Travel guides are an excellent resource for planning any type of vacation, from the luxurious to the ultra-affordable. In fact, a good guide can help you focus on exactly what you’re looking for from your trip. Are you looking for a week away that is packed with action and adventure? It’s likely there is a travel guide on the market to help you plan just such a getaway. Or what if you would like to spend several days doing as little as possible: lying on the beach, receiving spa treatments, and eating gourmet meals? There’s a travel guide geared toward that as well.
Many different travel guides are available today. Each one specializes in a certain type of travel, such as:
- Single travelers
- Youth travelers
- Families traveling as a group
- Eco-tourism
- Frugal travel
- Luxury travel
- Travel that raises social consciousness
- Gay and lesbian travel
- Travel for older adults
How do you know which of the many travel guides is the right one? Sometimes that is an easy question to answer, especially if you are traveling on your own or a college student interested in backpacking across Europe. Some travelers will fit into a variety of categories. In this case, it might be best to pick up more than one travel resource, or simply decide which one best fits the type of trip you have envisioned for yourself.
For instance, if you’re interested in understanding the culture, history, and economy of a certain region of the world, and you are also an older traveler, you may have interest in at least one or two different guides. Perhaps the guide for older adults assumes you are not as active as you are, while the social consciousness guide provides ideas for lots of activities that appeal to the information-filled kind of travel you crave. You might be able to pick up useful tips from both guides, but you’ll probably want to review each carefully before buying one or both.
Before buying a travel guide, you should also consider how you plan to use it. Is this going to be a resource you use solely in advance of your trip for research and planning? If so, then dense formatting and a large, heavy binding should not be a deterrent. This guide is probably packed with useful background information that can assist you to understand exactly which attractions you’ll want to visit, where you want to stay, and where you would like to eat.
However, if you are looking for a travel guide that you want to carry with you throughout your travels, you might do well to consider a pocket size edition that doesn’t have quite so much information. The smaller edition should still have all the useful information you need to visit attractions like:
- The address of the attraction
- The operating hours
- An estimate of the entry fees
- Suggestions for how to get to the attraction
- Recommendations about certain sights that should not be overlooked
Additionally, the travel guide you carry with you should have a detailed map of the region, preferably one that folds out for ease of reference and then can be stored without fuss. A good map is an indispensable companion. If it can be found within a guide book, so much the better: you won’t have to worry about carrying around both the guide and the map separately.
Travel guides can prove to be a valuable asset to any visitor. They help travelers prioritize their visit, and help them find the perfect accommodations. A small edition travel guide takes the stress out of making your way around the region.