At the risk of sounding like an ad, I'd have to say the Frommer's guides offer invaluable advice, overviews, and better descriptions of hotels than a lot of other guides I've seen. I use them quite a lot in the planning stages of each trip.

Well, sorry to promote the competition as I love this fodors forum, but there are two websites I really like when begining research:<BR><BR>www.frommers.com - because of their &quot;best of&quot; lists and their itinerary ideas.<BR><BR>www.about.com - their travel section

I was impressed with the many travel guides at Waterstones in Picadilly in London. There may be some bookshops with more, but most have far fewer. Just look and see what you like. Lonely Planet's guides aren't bad. Fodors tend to be for older people who don't care about detail (in my biased overgeneralised opinion). In defense of Fodors, they are cheaper.<BR><BR>Some guidebooks have many color pictures but this adds weight. Those are better to read before and after the trip.<BR><BR>