There are two questions we always get asked by travelers that do not understand the importance of travel guides. The first is Why should I buy a travel guide? The second question is Which guide should I buy?
Why should I buy a travel guide? The use of the appropriate travel guide is fundamental to helping you plan, and enjoy, your vacation. A travel guide gives honest reviews of hotels, motels, beds and breakfast inns, restaurants and tourist attractions. Travel guides allow you to make use of the work and recommendations of others that have checked out the places mentioned in the guide. A travel guide allows you to select those attractions that are most important for you to see, and allows you to make a schedule in advance. Why should you spend your first day in Paris trying to figure out which subway to take to the Eiffel Tower when you can plan this in advance? Guides help you pick restaurants that fit your style and budget so that you are not at the mercy of the concierge in your hotel. When you are spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a trip, the use of a $20-25 guide will save you far more in time and money, and will help make your travels organized and enjoyable.
Which guide should I buy? The choice of the proper guide is very important. While any traveller can get useful information from any guide, the choice of the correct guide will make that guide more useful and will enhance your travel plans. Each major travel guide series has its own style and emphasis and it is important that you know the differences. If you have used Lonely Planet guides in the past, and like them, you will probably like all of the Lonely Planet guides. We have listed some of the major travel guide series in this section and tried to characterize them for you. If you have questions, our customer service representatives will be happy to help you choose a guide.
We have listed the guides for a few major series in this section. We also stock thousands of other travel and hiking guides, some of which are parts of series, and others that are not. These guides are listed under the appropriate country or regional listing. Each country's "travel guide" section has a listing of the guides that cover that area, so if you do not find what you want in this section, please look under the country of interest.
This section is still under construction. We have only a small portion of our guides listed here, so if you do not see what you want, please call us.