Are guidebooks really worth anything?

I’m sure you’ve seen them.  The people walking around with a guidebook in their hand, referring to a map to find the next landmark they seek, or perhaps that perfect place for coffee that was recommended.  Guidebooks such as Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Moon, and many others fill up endless shelves at bookstores.  In speaking with fellow travelers it isn’t uncommon to hear “Oh XYZ [book] recommended that place!” And therefore we’d be insane to not go visit it or stay there.

There is no denial that guidebooks can be helpful.  When planning my trip to Peru two years ago, I checked out a few of them from the library.  Had it not been for the Lonely Planet author’s advice on an alternate way to get to Saqsaywaman, I would’ve missed out on an interesting hike (too steep to call it a walk) and some great photos and views as well.  I also followed their recommendation to a lodge in the Amazonian rain forest which turned out to be a wonderful experience and helped out a local orphanage at the same time.  But can you become too dependent on them and lose out on great experiences.

When I first tried to plan some parts of our indefinite journey, I quickly decided the best plan was to have no plan.  I remembered that when getting to know locals, either while chatting on the bus, in a cafe, or while eating street food, I had some of my best experiences and found some of the coolest spots, many of which either weren’t mentioned in the books or were given only a brief commentary.  I’ve often thrilled at discoveries while taking a wrong turn or just jumping on a bus and taking it until I thought it was a good place to get off and go exploring.  I decided that we would do as little planning as possible, and it’s been a wonderful experience.

One of my favorite things to do is to ask a local where they would go on vacation, where they take visiting family, where the places are that don’t see many tourists.  Those are the places I’m most interested in!  Sure, there are simply some things one must see:  It’d be kind of silly to go to Paris and skip the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and Sacre Cœur.  But other than the big things I try to stay away from standard tourist attractions.  I prefer to eat where the locals eat, stay in neighborhoods away from expat communities, etc.  Sure the books have some of this advice, but I’ve managed to find some true treasures this way that weren’t available in any other resource.  And I don’t knock expats who like to hang together.  I get that.  I just don’t care to travel that way.  When I follow guidebooks, I end up following in everyone else’s footsteps rather than enjoying discovering things on my own.

So I’m recommending everyone dump guidebooks, right? Nope.  I think moderation is good.  Use available resources to inform yourself.  While many places are online, some communities just haven’t caught on.  Sometimes I’ve found my best lodging resources in a guidebook because most places didn’t have an online presence, especially the more budget-friendly ones.  They can offer invaluable tips on how to get to locations, what a normal taxi ride should cost, etc. Things that are awfully helpful to know before arriving in a new location.  But don’t let them be your main way of traveling, and if you really want to look like a clueless traveler (AKA probably easy scam or theft target) make sure to carry it around in open sight with you.  Few things are better at screaming “Hey come take advantage of me!”

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17 Comments

  1. Great post! When I was 21 yrs old I crossed Eastern Europe with my backpack all the way from Vienna (Austria) until Ankara (Turkey). I actually took 2 guidebooks with me… never used them, gave them up to someone who would actually make a good use for them. I love the *ask the locals*, so f*cking true!!

    One question: booking hostels/hotels, I usually never plan those, what’s your thoughts on this ?

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    • I rarely book in advance, but if I know it is a busy area or during busy season I do sometimes book with one via the Internet for a short time and then check out other places once we get there. Just depends. Since I prefer an apartment-type situation, we do sometimes book a couple of days via AirBNB or something like that as well beforehand. If it is a low tourist reason or slow season, we often just try our luck when we get there. Your backpacking trip sounds awesome!

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      • Thanks 🙂 That is actually simular to my modus operandi !
        Cheers

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  2. Good question! I use guidebooks in advance of going to a destination, to get a feel for the history, culture, and highlights. I stopped taking them a few years back –  just too heavy!

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    • They definitely add some weight. Of course, now they are available in digital format, too.

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  3. I like a combination of both – I like being reasonably clued up on a place before I get there but once I arrive I tend to ask for local advice and go more with the flow – especially with 2 kids – you’ve got to go with the flow!! 

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    • Yes, children definitely . . . encourage going with the flow. LOL

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  4. Lovely post. I almost never use guidebooks. I’ll use travel blogs or maybe tripadvisor if I am in the mood to do the “touristy” thing. But mostly, I prefer to go to a new place and just discover it myself. I might miss out on some stuff, but then that stuff is always a reason to return 😉

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    • Couldn’t agree more! Thanks for commenting, Raghav.

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  5. I have used guidebooks on occasion (my local library seems to be up-to-date on releases) and liked some of their content (background information about the country/city, some recommendations and logistics). But I prefer not to rely on just one source of information.

    While guidebooks have gotten better in recent years in terms of recommending some lesser-known spots and including a greater variety of places/things to do, I like to go online and read blogs, or some bigger travel magazines I trust.  If I know locals, I’ll ask them too. Often times, however, I just start walking and see what happens. I love making discoveries like that. 🙂 

    One example – Cordoba, Spain. It looked like the tourist path ended on a bridge separating two parts of the city. Not too many people went farther than the river, so I decided to give it a try. It was raining and I needed to go hide somewhere and “the other side” was closer. Fair enough, I  ended up finding a cool coffee shop around the corner. Naturally, it was full of locals – and much cheaper. Plus, I got to practice Spanish as no-one was interested in entertaining the foreigner in English. 🙂 

    Mix & match works for me, with guidebooks being used from time to time.

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    • Yep, I think a combo is the best way. I’m look you, too. I really enjoy those accidental discoveries you make just by walking in a specific direction, especially if it appears less traveled.

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  6. I totally agree. Some of my absolute favorite experiences are less than a paragraph in some books. I do find myself using books a bit more with kids that I did during the backpacking phase in college. And we almost always get sidetracked by signs pointing out something cool, that way, 12 km… And some of

    As my Monkey gets bigger I want him to have that wanderlust as well.

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    • Those little finds are part of what I love about traveling. I think it’s great to instill that in children. I think the more that happens the more hope there is for future generations!

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  7. I like guidebooks–especially when up to date. They’re chock full of info that’s useful. However, many of the companies have been slacking re: updating them and sometimes that’s a problem. I also like to use travel blogs. And sometimes I get advice from locals. This often works well, but not always. Once, based on that sort of advice, I ended up at a beach in Mexico that was geared to wealthy locals and required a car or taxis to get around.

    Overall, though, I still like the guidebooks (especially now that you can download chapters to a device). They’re great for having a rough plan. Then, once I’m actually somewhere, I can be spontaneous and change my mind if I want (which I do, of course).

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    • They definitely offer some advantages. I just see too many people who rely exclusively on them, and that’s rarely good. I would never rely exclusively on a local either. Especially with so much information at our fingertips it’s better to use a combo of resources in my opinion.

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  8. I will always be a lover of guidebooks. While you can’t rely on them entirely, they can definitely come in handy. Just in the last few weeks, I used the map in my guidebook to find my hotel in one town (locals didn’t know it, but I showed them the map & they helped me get my bearings) and used great descriptions in a guidebook of a site I visited where no guides or explanations were available. And a few years ago when I was in Egypt, I managed to visit 2 very off the beaten path sites that were in my guidebook but that my tour guides weren’t aware of!

    I also am sometimes wary of depending too much on locals. Sometimes what might be very easy or simple to them can be very difficult for a tourist who doesn’t know the language. I recently relied on the advice of a local guide in Turkey on how to cross the border into Georgia. He advised me contrary to what both of my guidebooks did and it turned out to be wrong. I would’ve been better off following the guidebooks.

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    • Definitely nothing is ever perfect. That’s why a combo of resources is often your best bet. Hope the Turkey situation wasn’t too difficult, though! It is so much harder when there are language issues.

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