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Access Guides
The first thing you notice about Access Guides is their organization. Color-coding (red for restaurants, blue for hotels, etc.) is used throughout each guide, and the entries are keyed by number to locations on the maps. There are several maps and drawings in all of the guides, from outlines of city streets to black and white sketches of opera houses.
Everything is arranged by area, which gives the impression you are on a tour of each neighborhood. Many contain monthly calendars of "Main Events" which highlight the seasonal celebrations of various areas across the globe.
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 Best Places Guides
A great place to stay can make all the difference in how much you enjoy a trip, particularly if time is short and you're looking for a relaxing, hassle-free, enjoyable getaway.
The "Best Places" series, which has been completely revised and updated, does an excellent job of selecting and reviewing the best "unique and distinctive accommodations" in all price ranges. If you prefer to stay in charming accommodations with personality, rather than run-of-the-mill major hotel/motel chains, browse the listings in one of these guides.
Each selection has been personally visited and reviewed by the author and includes detailed, accurate descriptions of the property, special features and amenities. Unlike many of the popular Bed & Breakfast guides, "Best Places" includes a diverse selection of lodging, with something that will appeal to everyone. In addition to quaint Bed & Breakfast inns you'll find recommendations for grand city hotels, small intimate hotels, resorts, spas, country retreats, family favorites, romantic hideaways, plantations and guest ranches, and even restaurants and other attractions.
Each book contains as many as 1000 reviews which are cross-referenced by activity, special attractions and special features such as wheelchair access. A great resource for pleasure travelers, business travelers, travel agents and those organizing conference or group trips -- anyone looking for recommendations of the "best" places to stay in a given area.
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Cadogan Guides
This British guidebook series has quickly achieved an outstanding reputation among discerning American travelers for its exceptional quality of writing. Rich in local history, culture, legends and traditions, Cadogan Guides give the traveler a better understanding of a country and its people.
All Cadogan authors are natives of or have lived in the countries they write about, and give informed recommendations of interesting places to stay and dine as well as practical travel advice. Cadogan Guides are designed in a clear, easy-to-read format and are a pleasure to read.
The Cadogan Guide series includes guidebooks for most European counties and city guides for major European cities. Particularly strong are the regional and country guides for France, Greece and Italy. The city guides are companion guides to the country guides and are organized as self-guided walking tours.
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 Cheap Eats & Sleeps Guides
Sandra A. Gustafson developed a great collection of moderately-priced hotel and restaurant reviews in the best-selling Cheap Eats/Cheap Sleeps Guides. Don't let their name fool you -- they're not reviews of the cheapest restaurants and hotels, but rather carefully selected recommendations of comfortable hotels and good restaurants that offer the "best value." Gustafson has personally visited and candidly reviewed several hundred establishments, then carefully selected only the best ones to recommend for each of her guidebooks.
Detailed reviews make it easy to find a place that you'll be happy with and that fits your budget. Each guide includes a wide variety of selections which will appeal to all budget travelers from backpackers to families and honeymooners.
If you're headed to Hawaii, London, Paris or Italy, the Cheap Eats/Cheap Sleeps guides make an excellent supplement for augmenting the restaurant and hotel listings in your primary guidebook.
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 Eyewitness Guides
Eyewitness Travel Guides are one of a new generation of highly visual travel guidebooks that make liberal use of color photographs and superb three-dimensional maps. The 3-D and aerial-view maps are by far Eyewitness Travel Guides' biggest strength, and much of each guide is organized geographically around these maps. They are well organized and make an excellent companion for walking tours of a city. Each guide includes a good selection and reviews of hotels and restaurants in all price ranges which are cross-referenced and summarized in a side-by-side comparison chart.
There's also detailed information about shopping and entertainment with plenty of other practical travel tips and an excellent index. Give these stunning visual guidebooks a try if you're headed to Florence, London, Paris, Prague or Rome.
If the Eyewitness Guides have a weakness, it's a tendency to rely too much on visual images at the expense of good travel writing. But overall this is a promising new series.
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Fodor's Guides
Fodor's has several different travel series, too many to go into detail about here! All are geared toward a slightly different type of traveler, and all of which are filled with first-hand, up-to-date travel advice. Try one of these series, and go to Fodor's Web site for more information about one or all of them. 
Fodor's Gold Guides
Compass American Guides
Fodor's Exploring Guides
Fodor's upCLOSE
Fodor's Pocket Guides
Citypacks
Flashmaps
Fodor's CITYGUIDES 
Fodor's Around the City with Kids
Fodor's Escape
Fodor's Best Bed & Breakfasts
Rivages
Fodor's Gay Guides
Fodor's Languages for Travelers
Baedeker's Guides
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Frommer's Guides
Frommer's is a renowned series of guides, also with several series. We recommend any of those listed below, and suggest that you visit their Web site for more info on each.
Frommer's Complete Guides
Frommer's $-a-Day Guides
Frommer's Portable Guides
Frommer's Irreverent Guides
Frommer's Born to Shop Guides
Frommer's Food Lover Guides
Frommer's With Kids Guides
Frommer's Driving Tours
Frommer's Memorable Walks
Frommer's Wonderful Weekends
Frommer's National Parks Guides
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 Insight Guides
Insight Guides are your best choice for armchair background reading on a particular destination. Insight Guides are the perfect books for pre-trip planning and post-trip reminiscing. They also make excellent companion guides for learning about the sites you are visiting. We would not recommend them, however, as practical reference guides for selecting hotels and restaurants while you're traveling. Nevertheless, each guide is packed with history, culture and beautiful color photographs. Insight Guides make excellent gifts and are books you'll want to add to your collection.
Published in Singapore, they are best known for their guides to Asia and the South Pacific, but they also have several dozen titles covering North and South America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Insight Guides also publish Pocket Guides and Compact Guides for major cities and regions. These are a much slimmer, portable version of country guides that are perfect for taking with you on your trip and reading as you visit local attractions. The newest editions of the Insight Pocket Guides also include a detachable, detailed street map.
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 The Knopf Guides
Beautiful and elegant are not words that one usually associates with guidebooks, but these are the only way to describe the Knopf Guides. Mixing elements of an upscale Michelin Green Guide, an Insight Guide and a great coffee table art book, the Knopf Guides are one of a new generation of travel guidebooks.
Knopf is known for publishing high-quality art books, and this expertise has been carried over to producing a new line of colorful art-oriented guidebooks that you will want to save as a keepsake of your trip long after you return home.
The Knopf Guides emphasize history, art and architecture, all of which they do an excellent job of covering. Hotel, restaurant, shopping and practical travel information is weak compared to many of the other excellent guides which are available.
These guides are very portable and will work well as a reference for self-guided walking tours. I particularly like their durable vinyl covers and handy place markers. Titles cover many of the great cities of the world where you will find beautiful art and architecture. There's also a "Restaurants of Paris Knopf Guide" in a similar format with an emphasis on Paris' great restaurants.
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 Let's Go Guides
"Let's Go: Europe" is THE bible of the American student backpacking through Europe, with more budget listings than any other guide. Researched annually by scores of Harvard/Radcliffe students who make it on their own (no freebies or expense accounts!), Let's Go covers over 30 countries in Europe, and is crammed with practical information -- where to go, what to do, how to get there, and how to eat and sleep cheaply. While "Let's Go: Europe" is written primarily by and for students, it is also perfect for people touring Europe on a tight budget.
The only downside to using these guides is that you will often find yourself following dozens of other American students around Europe as everyone is using the same guidebook.
In addition to "Let's Go: Europe," the Let's Go series also has in-depth guides to several European countries which are much better if you're visiting one or two countries instead of making the grand tour. The series has continued to add titles all around the world. Every book in the series is updated annually.
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 Lonely Planet Guides
If you're traveling to Asia or the South Pacific and plan on buying one guidebook, pick a Lonely Planet Travel Survival Kit. Packed full of practical tips for the independent traveler, Lonely Planet Guides are written by experienced travelers who have in-depth knowledge of the countries they write about. Each provides ample background coverage of the history, culture and politics of the country, as well as detailed information and reviews of hotels, restaurants and places to visit. Lonely Planet guides are updated regularly every two years, and most are conveniently slim for carrying around.
Published out of Australia by veteran travelers Tony and Maureen Wheeler, the philosophy of these guides is to help provide a meaningful travel experience off the beaten tourist track. The Wheelers hope that travelers learn about and participate in the cultures they are visiting rather than merely being spectators.
Lonely Planet publishes over 650 titles for countries, regions and cities in Asia, South America, Africa, Europe, Middle East, USA and the South Pacific.
While many of their destination guides are for travelers of all budgets, "On a Shoestring" guides are backpackers' bibles, written more for the budget traveler with a focus on inexpensive restaurant and lodging. Lonely Planet offers a variety of activity/interest guides on road trips, national parks, cycling and more. They also publish some excellent language phrasebooks and maps.
Lonely Planet puts out a free e-newsletter; visit their Web site to subscribe.
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 Moon Handbooks
After traveling around the world for seven years to over 70 countries, Bill Dalton arrived in Australia from Indonesia with only $20 left in his pocket and started selling copies of his travel notes for 50 cents. Twenty years later, the "Indonesia Handbook" is still the first choice of savvy travelers and has spawned a line of popular award-winning guidebooks with a wide selection of titles. Moon Handbooks are ideal for the adventure-seeking traveler who's young at heart -- and if you want to go beyond being a superficial tourist and truly experience a new culture.
Each well written Handbook takes an in-depth, honest, down-to-earth approach, giving thoughtful insights into the local people and culture. Hotel and restaurant recommendations cover all price ranges, and a wealth of practical travel tips is included. Special attention is also given to the natural history of an area and outdoor activities.
Most Moon Handbooks are updated every two years, although some of the larger editions, such as those for Indonesia and Hawaii, may take 3-4 years to be completely revised. Titles are available for most countries in Asia, the South Pacific, Central America and the Western United States. The South Pacific, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, Tibet, Hawaii and U.S. titles are particularly good and highly recommended. The Hawaii Handbook is also available as smaller, more detailed guides covering the individual islands.
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Rick Steves' Guides
If you liked "Europe Through the Back Door," you'll love his European Country guidebooks. In his trip-planning books, Rick gives you the benefit of his years of travel and tour guiding to help you plan a memorable trip with the perfect blend of well-known sights and hidden "back doors" discoveries.
You'll find recommended itineraries, driving tips, train schedules, carefully selected list of recommended hotels from $20-$100 and suggested schedules for making the most of each day. Each guide is written in Rick Steves' fun, opinionated style and includes everything you need to plan a memorable adventure.
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 Rough Guides
These candid, practical, comprehensive and opinionated guides are written for independent-minded and adventurous travelers. Don't let their moniker fool you -- these guides are not just for the low-budget traveler. You'll find hotel and restaurant listings in all price ranges and great information on cultural entertainment and night life, plus all the practical travel details you'll need. Rough Guides also have good advice for women, family, gay and disabled travelers. Written in a fun, easy-to-read narrative, these guides do a wonderful job of making you feel like you have your own personal tour guide.
With a wide selection of European titles, they are a good alternative for those of you who want something a little more upscale than the Let's Go series. Rough Guides are based in London and are written from a British perspective. The series currently boasts almost 200 titles and is particularly strong in Europe. Rough Guides are updated every two years.
For a few years, these guides were marketed in the US by Prentice Hall under the title "Real Guides." The series has recently changed publishers to Penguin USA and the name has reverted back to the name "Rough Guides" to maintain a global identity. The Rough Guides recently partnered with World Music Network to compile albums of music from all over the world.
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