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naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

What do you think is the best guide book series in general? I want something that covers culture, history, and the tourist stuff.

gerard · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 581 Location: Internet Cafe

I saw a new series when I was in Seoul. Can't remember the name but it has a lot of photos and is cheaper than LP. I saw the LP China in Shanghai for 275 Y. No thanks. My hotel was cheaper than that. I am against these things on principle these days. I like looking at them AFTER I have been to a place though. If I get them beforehand I find myself walking around with my nose in the thing instead of paying attention. I am going to Peking in a few hours and I am sure I will find the Palace and the bar street without a guide book. Wink

fat_chris · Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing

I agree with you Gerard. I find guidebooks to be a necessary evil. I use Lonely Planet even though I find them to be smug and a bit self-righteous at times. I like to study them on the train ride to my destination to sort out where I'll stay and memorize the layout of the city. As soon as I depart the train, the book get dumped into the bottom of my bag where it stays. I agree, I hate walking around with my nose in that damned thing. Does more harm than good really.

chinasyndrome · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2003 6:51 am Post subject:

Personally, I like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams, the author, said he wrote it after backpacking through Europe but I think he might have written it after visiting China. He just didn't fess it up because he wanted the book to sell here. All the weirdness is there, only the names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

There is no right answer to this question. Some guide book series are good for certain parts of the world and others are good for toilet paper. My Let's Go Europe was used for just that in Turkey. Smile

I believe guide books should be used as a reference, the maps can be handy and they can get you out of a difficult situation at times. Don't rely on them or your trip will lack spontaneity.

Cleopatra · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2003 8:15 am Post subject:

I generally find LP the best for down to earth info and listings. Rough guides are quite similar and are also good but tend to be a bit preachy and politically correct. Lets Go are rubbish. Blue Guides are good if you don't want practical info but need detailed historical or archeological facts. Another good series is Footprints.

MartinK · Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 344

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

The only guides worth using are Baedeker. I prefer the editions from around 1908-1913, before the world went into a tailspin.

dyak · Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 630

'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' by Robert M. Pirsig is pretty good, covers most destinations.

'And what is good, Ph�drus,
And what is not good...
Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?'

Cheers.

Wolf · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 1245 Location: Middle Earth

khmerhit · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2003 3:50 pm Post subject:

waste a time. Very Happy

dduck · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 422 Location: In the middle

Steiner · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Posts: 573 Location: Hunan China

To steal a joke from Bill Bryson, the name is actually short for "Let's Go Get Another Guidebook."

I use Lonely Planet but I don't really like it. It's good for general ideas about a place but sometimes I think they just make up the details. Don't trust the China edition.