Rick Steves' because they are easy to read and give a succinct overview. The detail I can then find somewhere else.

Mike

We like the Green Guide as well. Looking for a book on the Alsace region, the Green Guide and Hachette's Vacances were the only two we could find. Both have good information.

Since this is our first trip overseas we spent quite a few hours in bookstores and ended up buying the Dummies Guide to Europe for all the practical info that we may not have thought of. It actually is pretty good.

Just greening ...
I posted twice that I've orderED my Michelin book and was given advice to go and order :)

Time Out guides because of the club, bar and hip restaurant listings. Most guides seem to appeal to over-40s who tour monuments and blue plaques all day, eat dinner by 8 and are snoring by 11.

Rick Steves is my main book - the one I travel with. I read several others (typically Fodors and Frommers) but leave them at home or tear out pages to take with me if it's really important. RS is easy to read, informative, and very funny. I've even torn sections out of RS and passed them out to people I meet on my trips who don't have his book.

I'm heading to Rome for 10 days over Easter and have highlighted several items from the Rome City Secrets book to look in to.

A friend has leant me her copy of the City Secrets book for Tuscany and Venice, and I am on the hunt for my own copy. It is a perfect guide for a return trip, with recommendations that would never occur to a novice traveller like me. Otherwise I like Frommers for a clear overview and DK Eyewitness Guides for its great neighbourhood maps. Cheers, L

I purchased the Rome City Secrets on Ebay and the Venice and Florence city Secrets at Barnes and Noble.

I like the artistic and poetic views on the various sites and restaurants.

It seems here that I need to get a Michelin Green Guide. In this topic as well as the other regarding guidebooks, it seems to have won.
thanks for the information.

I get the best of all worlds - I make my own travel guide. Before each trip we make a list of places we'd like to see or do, and I consult all the diffrent guides I can get my hands on, the ones I own and all that are available at the public library, plus the Internet information, and I put together a personalized travel guide which prints up much lighter than any commercial book of which 3/4 would not pertain. I do love my Eyewitness guide but it is a physically heavy book and I'd never want to actually carry it around while traveling.

I love the Michelin Green Guides, but my favorite is probably Eyewitness. Being an avid photographer, I find all the illustrations inspiring, and they give me a good indication of the layout and what I would like to see and photograph.

Avant Guides, Hanging Out guides, Time Out guides, Lonely Planet. As someone mentioned before, most guides tend to appeal to middle-aged and older travelers who really aren't into nightlife and things with more of an edge. The above guides have descriptions of clubs and restaurants, and of the off-the-beaten path sights to see.

DK Eyewitness Guides are the greatest and I won't travel without them. They're good for travel info, but the best thing about them are the numerous color illustrations (which most guidebooks don't have). These guides really help when you come home and develop your film and can't remember what it was that you photographed. They provide tons of pics and history as well.

I was struggling to decide whether I would go with Rough Guides, Lonely Planet, Frommers, or Rick Steves when buying a Paris guidebook this weekend.
Frommers had too many listings of hotels and restaurants that I will never use. I decided to implement by boycott of Rick Steves (various reasons for that). I wanted to buy Lonely Planet because of sentimental attachments to other books in its series. But I ended up buying Rough Guides and I think it was indeed the best of the lot.

DK Eyewitness "Top 10" for general "what to see/what to do" info. and AAA spiral guides for what to see/do and to take on trip, Karen Brown, Duncan Petersen Charming Small Hotels, and Alastair Sawday's Special Places to Stay for hotel info, and Cadogan/Open Road/Frommers for more detailed reading/trip planning.

I start my trip planning with Rick Steves (I'd be interested to know why WillTravel is boycotting him) because in my opinion he gives the most useful information on how to manage time--how long to allot for each place, which places to go to and which are skippable, how to travel between places. That isn't to say I agree with him all the time or use him slavishly, but where he doesn't cover an area (Cornwall and Brittany, for example), I find it a lot harder to craft the trip--too many guide books make everthing sound wonderful, and they probably are but you need some basis for choice--so I like Rick's opinionated take. I almost never use him for places to stay (though he's gotten more upscale with age), and rarely for food, which isn't a big priority for him. After that, if there's a Cadogan I fall on it with glad cries. I always consult Frommer and Fodor, mainly for places to stay and eat, sometimes for cty maps. The Green Guides also rank things, have useful maps, and are particularly helpful if we're renting a car. I'm very fond of the Rough Guides (particularly for places Rick skips). I picked up some Insight and Eyewitness Guides at half price and enjoyed the pictures; Insight has great background sections--but I would never travel with them (too heavy and light on practical stuff). The only ones I actually travel with are Rick and (sometimes) Rough Guides and possibly Green Guides; others I photocopy or cut up. I've read City Secrets, enjoyed them, and found some tidbits in them but they're basically useful only if you're spendings lots of time in a big city. Another great "reading" guidebook author is Barrie Kerper.

Just received my new Michelin Green Book. Cute !
But I am affraid now I will need to find a book on how to use this book.
Honestly I didn't spent entire evening, just about 10 min looking for Bastillia (sp) and couldn't find it. Am I suffering pre-trip anxiety disorder?

anything from the 'for dummies' collection. we used them for munich, paris, france, rome, italy. good info, well organized, good tips/hints and easy to read (larger print).

I "discovered" Rick Steves this year and like his comment about how people spend $3000 on a trip but are too cheap to spend $30 on guide books. I've typically purchased one book for each location - and of course, each book is better at a particular thing, so I think I've missed out in the past. For my upcoming trip I've purchased 4 guide books, plus a map, for a total of about $83. Given the cost of the trip for 5 people, I think it will be $83 well spent! (BTW, I love the Eyewitness books!)

I would never use a Michelin Green guide as my primary source for trip planning. They are great to carry with you if you need the layout of a museum, etc, but they don't really give you the 'feel' for a town or neighborhood. My favorite is the Rough Guide, which is a nice mix of sites, hotels, eateries, and good insight. Rick Steves is good if you want a 'best of' type guide book. When plannig a trip I usually get a new Rough guide, a new Michelin map, and pick up other guide books at flea markets, etc to get more insights. Of course this site is the best for reccomendations!