International Nesties
Dear Community,

Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.

If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.

Thank you.

Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.

Travel books

Do you use them at all?  If you use them, do you just use them for big trips or do you use them for the area in which you live too?  Have a favorite type?  

I have them for all of the places we've lived and in the past never really used them, so they just sit on the shelves.  For some reason I keep buying them even though I rarely use them.  I bought one today for KL figuring that at the very least it will give me some ideas for day trips from the city.  I really wanted to get one for Borneo as well but forced myself to put it back.  I am allowing myself to go back and get it if and only if I end up using the KL book (which I'm reading now).

So, what about you guys? 

Re: Travel books

  • We bought a big one for all of Europe before we moved here, but what we use most are those little pocket guides...but really only for the metro maps.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • Lonely Planet all the way.  We used the Cambodia one for the first couple of months here just to make sure we were trying new restaurants, sites, etc.  We always take one on trips too, and I love that it makes a good souvenir because we circle things, highlight, write directions to hotels, stick receipts and notes inside... they're always fun to go through after.  For our last trip we took 3 of them - Thailand, Laos and SE Asia on a shoestring.  All really good.

    Now jumping domestically.

    image

    Well that was a crazy couple of years.

    imageimageimage

  • I was really tempted by the Lonely Planet Laos book today even though I don't have a trip there planned in the immediate future.  That is another one now on my list should I actually make use of the book I bought today.  I'm glad to hear that it's good.
  • I used to get them for all my trips, but I'm less likely to now. When I got them I would get one with a lot of pictures (like the Eyewitness Guide by DK) and one with lots of info like Lonely Planet. The Lonely Planet books I've bought in the past have been great. 

    I think the last guide book I got was for my honeymoon in Scotland.  I also downloaded a free Europe one for my kindle. 

  • I almost always buy them/use them when I travel. I don't really have a favorite type, there are some aspects of Lonely Planet, Barefoot, and Frommers that I like, but they each have characteristics that I'm not a fan of as well.

    We used the South India guide the first weekend that we were here, it was a good thing too, because the place that was highly recommended to visit by our friends was a dud. The book helped us quickly find somewhere else to go that was much better.

    Duke's House: Eating and Running with the Big Dog in Chennai: eatrunbrit.com

    imageimage

    2010 Race PRs:

    5K - 24:57 10M - 1:28:20 13.1M - 1:57:29 26.2M - 4:28:29

  • I love travel books. I like the DK Eyewitness books the best for European cities, but I go for Lonely Planet if I need the detailed logistical advice to get around. So for Norway, I'm LP all the way. I actually own both books for Norway.

    I'll buy a book if I'll be in a place long enough that I think it's warranted. If I'm just going to be somewhere for a day or two, I'll either print info from frommers.com or buy a Lonely Planet PDF chapter from their website.

    image
  • Yup. I love 'em and use 'em.  I tend to get them for trips to parts of the States that we're going to visit outside my knowledge zone and for other countries and even for within England.  I like having it on hand and to get ideas - then bring them with me for the maps, and to have discussions about possibilities with others.
    I like pineapples...they make life just so much more interesting.
  • I use them.  I have huge ones for England, Scotland, and Italy.  I've pretty much read all of the England one.  It helps me decide where to go for weekend trips.  I don't have a favorite, but the majority of my travel books are Fodor's.  They are good IMO.  

     

  • We always get them because our shelf of travel books makes me disproportionately happy. Then I never want to carry them around while we're walking so we don't use them as much as I'd like. I tend to do the Lonely Planet pick a chapter and load it onto my Kindle now.

    Although I'm not planning on bringing my kindle to India so I will probably need some actual books!

    TTC #1 since Aug 2010 * BFP Aug 2011, EDD April 16 2012 * MMC @ 7w5d, D&C @ 10w5d
    BFP Apr 2012, EDD Dec 19 2012 * twin h/b at 6wk, 9wk scan * Baby A lost at 12wks, Baby B was my rainbow born at 36wks
    Lilypie First Birthday tickers
  • I used Lonely Planet when I was in Vietnam. I found it was good for planning weekend getaways, but the restaurants and some hotels info would be quickly outdated. (I'm actually mentioned in the credits of one).

    I also used SEA on a Shoestring. More for getting ideas of where to go. Unless the newer versions are better, the one I had from about 1999 only had very basic info about each destination.

     

  • I like them to have them to read before a trip and get an idea of places to visit. I've never used them to find restaurants though.
    Image and video hosting by TinyPic Visit The Nest!
  • DH used to live or die by the Lonely Planet. Wherever he went. But the last two trips in Africa have shown us that LP is not all-knowing. We ended up in some terrible jams because of it (like driving over a totally unpaved, isolated mountain pass in our teeny little sedan).  

    So for any travels in Africa, I'd suggest Bradt guides. They seem to do the job well.

    Cape Town, South Africa
    Anniversary
  • When we moved to Scotland I bought a lonely planet and someone gave us a rough guide. We went everywhere with those books and every time the rough guide was the better book hands down. I'm a dedicated addict. I have a ridiculously large collection.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • I have heard good things about Lonely Planet, but I haven't read any of them. I don't usually buy guide books, just ask the concierge or locals where to go wherever we are staying. If we're in England, we just buy a local OS map and go. I still have my trusty London A to Z sitting on my bookshelf.
    Once upon a time, boy met girl...
    Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Sign In or Register to comment.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards