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Guide to the Guides

Guidebooks have been around for a long time. Their history dates back to the mid-1850's when prominent writers & artists used Baedekers to tour Europe. Since then there has been an explosion in the number & variety of guides available. Reading up beforehand on the country you are going to be visiting will help you get the most out of your trip. What follows is a brief comment on some of the major guidebook companies.


Access Guides: No other guides provide such instant and portable access to a destination as the ACCESS series. Organized by neighborhood and color coded by subject ( hotels, shops, parks, sights etc) filled with striking graphics and detailed maps, each ACCESS guide lets you see at a glance where you are, where you are headed, and what special attractions await you just around the corner. The downside is that they are not revised often enough and the entire line seems to be shrinking

Blue Guides These are extremely detailed guides to the history, art, and architecture of a country. They are in-depth, practical, and updated from time to time, with a decent travel information section to help the traveller with the everyday details, Small print but clearly the most exhaustive series for in depth historical and cultural information

Bradt Guides Off the beaten track guides for the budget traveller. Their motto is we get there first. Bradt specializes in Africa and Eastern European countries with and all destinations having a strong cultural and/or natural history bent.

Cadogan Readable, well researched guides focusing on the history, art, architecture, & culture of a country. Listings of accommodations cater to all budgets, but that is not the focus of the book. The ones for the Southern part of Europe are among the best guides.

Ciceron Guides for the walker and the hiker. These are terrific guides for the on foot explore. Good enough maps and invaluble information about huts, lodging, and the pitfalls. It one is available for your area of interest - buy it. Trailblazer guides offer some comptetition.

Culture Shock THE guide for someone who wants to know more about the country and its people and consequently their customs and the protocol involved in trying not to offend.

Culture Smart A small but insitefull guide to local customs

Eyewitness Highly visual & encyclopedic guidebook series. Provides soundbite information with color pictures and exploded diagrams. Revised infrequently but the focus is on the culture over the daily details of travel

Falcon Guides Falcon Guides focus on outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, flora & fauna, and National Parks in North America (Mainly US). They offer detailed mapping and trail information, accurate directions, information on the area's history, ecology and geography.

Fodor's General guides, frequently updated, with balanced coverage and practical information. They cover all major cities, countries, and regions of Asia, Australia, Central America, Europe, South America, and the United States. Hotels & restaurants listed range from moderate to deluxe. Most are updated yearly.
Fodor's Citypacks A two-in-one deal that's city smart- a complete full-color, pocket-size guidebook and a full-size foldout color map, all in a sturdy plastic sleeve. List the top 25 things to see and do.
Fodor's Compass American Guides The very best published guides to individual states in the union (in full color). These guides showcase the insights of nationally recognized authors and photographers, creating vivid portraits of all there is to see and do. An excellant introduction to an area.
Fodors's Exploring The most affordable, up-to-date full-color cultural guides - with intelligent, information-rich coverage of destinations all over the globe. These are very useful if you are driving. Use a rating system for sights.
Fodor's Pocket Tiny Guides for rushed travelers ighlighting a destination's "greatest hits".

Footprint Handbooks Titles include the famed "South American Handbook" (1600 PAGES!) continuously pubished since 1924. Some of the most detailed guidebooks available. For the over-lander who wants information on all the places in between. They have expanded to cover a lot of individual countries in South America, Africa, Asia and Australia not to mention Western Canada. Reasonably Feliable as they are updated by the peolple who use them.

Frommer's Reasonably balanced guides to almost everywhere. Moderate to expensive hotels & restaurants get extensive coverage at the expense of things to see. Frequently updated

Hidden Guides Published by Ulysses Press in the USA, these guides claim to offer an inside look on stuff to see and do with recommendations for hotels and restaurants. Bi print.

Insight Guides The "National Geographic" of travel guides. Lots of color photos & descriptive text on things to see. Recently, the format changed and now is much more touring focused with maps and reference numbers. Justly famed for their photography - Many a trip has been inspired from a single photograph. All lead with a short readable history and followed at the end with accomodation listing.

Karen Brown Guides Personable guides to Europe, California, New England, US South East and Mexico most charming places to stay. Karen and her sister and mother visit each of the listings personally. They enjoy a great reputation for selecting quality accomodations and axing those that are resting on their laurels.
Knopf Guides Lavishly illustrated with the focus on art, history, architecture and culture. Simialr to Eyewitness guides is style

Let's Go `Let's Go' is THE budget travel guide, whether you are a first-time traveller or a veteran explorer, are in search of city nightlife or off-the-beaten-track adventure, are travelling by train or burro. They now carry the mantle of the Backpackers guide, once owned by Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet Probably the best known brand and quite possibly the largest network of freelance contributers. Excellant nitty gritty travel information although they have become a bit formulaic as they expand to cover the globe. They have and excellant website accompanyment to their guides which really helps with current information. They cover a broad range of accommodations from budget to moderately expensive. Shoestring guides cover larger areas & are budget only.

Michelin Green Touring Guides provide an alphabetic listing of cities and sites within an area. Not so much fun to read in advance but quite terrific when driving through small towns. (Lets wear out our tires! Mainly Europe, but also include Thailand, New York, Washington DC, Quebec, Canada

Michelin Red Guides Ratings of hotels & restaurants via an icon based coding system. Exhautively updated yearly with more information about price and amenities that any other guide.

Moon Handbooks Guides to countries in the Mexico,South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Canada and the USA. Exhaustive background information on topics ranging from history & politics to flora & fauna. Particularly stong on smaller towns and villages. Very readable and good for driving tours

National Geographic Traveler Series In-depth site descriptions and background information - Insightful features on history, culture and contemporary life - Vivid color photographs - Detailed, full color maps - Mapped walking and driving tours - Specially commissioned art work - Clear, easy -to-use design - And complete visitor information - Plus hotels, restaurants, activities and shopping. A bit stodgy and quite heavy.

Open Road Open Road Publishing has guidebooks to exciting, fun destinations on four continents. All Open Road Travel Guides are written by authors with a distinct, opinionated point of view, and are for those who want to make their own travel choices. Strong on the basics, but also offering terrific choices for those looking to get off the beaten path.

Rick Steves The 'Guru' for travelers heading to Europe. Guides cover areas in Europe (i.e.Great Britain, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium & the Netherlands, Germany, Austria & Switzerland, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, an Access Guide for Peolpe with disabilities, London, Paris, Rome, Florence and Venice. Rick is famous for usable highlights on an area as well as his down to earth travel tips. He now lends his name to a midline practical live of luggage which we carry

Rough Guides An opinionated guide for the sophisticated yet-cost-conscious traveller. Published in Britain, these guides have found a following amongst disenchanted Lonely Planet and are clearly more fun to read prior to travelling. Especially good for European & African destinations. Don't date as badly as Lonely PLanet as they use a rpice range feature.

Time Out City guides with very comprehensive listings and reviews on just about anything you can think of. Partially supported by included advertising which is sometimes more interesting that the prose

Trailblazer Very detailed overland guides that have a personal touch. Great hand-drawn maps, combined with extensive planning information and travel tips that most guidebooks don't include.

Ulysses Guides Only Canadian (read Quebec) guidebook series. Guides for independent travellers intrigued by other cultures. Sources of complete and reliable information.