daveesl

I was just wondering about this. I know whenever the DW and I are planning to go somewhere for the first time we will often buy one or more videos to try to get more of a feel for the place. The problem we have found is, like with most travel TV shows, they only focus on bars, restaurants and hotels. Yes, I love Bourdain. Yes, I hate Samantha Brown. And yes Zimmerman food just makes me nauseous.

I hate reading guidebooks, even though I write them. So I usually focus on videos. What about you guys?

dave

Keiracaitlyn

I get them from my public library or watch internet videos - don't actually go to the effort of buying them. But I find the visual component helps me get an idea of what I will see!

Aduchamp1

We never buy videos, it is like going a tour, it is one person's view of the world. At least in a guide book you can skip waht you want.

Pegontheroad

I don't buy videos. I read guidebooks.

Nikki

There are travel videos?

suze

No. Never. That wouldn't have occured to me.

I admit sometimes it works the opposite direction, that I see a program on the Travel Channel and then want to go there.

LSky

I may get them from the library or watch the travel channel but I wouldn't buy one. I like to read guidebooks and the internet.

StCirq

Never. Guidebooks, travelogues, internet, and maps. I watch travel shows on TV, but would never buy a video.

sachedvaankur

I dont think anybody buys travel videos now though they still do buy books and magazines. most people just head out to sites like youtube or tripfilms etc to check videos. One more site which you could check for travel videos is www.city.vi , a network of 68,000 city specific video sites, where you can share videos about cities and regions across the world. like for Paris videos you can visit http://Paris.vi .

FoFoBT

There are so many videos available free on the web that I wouldn't buy one.

Exception: I would love to get my hands on the Christmas in Germany (Christmas Calendar) video narrated by Loretta Swit. It was fantastic. I had taped it, but my husband taped over it. Although it wasn't a high resolution video, it would probably look not so great on HDTV.

Vttraveler

I sometimes take videos out of the library but most pre-trip orientation is via guidebooks and other reading about the area(s) we are visiting.

adrienne

I wouldn't consider buying a travel video/DVD. Although I recently took out videos for Egypt and Jordan from my library I'm usually disappointed by the quality of travel videos and the lack of depth in them.

A couple of months ago I checked out a DVD on Pisa, got a glass of iced tea, sat down to watch for what I thought would be an enjoyable half hour (or more). The video only lasted 10 minutes and wasn't even pretty. I told the library to stop wasting their money on junk like this.

I particularly hate the aerial view videos (these are often shown on PBS).

sassy_cat

I have borrowed one or two from my library but they are often poor. There are much better ways of checking out a destination and I recommend the following TV programs, History Channel (for ancient places), HGTV's International House Hunters and Anthony Bourdain.

My preferred method of research usually starts with a map or globe though and I do like guide books and travel websites like this one and Tripadvisor.

wanderful

I like to watch favorite movies set in Italy that put me in the right mood before I travel there: "A Room with a View", "Summertime", "Don't Look Now", Branagh's "Much Ado About Nothing". I'll even watch again a turkey like "Rome Adventure" (Troy Donahue, Suzanne Pleshette, Angie Dickinson) if it happens to pop up on TCM. I endured "Letters to Juliette" only because of the moments in Siena and the Tuscan countryside. I'll look over my Rick Steves Italy videos, not for information, but again to get psyched. (Steves gets knocked about on the Fodor Forum by many, but I appreciate his passion.)

I'll do the same movie-and-Steves viewing, but to a lesser extent, when I head for Paris.