Travel Books
Travel is one of life's grandest pleasures. Taking off and exploring a new city is a great way to relax and forget the daily grind. Nowadays, information about even the most far-flung destinations is readily available on the internet. But, even if you have a laptop to bring with you or internet access on your phone or PDA, chances are you'll still want a trusty guidebook to thumb through when you are out and about.
There are so many guidebooks to choose from that a pre-travel trip to the bookstore can be very frustrating. My husband I have relied on many guidebook publishers, and each has its own style. Also, different authors are responsible for each destination within a series, which means that the quality can vary even in the same series. Differences aside, though, they will all get you from the train station or airport to your hotel and clue you in on the main tourist attractions. In our personal library we have no less than six guidebook series represented! I'll tell you a little about some of them.
Eyewitness Travel Guides -- These are great! Very colorful pictures and graphics, very appealing design and format, and the maps and photos make these very readable and not just reference guides. I own only Morocco and New York, but I will definitely buy more in the future. These are not updated as regularly as some, and do not contain very many date-sensitive items.
Fodor's and Frommer's -- I group these together because they are very similar in scope, format and style. They are the old standbys. I have only U.S. state guides from each of these two series. They are updated annually as a rule, and contain very current information. The pages are very bland for the most part, with some photos thrown in if you are lucky. But, the bland pages are full of facts and great tips about saving money!
Let's Go -- These guides are for budget conscious travelers. The titles we have from this series are U.S. cities and were acquired in the lean years (college, for the most part). Lower-priced lodging and creative ideas for entertainment on a shoestring are hallmarks of this series. Highly recommended if you want your travel money to last a bit longer.
I usually weigh in the price and the portability (how well does it fit in my travel bag?), as well as the quality, when I'm buying a new travel guide, which is probably why I have so many different types of guides. Anyway, isn't variety the spice of life?