Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Wander into any bookstore and you'll find a plethora of guidebooks. Each series is written for
a different audience—e.g., students, budget-minded, history buffs, baby boomers, high-end,
etc. The books I recommend generally skew toward the budget traveler.
Guidebooks are heavy, so you don't want to travel with more than one or two. Some travel-
ers will cut out the important pages and make their own personalized guide.
These days, most guidebooks are also available in electronic format. This is a great weight
saver but it does come with some drawbacks. First, quickly skimming a physical book is
simple but it is a huge pain with ebooks—especially when some of these books are 2,000-plus
pages. Travel guide publishers haven't quite figured out how to quickly jump among different
sections of an ebook so the user experience can be frustrating. Next, some ereaders don't
handle graphics well, so the maps become useless. However, each year e-guidebooks are be-
coming better and more user-friendly. Here are a few popular guidebooks series:
Lonely Planet.
You can't spend more than five minutes in a hostel without seeing a Lonely
Planet guidebook. This series has long been the top choice for backpackers and budget trav-
elers, and their 1,300-plus page “Europe on a Shoestring” guide is very popular for those tak-
ing a grand tour of Europe. Conversely, many travelers have lamented that Lonely Planet has
slowly started moving away from budget and toward more mid-range recommendations—but
the series is still an excellent choice.
Lonely Planet publishes a range of books that cover just about every country, region, and
major city in Europe. Overall, you can't really go wrong with Lonely Planet guides. However,
these guides have become so popular that the places featured in their guidebooks will inevit-
ably become overrun with other Lonely Planet readers.
Rick Steves.
If there were one name synonymous with traveling Europe, it would be good
ol' Rick Steves. You probably know him as the slightly dorky travel show host on public televi-
sion. In addition to his travel shows, he also publishes a range of solid guidebooks. I really like
that he is a huge proponent of independent travel and experiencing Europe like a local. His
books are casually written and give a personal narrative of his recommended sights/restaur-
ants/hotels/etc. Additionally, his books are updated yearly so there is a better chance of accur-
ate information. His audience tends to be athletic shoe-wearing American baby boomers, but
his books are still very much appropriate for any budget traveler.
Rick Steves has all sixty-six of his PBS travel shows available on
Hulu.com
for free (US
Only) and he has posted a ton of clips on Youtube. They're great for travel inspiration.
Let's Go.
First published in 1961,
Let's Go
was the first travel guidebook specifically for the
ultra-budget travel/backpacking niche. Let's Go has always been researched, written, edited,
and managed entirely by Harvard University students, so this guidebook series is still popular
with the college-age crowd. If you're looking to pinch pennies and party, this series is probably
your best bet.
