Based on your experiences which do you find to be the most useful to have on a trip? Frommers obviously has the name most people recognize, but i've had people tell me the Rick Steves guides are great too. And yes, the internet is always the easiest answer, but when I'm in Europe i'm not going to have access to it much. I'd like to have one guide with me. So what do you like/dislike about each one?

5/14/2010 12:17:25 PM

I went to Dublin in January and checked out the 2010 Fodor's guide for Ireland from the library. The map came in very handy and we referred to it many times a day.


I have also heard that Lonely Planet has good travel guides.

5/14/2010 12:36:04 PM

I 2nd Fodor's for the map.

I liked Lonely Planet as a read ahead of time to get general ideas and advice, but Fodor's I kept w/ me at all times while traveling.

5/14/2010 12:41:52 PM

lonely planet and rough guides were pretty useful for me. i had picked up a rick steves guide when i went backpacking through europe, and i'd recommend not using him...my biggest gripe, i think, was that the maps sucked.

5/14/2010 1:02:13 PM

I've had good luck with Lonely Planet, personally. I am guessing there's a best guide for each city/area, and it's probably not always LP. The maps included in the one I used most recently (Montreal & Quebec) were great.

A tip: if you have any particular sites you want to visit, check a day or two in advance to make sure there's nothing unusual going on. I'm thinking mainly of strikes, which public workers over there (and in Canada) seem to start whenever their tea is too cold or they get fed up with taking lunches that last less than 4 hours.

5/14/2010 2:15:38 PM

lonely planet was the best resource for when I was in Australia, Scotland, Ireland, England, and Peru. Frommer's was ok, but lonely planet was frank and to the point (and had a much better history/culture section). I usually read several books before an extended trip, but lonely planet is the one I carry with me.

Rick Steves guides sucked donkey.

5/14/2010 3:00:10 PM

It depends. Frommers and Lonely Planet are good all around guides. But Rick Steves' is great for hard to find/little known places.

5/14/2010 5:16:18 PM

The Let's Go books are good if you're trying to save money, stay in hostels, etc.

5/14/2010 5:57:34 PM

Lonely Planet has had some great info the few times Ive needed such a book

5/14/2010 6:35:19 PM

Forget the big, clunky books. Buy a map for each city you will be visiting. Make sure the map folds up real small and that you can write on it. Use the power of the internets to find a few can't miss places of interest and to figure out the transportation situation. You're done. Leaving some things up to chance and exploration is half the fun.

5/14/2010 6:38:18 PM

I like Fodors because I like to be told what to do. Pretty much anything listed in the book that has a star or a Fodors Choice mark is a good bet.

I like Lonely Planet, but the books come across a bit elitist. They bitch about tourists taking over areas, but they make their money convincing tourists to visit. Whatever, I still read it.

I don't buy Frommer's a lot because I don't feel like I get enough information.

Eyewitness Guides are good for glossy color pics of destinations, but not so much day-to-day practical advice (hotels, restaurants, advice).

Not For Tourists is good for getting a little bit of info about a lot of places. It makes it easy to travel to a new place spontaneously and still be able to find a place to eat, a bookstore, whatever. Part of the book is broken down by neighborhood.

I don't read Rick Steves because he is a goober, but my dad is an avid fan. My dad is also a goober.

5/14/2010 9:40:17 PM

I just recommend watching Rick Steves TV show and writing down some places you're interested in.

Lonely Planet always does right by me when I travel. I also recommend picking up some of those pop-up maps of major cities you'll be hitting up.

5/14/2010 10:55:05 PM

I usually buy Rick Steves and another more comprehensive guidebook.

Rick Steves is probably the most readable tour guide out there, but that's because he focuses on his favorite areas in the country and excludes everything else. If you choose to follow his itineraries, there's alot of good, detailed advice that you won't get in other tour guides. He makes things very easy for you. I've also found Fodors to be pretty readable and useful for trip planning.

However, if you want to blaze your own trail (especially outdoor activities) and diverge from his suggestions, it won't be that useful; his maps also suck. My friends and I hardly used his book in Ireland because of this, though I found his guidebook for Germany to be invaluable.

5/15/2010 11:24:10 AM

Quote :

"The Let's Go books are good if you're trying to save money, stay in hostels, etc."

This book was my savior while backpacking in Europe. But really, my experience has been that they're all pretty good. I would say the more important thing is that your book is up-to-date.

5/15/2010 11:30:30 AM