rcz77

I've narrowed down the places I'll be visiting this June: 4 days each in Florence, Rome, and Naples. I've found a lot of helpful advice online, but want to look into some guidebooks for more detailed info about general tips and different places to go and things to do. At $20+ per latest edition guidebook though, getting a few would cost more than I care to spend on them. I could get 2-5 year old editions for dirt cheap. I suspect the only thing latest editions really have over the older ones is up-to-date hours and pricing, which I'll be checking online for anyway. Any other good reasons to justify the premium paid for latest edition guide books?

Peter_S_Aus

My 1899 Baedeker guide to Northern Italy is still remarkably accurate for Venice. Sadly, prices seem to have risen a little in the intervening 115 years.

Seriously, a five year old guide book works well enough, provided you check a few details on line (opening times, train schedules, email addresses).

If you invest not much money, you can junk the books, or just tear out the pages that you need to take with you.

Pegontheroad

If you are using an older guidebook, you will Occasionally find that a hotel or some other venue is no longer open. Of course, if you're reserving hotels online, that should not be a problem.

kja

It probably depends on your purposes, but in general, I would think the older ones would probably serve many purposes reasonably well. I don't use guidebooks for hotels or restaurants; I believe those are the things most likely to change rapidly over time. And I always confirm opening hours via internet searches, so again, the age of a guidebook is not critical for planning itineraries.

One thing that jumps to mind for which a current guidebook can really make a difference is coverage of new sites (or, depending on the guidebook, old sites that were closed at the time of the issuance of the old edition). But if you know to look for such places (e.g., by consulting newer guidebooks at your local library or looking at local tourism offices on line), I would think it a minor difficulty.

Another area of possible relevance is information about transportation options. I prefer guidebooks that give me a good sense of my intercity-travel options, which probably change over time.

But one question: Are you only considering city-specific guidebooks? I'm seeing a price of less than $20 for a current <i>Rough Guide</i> to Italy -- and that's one of the most comprehensive guidebooks I've encountered. You can easily rip out the "excess" pages and have a current guide covering each of your destinations. Just a thought....

Edward2005

Current guidebooks, especially ones updated every year, are worth every penny. $20 tools for maximizing your $5000 vacation.

Blueeyedcod

It's not about looking for answers. It's about the questions you didn't think to ask. That is why guide books are so useful.

You may be thinking of taking a train to *xyz* place but the guide book will have advice on a more scenic mode of travel, or a cheaper mode.

You may be researching a place - for example the Colosseum - and the guide book advises that just down the road is San Clemente - you never knew that. Now you think you may go there because it's close and it looks amazing.

Guide books also have photos that may interest you enough to schedule a visit the place.The DK Eyewitness series are particularly good for this.

When you consider the thousands of euro it is most likely costing you to go to Italy, $20 on a guide book is a trifling amount.

greg

How many guide books of Italy do you need?
You have already characterized the value of a guidebook to you. You can validate your assumption on your own without having to ask someone else, at no cost. Your public library is likely to have the latest, if not last year's, version of popular guide books especially for Italy. You can look at them to see if they have value to you.

I have even seen American tourists in Italy carrying a current edition of a guidebook with a US library name sticker.

swandav2000

Hi rcz77,

Right -- as greg says, check your library first! I've made it a habit to go to the library and check 3 or 4 guidebooks for coverage of a place I want to see. It's terrific to compare how each one treats an area -- which ones have better pictures or better information or a better overview.

Then, if you find one that meets your needs and expectations for travel, buy that one.

Have fun as you plan!

s

sundriedtopepo

If you are visiting places that have been destinations for hundreds of years like Rome Venice Florence then probably you are fine with an older model.

On the other hand, if you like to visit off the beaten path places, then I think guidebooks do change.
For example, a few years back, when I started to research Puglia, some guidebooks had nary a page, and others a brief mention of say Lecce, while giving advice to stay away from Bari.

There is so much more information available now.

And Fodors for example now includes some 'newly discovered ' back roads experiences which they change up with new editions. Great ideas!

For me, the guidebooks show me things I never knew existed, and they make me anticipate the things I'm going to see. I have a collection, both paper and digital editions.

@blueyedcod I love DK Eyewitness Back Roads Italy.

Some people just borrow from the library if they want to save dollars.

IMDonehere

BTW, Fodor's has greatly improved its 2016 Spain. There is inclusion of smaller towns and it highlights some of the regional cuisine. It has incorporated more of the regional cultures. And while there is information for the first timer, it now includes information for people who are visiting for a second or even third time.

I do not know if they done the same for Italy.

To me the best guide for Italy is the Michelin Green.

bvlenci

I always get the latest edition, even if I already have an older one. As others have said, it's a small cost compared to the rest of your vacation, and a guide book has often saved me far more than it cost. Even the best guide book can't be totally up to date, and an older one is even more outdated.

On a trip to France a few years ago, I despaired of finding a reasonably priced, conveniently located, hotel in Paris. I had left it too late, and everything I found on the booking engines was either expensive, already full, or not in an optimal location. I bought a copy of Le Guide du Routard and found a perfect hotel in the 5th, that wasn't on any of the usual hotel booking sites. The savings were about ten times the cost of the guide.

I agree 100% with what blueyedcod says above. A guide book is more about giving you new ideas than about finding information about things you've already heard of. We're lucky to have the internet now, but to me it's an additional tool, not the answer to everything. For our upcoming trip to Ireland, I've already bought two guidebooks, and will probably buy another one or two. These days I usually get at least one electronic edition to put on my tablet.

quokka

Sights and town maps usually don't change that quickly. If a new attraction opens somewhere, you'll find the information on the internet.

Businesses that are recommended in guidebooks, be it restaurants, hotels or shops, tend to either raise their prices, or lower their quality, or both when they find themselves overrun with tourists. So these pages are pretty much useless, a waste of paper and weight.

Prices may go up a bit within a couple of years, but that's not a big problem to calculate.

So my conclusion is that it isn't necessary always to buy the latest edition. A guidebook which is a couple of years old still serves well.

sandralist

For Italy, if you really really want to see someplace and have traveled great distances and gone to great expense to get there, you should call to double check that sites are not under renovation or closed for some reason. Stlll, up-to-date guidebooks are simply a necessity when you travel anywhere in my opinion.

I also consult older guidebooks when planning travel around Italy, however, because they are usually more intellectually substantive than the more recent guidebooks -- which are aimed at shoppers, eaters and picture-snappers who have nearly non-existent interest in history and art, apparently.

JulieEC

I agree, Peter_S_Aus. The only guidebook I take to Paris is my 1904 Baedeker.

If I want up to date information, I use the internet. If I want historical information, the older books do such a lovely job of it.

I do not tend to buy new guidebooks and it has nothing to do with the cost (which I agree is trivial in the context of an expensive trip). I find, if anything, they contribute negatively to my trip. Restaurants are never as good as I expect. Nor are hotels. And information like the opening and closing days and hours can become quickly out of date.

That said, if you are a person who derives value and interest from a modern guidebook, go ahead. Spend the money.

JulieEC

Oh.. one last thought. When I do buy a modern guidebook, I buy it on my Kindle (and I am one of those people who love paper books--I have gotten over that).

I have a newer model that fits into my tiny purse (or backpack). Since I generally read if I am sitting, I also can pull it out and read for a bit while I sit in the Luxembourg Gardens. Or while I'm on the metro or train. Or in a restaurant when I dine alone (which is one of my passions).

laurie_ann

You might consider a guide book from a series like the Blue Guides, Michelin Green Guides or DK Eyewitness. Those focus more on what to see or do and so don't get out of date so rapidly. Or from www.lonelyplanet.com you can order online pdf just a single chapter of a guidebook so you don't pay for more than what you would use. The pdf I send to my kindle. I also like to save as pdf to my kindle other things I find like magazine articles (from the internet or scanned from an actual paper magazine). I use the kindle app on my phone to them read again on the trip.

sundriedtopepo

@sandralist "the more recent guidebooks -- which are aimed at shoppers, eaters and picture-snappers who have nearly non-existent interest in history and art, apparently."

You may be right about that...however I think the interest must be piqued by beautiful pictures, fanciful descriptions and a general overview before the more intellectually substantive information comes into play.

Many of us like to take photos, but we also want to know what we are looking at, we try the restaurants because we are interested in the food of the culture, and well, a shopper I am not, but power to those who want to buy a nice Italian pair of shoes to take home.

I haven't noticed that Michelin Green, Rough Guides, and any other of the more comprehensive guides have compromised the quality of their information in the newer editions, but I don't think you were referring to them.

And I learned long ago not to rely on restaurant and hotel recos in guidebooks, although I am surprised that when I check Fodor's suggestions for Vancouver they are not bad at all.