UPDATE: 15 October 2003
Travel Guides
I cannot stress how much enjoyment you can get out of your earthroaming adventures by taking the time to read up on your destination ahead of time. A good travel guide will have pictures to whet your appetite, maps to help you find your way, and all kinds of useful, tested advice as well as recommendations on where to stay and what to eat.
"Montana"
by Norma Tirrell.
This is the guide book that I am reading to
get ready for my summer vacation. My parents and I are flying up to
Montana to see my brother Steve and tour the state for 9 days! Anyway,
the guidebook was written by a native Montanan and includes a lot of
interesting stories.
"Eyewitness Guide: Great
Britain" by DK Publishing.
This is the guide I relied
on when I was living in the UK. The series is published out of
London and has fantastic visuals throughout. So it's
beautiful to look at, in addition to being really practical
and user-friendly. This is my favorite travel guide series of
all time. (I love the one they did on Vienna.)
"Eyewitness Guide:
Scotland" by DK Publishing. This is the guide I used on a hiking trip in Scotland. It has more detail on Scotland than Eyewitness Guide: Great Britain. I actually referred to several guides during my trip, including one specifically written for road trips, but found better road trip info in the Eyewitness Guide. It's chock full of great information -- history, culture, practical info (hotels, restaurants, money, transport, etc.), big events throughout the year, where to go, why to go, what you'll see... I thought it was exceptional.
"Eyewitness Guide:
Vienna" by DK Publishing.
This is the only guidebook for
Vienna that I truly love. I lived there for 3 years and was on an
unending quest for a book that could actually capture Vienna - beyond
those stupid touristy things like a picture of a horse carriage passing
in front of some cathedral on a sunny day and some nonsense about where
to go for great schnitzel. All the guides were the same - so lacking.
The Eyewitness guide is visually stunning and so full of great
information.
"Insight
Guide: Brussels"
by Discovery Channel Publications.
Between 1998-2000,
I went to Brussels more times than I could count. I was there mostly
business, but had the opportunity to get to know the city. I have found
that this guidebook best captures the essence of Brussels. I like all
the Eyewitness guides because they are visually oriented, contain
a lot of information about the context of the social, economic and
political conditions of an area as well as practical travel information.
This is a fantastic guidebook, which unfortunately is no longer in print. I bought my copy in 1999 when I went there on business and had a few extra days to tour. You could probably find a copy in a library or via a used books web site.
"Let's Go:
Austria and Switzerland"
by Harvard Student Press.
This is a fantastic guide
for traveling in central Europe because it includes sections on Munich
as well as Prague and Budapest. Bryan and I used it on our trip to
Europe in June 2002. (I also have a much older version that I used quite
heavily in the years that I lived there.) It has everything you need to
know to plan your trip, see the best of the best, and find great deals
on places to stay and eat. The only downside is that it's highly geared
towards student travelers - and I am now an old lady!!! (ha) Be sure to
note the new look and feel of the Let's Go guidebooks.
"Let's Go: Europe"
by Harvard Student Press. This book is the bible of student travelers. There are Let's Go guides for about everywhere in the world. Mine is 8 years old and completely tattered but I still find it an invaluable resource. Note that they have gone with a very new look after 30 years of golden yellow covers.
"Lonely Planet: East
Africa" by Geoff Crowther, Hugh Finlay.
I am planning
a future trip to East Africa and this appears to be (based upon much
research) the definitive travel guide to that region. It has a
lot of maps and photos, too!
TRAVEL
GUIDES - BY BRAND
In the opinion of
earthroaming.com - and our staff of one who has traveled all over the
world - the very best travel guide is an Eyewitness Guide.
However, depending on the level of detail you expect from your travel guides,
you may prefer one of the other brands listed below.
Baedeker - Vorsicht! Dieser web seite ist auf Deutsch. Aber wenn Sie Deutsch verstehen kann, dieser siete ist sehr gut. Die Baedeker Reiseführer sind sehr popular in Europa. Ich glaube, dass mann dieser führer auch auf Englisch kaufen kann.
Eyewitness Guides - "The guides that show you what others can only tell you." This is the ideal guidebook for right-brained people like me - very visually oriented with high-level information. They are beautiful books.
Fodor's - These travel guides pretty much dominate the travel guide market - although they've seen more competition in recent years. They are very detailed and very reliable - if a little dry.
Insight Guides - The Insight Guides strike a good balance between good visual content/photos and comprehensive information.
Let's Go - This is the Bible of student travelers. If you're 26 or under, this is the only guide you'll need to put in your backpack.
Lonely Planet - These guides are fun and very well organized with a little more detailed information than you get from an Insight Guide.