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ROUGH
GUIDES
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LONELY
PLANET GUIDES
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All
purpose, practical guides, now the bestselling range of travel guide.
Strong on European destinations. |
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Excellent
practical guide for the budget traveller. Strong on its coverage
of non-European destinations. |
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This series
has long lost its 'backpacker' tag, and it caters for all ages
and all types of traveller, whether first class or economy. The
information is practical, and the content is designed to be of
use above all else: photographs have therefore little aesthetic
relevance, and the prose can occasionally be somewhat perfunctory
and dry. Surprisingly the indexes can be less than comprehensive.
The guides
are strong on local habits, etiquette and culture, and maps abound.
The series is perhaps stronger on European destinations than further
afield - where Lonely Planet still leads the way.
There are
now Pocket Rough Guides which cover capital and major cities,
and also phrase books.
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Not long ago
Lonely Planet outsold all others; but this series, it seems,
has not grown with its audience. It appears to be suited best
for those who have made room in their backpack for a youth hostels
address book rather than deoderent.
However their
range of book is impressive, and they are still the most reliable
for Far Eastern and sub-continental destinations. Practical considerations
come first, and cultural entertainment is dealt with rather superficially.
The maps are excellent. The series is often updated with new editions.
Pocket guides
for cities, walking books, mini-dictionaries and phrasebooks complement
the main country guides.
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EYEWITNESS
GUIDES
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BLUE
GUIDES
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Not
the ideal travel tool, but glossy and colourful. Good presentation
not always matched by comprehensive content. |
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These
are venerable, old-fashioned guides. Good maps and excellent for
museum opening hours, but no interest in less worthy activities
such as finding a hotel or nightlife. |
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These are
the best looking guide books available, of that there is no doubt.
For this reason they may be more appropriate to keep as a momento
of your holiday rather than as an essential travel tool. The presentation
is superb - cutaways of buildings, colourful 3-D maps and sumptuous
photographs, but style and presentation can sometimes overtake
content in importance. They are rather bulky to carry, perhaps
a bit expensive, and not updated as often as other series.
Phrase books
are available and a new range of pocket sized Top 10 Guides.
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Superb for
art galleries, noteworthy paintings, churches and outstanding
architecture - these are the concerns of these worthy guides.
But, like all gazetteers, no weight is given to any of the entries
- as if all the museums and galleries in each and every town are
worth visiting!
An excellent
side-dish but surely not a main-course guide, unless you are a
devoted culture-vulture. The sort of book E.M. Forster would have
taken on holiday, but not Hemingway (or the Marquis de Sade)!
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BERLITZ
GUIDES
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INSIGHT
GUIDES
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Superb
introductory guides, that are cheap, colourful, informative and
fit into the pocket! |
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Colourful
and informative, and brings a sense of history to your destination.
Some of the more recent editions are a little expensive.
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Berlitz still
lead the field for pocket guides. These books cater emphatically
for the tourist: each highlighted destination is described in
gobbet form rather than with an extended essay, which is ideal
for the breakfast table in your hotel.
Unless you
are a holiday swot, a Berlitz guide should be all you need for
a weekend break.
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It is hard
to work out exactly who these guides are aimed at! They are very
good on background information such as potted histories and psychological
portraits of the indigenous population, and the photographs are
generally good. Reading them is a bit like watching Panorama:
informative while it lasts, but can you remember anything afterwards?
The maps are poor.
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CADOGAN
GUIDES
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TIME
OUT GUIDES
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Intelligent
guides, good on galleries and museums, but not so good on restaurants
and hotels. |
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Good
for nighlife and watering holes, but not much on other tourist needs.
Venues are reviewed, which is helpful, but the maps are inadequate.
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guides, like the Blue Guides, have superb coverage of the
cultural highlights of a region, but fall a little short on hotels,
restaurants and the like. But of course if you have already booked
your hotel, that is no loss. Each city guide is covered by a walk
format, which works well. |
These
are the trendy guides, the antidote to the venerable Blue
or Cadogan Guide. The buzz and excitement of each city's
nightlife and watering holes fills each page, but of course culture
and tourist sites are not featured greatly. The maps are rather
poor - but you may have no time for maps if you are youthful and
trendy! |
