Why you should check your guidebook is up-to-date
Apr 30th, 2014 | 06:48 AM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 19,708
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Why you should check your guidebook is up-to-date
Today is April 30th. Queens Day.
Except that this year we had Kings Day, on April 26th (27th from next year - it can't be on a Sunday).
Sadly not everyone visiting the Netherlands has heard of this. At Schiphol there are people asking about getting into the city with it being so busy due to Queens Day, and there have been puzzled tourists, dressed in orange, spotted in Amsterdam, wondering where the big party is.
https://twitter.com/3opreis/status/4...310144/photo/1
So, if you are heading for somewhere to celebrate a special day, check it hasn't changed date or been cancelled. Don't rely on that 5 year old copy of Fodors (other travel guides are also available) you borrowed from a friend/the library.
Except that this year we had Kings Day, on April 26th (27th from next year - it can't be on a Sunday).
Sadly not everyone visiting the Netherlands has heard of this. At Schiphol there are people asking about getting into the city with it being so busy due to Queens Day, and there have been puzzled tourists, dressed in orange, spotted in Amsterdam, wondering where the big party is.
https://twitter.com/3opreis/status/4...310144/photo/1
So, if you are heading for somewhere to celebrate a special day, check it hasn't changed date or been cancelled. Don't rely on that 5 year old copy of Fodors (other travel guides are also available) you borrowed from a friend/the library.
Apr 30th, 2014 | 02:35 PM
#3
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,086
Likes: 0
LOL, a guidebook is just what it says, a 'guide'. It is not a bible. No one should ever rely on a guidebook for anything that is changeable.
As someone who has been published in several guidebooks, I can tell you that information is frequently out of date even when it has been updated which most of it is not after the first edition.
Between the time a researcher checks info and writes it, to when the book is on the shelf for you to buy, can be as much as 2 years in some cases.
There is some information(which I wrote in 1995) in a Lonely Planet guidebook that has been incorrect for at least 15 years and is still in the latest edition.
Guidebooks are good for general info. They don't move the Colisseum for example or change its history. But anything that can change will most likely change.
So I would say the best advice concerning guiebooks is to realize what they are and are not reliable for.
As someone who has been published in several guidebooks, I can tell you that information is frequently out of date even when it has been updated which most of it is not after the first edition.
Between the time a researcher checks info and writes it, to when the book is on the shelf for you to buy, can be as much as 2 years in some cases.
There is some information(which I wrote in 1995) in a Lonely Planet guidebook that has been incorrect for at least 15 years and is still in the latest edition.
Guidebooks are good for general info. They don't move the Colisseum for example or change its history. But anything that can change will most likely change.
So I would say the best advice concerning guiebooks is to realize what they are and are not reliable for.
Apr 30th, 2014 | 11:17 PM
#6
Original Poster
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 19,708
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That one may have been staged menachem, but my sons friend came across some tourists with orange boas and hats wanting to know where the party was. It took Joop a few moments to realise what they were on about. I have no reason to doubt him.
