they are opinionated he doesn’t cover everything. For instance, we had to stop by Toulouse and there was no section covering Toulouse in his France guide. We think having a second book to cross cover and cross compare can be helpful. But if you’re only going to grab one, grab Rick Steves.
In Summary:
Things to consider:
- Figure out what you want out of your travel book?
- Look for books offering options but also giving opinions.
- Know if you’re looking for upscale, downscale, or both options (look at the hotels the books recommend for a quick idea)
- A different author or different type of book may be needed depending on your trip
- Head to the library and buy used.
- When available, we recommend Rick Steves.
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