Guide Book recomendations?
 

I posted a message last week about our planned month Italy trip in Sept. and received helpful info. There are a number of quide books out there. Can anyone recommend a particular one? I used Lonely Planet when we went to Jamaica and found it perfect for our trip there, but checked out their's for Italy and didn't particularly care for it. I've heard Rick Steve's books mentioned on this site. Any experience with particular guide books would be appreciated.<BR>Thanks,<BR>Tony

I always start with Fodors and Frommers for the area or country I'm going to. Both are very basic. Helpful to have both to make comparison between them. sometimes a recommendation in one doesn't look as good in the other and vice versa. Helps to get more than one opinion.

I am partial to the Eyewitness Travel Guides - I think they have great info, historically and current. Plus the color pictures, charts and maps are beautifully done. They even have renderings of interiors of churches with complete explanations of the various points of interest. I have never been disappointed by restaurant or hotel choices although I usually use other sources for that info. For general info on the area you want to see I don't think you can beat Eyewitness

Hi there,<BR><BR>Rick Steve's guidebooks...I actually like his Italian guidebooks (he has quite a sense of humor) but with one major caveat...he only mentions what HE likes - each of his guidebooks only deal with his favorite locations unlike Fodors & Frommers which are general mentioning all areas and leaving the decision making to you. Rick Steves, however, does aim at the budget end traveller like Lonely Planet and I like his choices of hotels/eateries.<BR><BR>As a supplement for Italy, I do like the EyeWitness Guides. They are filled with the history, architecture etc. and really made Italy come alive for me. Of course, they also weigh a ton! You can do one of two things: 1) buy the Eyewitness Guide for all of Italy, reading it before you leave and then xeroxing the pages of interest leaving the book itself at home; or 2) buy several Eyewitness area guide; e.g., there is a Rome guide, a Venice guide, etc.<BR><BR>Good luck! You will love Italy.

We use Open Road. Hotel and places to eat are right on. Site info is great. We used the Italy guide and found it very good. Once a place gets in Fodors or Frommers prices tend to go up and it gets overrun with people like us. Open Road is a bit more upscale than Frommers or Lonely Planet, less focus on the backpack/hostel crowd. Maps are terrible.<BR>

I very much like the Fodor's guides for Rome and Venice. I supplemented my research with Michelin guides because I wanted a lot of information on art and architecture.<BR><BR> I have used Eyewitness books in the past, including for Venice and Florence, and unlike Spanky I didn't care for them for on-site use in Italy.<BR>They are beautiful, make great pre-trip research, but too heavy to carry around, and I didn't find the way they are organized to be easy to use--I was constantly fumbling with pages, flipping back and forth looking for information.<BR><BR>The above is exactly why you should go to a library or book store and spend an hour or two thumbing through the guide books. We each have different styles that appeal to us. Pick one topic that interests you, or that you already know a little about, like the Vatican, or <BR>Florence's Duomo, or whatever, and compare the various books on how they each treat that topic. It will give you a good idea of which book speaks to you best.

Agree completely with Spanky about Eyewitness Guides. The only downside is that they are very heavy. The info is thorough and extremely helpful, but they are difficult to carry around for a day of sightseeing. I suppose you could photocopy pages and take them instead the entire book.<BR><BR>Also enjoy the very small city guides. We have several by Berlitz (Berlitz City Guides). They cover most of the highlights, have brief histories, etc.<BR><BR>I also print info from this and other travel boards and make up a file for each city we are visiting. Near depature time I pare it down and take what I think we will use. It can be discarded as you go along to lighten the load. I've given some pages to other travelers we met on trips rather than throwing them away.<BR><BR>

I sound like a parrot--but the only post when I started my reply was Spanky's. Sorry for the repetition Tony.

Another vote for Fodors and Frommers for the best overall info. Actually, I always start with a guidebook with lots of photos, like Baedekers, to get an idea of what I want to see. Then I move on to Fodors et al, for more specifics. Finally, I find Let's Go and Lonely Planet to be really good for bus frequencies, train station left luggage, details like that. I tend to get my hotel recommendations from websites and message boards, because anything in a guidebook is apt to be filled up in peak season.

I always seem to end up with 2 or 3. I also like eyewitness and open road. For hotels I like the Charming Small Hotels series.

I think it depends on what you're looking for. I use Rick Steves for his museum tours and practical info, as he is the last to update his books each year, so it's the most current for times and prices (he was the first to use all Euro pricing this year)<BR><BR>I flip through Eyewitness in the bookstore to look at the pictures, but they are usually very outdated (check the copyrights in the store before you buy!), and not heavy on info on either sites or the historical background of where you're going. A lot of their opening times and prices are usually wrong.<BR><BR>I rely heavily on Frommers when I'm there. But for the best in jam-packed info (no pictures) try Cadogan guides. From in depth discussions on whatever site you're looking at, to very thorough historical perspective, they are the best. I've used them now in Italy, France and England and learned more from them than any other source.

I never take a guidebook with me on a trip; instead, I spend a Saturday or two at the library reading through ALL of them. The Blue Guide for art; the Michelin Red Guide for hotels/restaurants; the Michelin Green Guide for sights and routes; Let's Go for hotels/restaurants, train/ferry information, unusual things to do; Fodor's and Frommer's for general info; Access guides for things to do all in one neighborhood (museums, restaurants, shopping). <BR><BR>I have 3 guidebooks to Italy: Let's Go (bought in 1989); another book somebody gave me; an Access guide I bought on sale.

A few years ago I travelled to Europe with friends, just about everybody brought a travel guide. In the end they were all endlessly borrowing mine, EYEWITNESS.<BR><BR>Not perfect, but all things considered we found it to be the only one we couldn't do without.<BR><BR>This was recently true again in Paris. Color pictures, clear directions, yadda-yadda.

Another vote for EYEWITNESS...they are the best I've ever seen!<BR><BR>US

Second the recommendation for Cadogan guides once you've got the basics down. They are wonderfully gossipy about the history of places and pretty offbeat. They definitely spice things up. I can't recall ever seeing an open road guide. Are they British? commonly available in bookstores?

Depends on your travel style i.e., Lonely Planet & Let's Go are budget oriented. Rick Steve's is OK for middle age/class & certain locations. Frommers, Fodors, etc. all have value.<BR><BR>I think the layout and ease of use is VERY important. Visit a bookstore or library to check them out. I also like reading travel magazines (Conde Naste, National Geo Traveler, Arthur Frommers Budget Travel, Travel & Leisure, etc.)<BR><BR>I understand what you mean matching the place with the guidebook. I often don't even buy them, but am off to Amsterdam for the 1st time solo and Let's Go has been EXTREMELY helpful and appropriate to that city.

<BR>I like the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness guides for the photographic information and Rough Guides for the well-informed and extensive textual information. The latter always have many more entries on accommodation, restaurants, cafes and bars, all of which I have invariably found both reliable and valuable.<BR><BR>It's true that the Eyewitness guides are rather heavy to cart around. I like to leave that one in the hotel room and consult it first thing in the morning or last thing at night, and take the Rough Guide out with me. <BR><BR>There are also some excellent mini Rough Guides, eg for Rome, which makes the carrying of it even lighter. They can fit in a shirt pocket.

Michelin green guides are useful for prioritizing sites to see when time is limited...they rate every attraction according to a star system. I have found their assessment of the top sites to be remarkably accurate

Frommer's gives detailed information about many locations and different price ranges. I find that Rick Steves' guides does mention only what he likes as Deb said. Let's Go is for budget travellers. Eyewitness is very good for the pictures but the books are heavy.

For accomodations and food try Sandra Gustafson's books:<BR> <BR>-Cheap Sleeps (now Great Sleeps) in Italy. Covers Rome, Florence, and Venice only but very good and extrememly accurate. Also try Cheap Eats in Italy.