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What are the best Guidebooks?
  • Ulysses
    Hi!
    I'd like to know which guidebook is your favorite. I have used the DK Eyewitness Guides because they have good maps, but they tend to be big and heavy, and lack any real good restaurant and hotels suggestions. I have also noticed that Lonely Planet is good for some destinations, but not so good for others, and that the Rough Guides is useful if you're going to visit several parts of a country, but not for city breaks.

    I travel mostly on business and on short city breaks, so I have taken a look at the Wallpaper City Guides at the bookstore for some restaurant suggestions, and used the UCityGuides.com website for hotels and other ideas in a recent trip.

    I have now seen several smaller, pocket-sized guides at the bookstores for more specific "best of" or "top 10" information. Would you recommend any of those? I'm going to Berlin next. Any guidebook or good travel website suggestions besides ucityguides.com? Thanks!
  • Lisa Corcoran
    I would check out Luxe, http://www.luxecityguides.com, Hg2, http://www.hg2.com and Unlike.net, http://berlin.unlike.net, all of which I think are fab city guides...
  • Ulysses
    That Berlin Unlike site is great!
    Hg2 is also excellent for hotels but unfortunately we have to pay for all the other suggestions.
    I'll probably end up getting the Luxe guide, and get more ideas in the Wallpaper guides and http://www.ucityguides.com

    Thanks!
  • pinb
    Actual paper guidebooks must be a dying breed with their popularity plummeting just as fast as old-fashioned newspapers. Who would want to lug around a heavy bulky guidebook when you can get all the information you need when you're traveling (as well as GPS directions and google maps) from a small lightweight smart phone? Also while a traditional paper guidebook starts going out of date the minute you buy it your smart phone will always be giving you up to date information.
  • Nanoose
    I agree with PIN--even the day a paper guide book hits the bookstores, it's out of date--especially with restaurants. Just going online right before you go or when you get to your destination will get you where you need to be. Of course, I do basic research at home with library guidebooks (as I don't need up to date information on where the great wall of china is) but I haven't bought an actual book in years!
  • pinb
    While I don't necessarily agree with some of the things that he said, in an article that appeared earlier today entitled "Mobile Travel Guides Can Help, but Trust Books," author Bob Tedeschi presents another perspective on this subject and argues that we're not yet at the point where on-line travel guidebooks can replace their paper counterparts:


    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/technology/personaltech/28smart.html?_r=1&ref=business
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