travelguidebooks

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Travel: Guidebook Reviews

Annual Editions Spanning the Seasons

TRAVEL ADVENTURE BOOKS

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Travel Guidebooks

Mini Reviews or Links to Pages with Reviews

Annual Editions - I never travel with just one guidebook. I'd rather have duplicate info and get the answers I need instead of depending on any one publisher to tell me everything. Nancy

D K Eyewitness

If you want quality color photos of art and historic sights in your guidebook, this is the series for you. Besides, as a fussy eater, I like to know what my food is going to look like before I order it.

When I took the San Francisco book on a mini-vacation, I was better able to orient myself because of the 3D maps in the guidebook.

But be warned that the country-size books are heavy. Get city specific books when they are available - these let you figure out which building is which on Shanghai's Bund. Nancy

PS I rely on Let's Go, Lonely Planet and Rick Steves to supplement the DK series.

Europe in Context

I love this series for history and culture buffs. More on our London and Venice pages. Nancy

Fodor Guidebooks

Frommer Guidebooks

These are the good ole boys of travel guides, but I haven't used one lately so I can't offer any comments at this time.

They come in city, country and continent versions, and are updated yearly. Nancy

Let's Go Guidebooks

Hi Mom,

I lost your London [Let's Go] book. It was really helpful. It's a great series.

Jill Kamp e-mail from Paris

When I was a student, Let's Go was the series, along with Frommer's old Europe on $25 a Day.

Those days are gone, but Let's Go has developed into a solid franchise with information that works for all ages. Besides, I like their style. Nancy

PS I noticed a map of Ostia Antica, Rome's seaport, was dropped from the 2003 edition of Let's Go Italy. Not a better thing for those who don't have time to fit Pompeii into their travel schedules.

Rick Steves Guidebooks

"The sights drive the itinerary, but the people make the magic." Rick Steves more quotations

Rick Steves offers solid, well-presented facts. You wouldn't believe how many of his books I buy! Nancy

Spanning the Seasons - These books were written to keep on your bookshelf for several years.

Cruise

My First Cruise

Destinations

1,000 Places to See Before You Die does not contain several places that would be on my list like Tivoli (Italy) with its delightful Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa or Caserta Palace near Naples. Nevertheless, it's a great undertaking of many of the wonders of the planet. Nancy

Destinations

Saul Rubin's Offbeat Museums and books like it remind us how fasinated we are with the unusual and the bizarre. Nancy

Disney World

Amelia Island

East Coast of US

Amelia Island Lighthouse

Florida

Amelia Island Lighthouse

Italy

Oh, how I wish we had tucked a copy of Italy: Instructions for Use into our luggage before setting out on our first visit, but it hadn't been published. Next time, I will know that gelato doesn't have more calories than the ice cream I devour at home. And so much more. Thank you, Nan McElroy. Nancy

Los Angeles

Between us, our team members spend a fair amount of time in the LA area. And when budgets are tight or we're looking for something a little different to do, we now have Troy Corley's Free L.A. (The Ultimate Free Fun Guide™ to the City of the Angels), a super resource for getting the best out of Los Angeles and suburbs. Thanks, Troy, from the bottom of my wallet. Nancy

Museums of Europe

Buying a separate guidebook in each major European museum can eat into your travel budget. Fortunately Rick Steves and his co-author have put together a single volume with pictures and maps and even a bonus - walking tours of London, Paris, Rome and Florence. Mona Winks works for me. Nancy

Packing

Travel Advice

Tips

You can't have too much good advice when you travel. Any info that goes beyond "take twice the money and half the clothes" is useful, but until we've been there, done that, we just can't know the real ins and outs of a place. That's why I was glad to add Susan Kimmel's Travel Guide to the World to my bookshelf. Wherever you want to go, Kimmel offers tips to smooth the way. Nancy

Tips

The Travel Detective, Peter Greenberg, gives solid, practical advice about saving money and traveling wisely. He's been there and done that with the view that travelers are victims waiting to be fleeced. Don't miss this gem. Nancy

Travel with Kids

You don't have to be a single parent to benefit from Elwell's advice. It has useful tips for families of all shapes and sizes on the go. Nancy

PS And when you go, consider taking a copy of "Are We There Yet?" Travel Games for Kids by Richard Salter along.

kid - teen nonfiction