Ah, guidebooks. If there's one subject guaranteed to generate debate, it's which guidebooks are better than others. There's even the argument that taking any kind of guidebook ruins the spontaneity of your trip, but you try telling me that when I've spent hours getting lost in the windy streets of Varanasi without a map...
Anyway, there's one company whose books I thoroughly love, and that's Footprint Handbooks. They're no-nonsense tomes, obviously put together by travellers who've actually been travelling, and I can't recommend them enough. If you're travelling to Africa, then Bradt guides are just as excellent, and knock spots off the more touristy publications. However, Footprint and Bradt don't cover every nook and cranny of the planet, in which case Rough Guides are probably the best bet, followed by the ubiquitous Lonely Planet. Talking of Lonely Planet, the maps in their books are absolutely the best I've used, though their recommendations are a little too tourist-oriented for me (though this can be turned to your advantage). If you're starting out on your first trip, however, you'll probably find the hand-holding style useful.
I'm not going to slag off any guidebooks – every publisher has its pros and cons – but I do remember meeting a lot of Let's Go, Frommer's and Fodor readers who were at the end of their tethers with scanty information and lame maps. Enough said.
The other thing to be wary of is buying a book that at first glance appears to be excellent value – one book covering the whole of a continent, for example. At the planning stage these books are excellent, but on the road it's often better to have a few books that specialise in areas you'll visit. You also want to be careful not to buy too many: books are often the single heaviest item in a backpack, and you can buy guidebooks all over the world, and from other travellers.
If anyone has any other recommendations for good travel guides, do please sign my Guestbook.
