Best Guidebooks

[donaldsc]

Surprisingly, I did a search on this board and did not find any good threads on guidebooks so I figure that I will start one. Whenever I try to figure out what I am going to do at port stops or on my before and after cruise independent travel, I go to the library and take out guidebooks to try to figure out what to see and do. However, I find that virtually all of them are almost useless especially for cruisers for several reasons

 

1 - they are aimed toward independent travelers although they are pretty bad even for them. The spend way too many pages describing accommodations and places to eat. These sections are useless for the cruiser who will be in a city for 1 day or 2 days at most. I want to know what to see.

 

2 - They are even useless for the independent traveler who is not cruising. I can find out where to stay and where to eat on sites such as TripAdvisor. I want to know what are the important things to see and do.

 

3 - They assume that if I am not sleeping or eating, I must be shopping as most of the rest of the information on a city is where to shop.

 

4 - For most guidebooks, they list the most important 500 things to see in a city. I do not have time to see 500 things.

 

5 - When I am trying to set up an independent trip, I would like some itinerary guidance. For most guidebooks, this information is either lacking or bad.

 

6 - Some of them have no maps or unusable maps.

 

So my question to my fellow CCers is what guidebooks do you like and/or what guidebooks are horrible and why. They do not have to be books published or easily available in the US. I have been in English bookstores and found some guidebooks that were not in the US bookstores and were excellent.

 

Hopefully the responses we get will be useful to all of us.

 

DON

Edited March 24, 2015 by donaldsc

[celebrity]

Rick Steve's Guide To Med Cruiseports was my bible.

Other than that, I rely on Tripadvisor and focus on top attractions. After that, I check YouTube for videos of the sites I want to see.

HTH.

[paul929207]

As HTH said, Rick Steves' guide are great. We have used the Med one twice.

[Azulann]

I like Moon Handbooks, Lonely Planet guide books. Both have good maps, great history of the area, and lists of local attractions.I get these books at the library or a a used bookstore.

I also use Trip Advisor, Independent Traveller, and tourism sites of the country, region and particular place. I have found many interesting links on those sites about museums, historical sites, private tour guides etc.

Also read itineraries of land tours companies, Smithsonian, Road Scholars etc. They provide more details about what to see in a day in a particular city or region. Helps me prioritize what I can see in a six/eight hour time frame at a port of call.

Tomsportreview.com is also great for details about the port, along with R. Steves book.

[MrsPete]

Guidebooks aren't a great resource for cruisers. They're designed for people who are staying in a city for days, people who need a place to stay and who have time to see multiple attractions. They offer little for the cruiser who has 6-8 hours in port.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Rick Steve's Guide To Med Cruiseports was my bible.

 

Other than that, I rely on Tripadvisor and focus on top attractions. After that, I check YouTube for videos of the sites I want to see.

 

HTH.

 

 

Rick Steve's cruise guide, regular location guides and free audio tours are far and away the best in the business. His videos are great too.

For quick references, the Eyewitness Top Ten series is also good for the compressed visit (like a one day cruise stop).

Trip Advisor is helpful -though hotel and restaurant ratings must be "taken with a grain of salt."

[CPT Trips]

I have good luck searching on "tourism (name of city or island)." Then I go to links and/or do other searches. This gives much better info than most guidebooks. TripAdvisor, for me, is a tertiary source for after I have narrowed my options way down.

[donaldsc]

Surprisingly, I did a search on this board and did not find any good threads on guidebooks so I figure that I will start one. Whenever I try to figure out what I am going to do at port stops or on my before and after cruise independent travel, I go to the library and take out guidebooks to try to figure out what to see and do. However, I find that virtually all of them are almost useless especially for cruisers for several reasons

 

1 - they are aimed toward independent travelers although they are pretty bad even for them. The spend way too many pages describing accommodations and places to eat. These sections are useless for the cruiser who will be in a city for 1 day or 2 days at most. I want to know what to see.

 

2 - They are even useless for the independent traveler who is not cruising. I can find out where to stay and where to eat on sites such as TripAdvisor. I want to know what are the important things to see and do.

 

3 - They assume that if I am not sleeping or eating, I must be shopping as most of the rest of the information on a city is where to shop.

 

4 - For most guidebooks, they list the most important 500 things to see in a city. I do not have time to see 500 things.

 

5 - When I am trying to set up an independent trip, I would like some itinerary guidance. For most guidebooks, this information is either lacking or bad.

 

6 - Some of them have no maps or unusable maps.

 

So my question to my fellow CCers is what guidebooks do you like and/or what guidebooks are horrible and why. They do not have to be books published or easily available in the US. I have been in English bookstores and found some guidebooks that were not in the US bookstores and were excellent.

 

Hopefully the responses we get will be useful to all of us.

 

DON

 

I am responding to myself here. What does anyone think about the Michelin Green Guides?

 

DON

[marshhawk]

I believe it's Frommers, that has a travel guide by port for cruisers. I have the one on the Caribbean, tells you what to do on your own, what are the best ship excursions, places to eat, shop etc. It is outdated by a few years, as new ports become available, but it gives you an idea of what to look for.

[wwcruisers]

I like Moon Handbooks, Lonely Planet guide books. Both have good maps, great history of the area, and lists of local attractions.I get these books at the library or a a used bookstore.

I also use Trip Advisor, Independent Traveller, and tourism sites of the country, region and particular place. I have found many interesting links on those sites about museums, historical sites, private tour guides etc.

Also read itineraries of land tours companies, Smithsonian, Road Scholars etc. They provide more details about what to see in a day in a particular city or region. Helps me prioritize what I can see in a six/eight hour time frame at a port of call.

Tomsportreview.com is also great for details about the port, along with R. Steves book.

 

When we booked our first Bermuda cruise, last year, I bought the Bermuda Moon Handbook. It was amazing! It quickly becomes apparent that the author is a native of that fascinating island. This guide-book doesn't just promote the usual "tourist traps", but provides a good bit of history -- as well as hints about the more unique and out-of-the way attractions. :cool:

[Flatbush Flyer]

An unusual but wonderful resource is the ongoing series (many years worth) of "3 perfect days in ...", which is published in United Airlines' "Hemispheres" magazine. The itineraries are relatively upscale but quite varied and very interesting. One I've done exactly as it appeared is Dublin and it was terrific.

Edited March 24, 2015 by Flatbush Flyer

[slidergirl]

Rick Steve's cruise guide, regular location guides and free audio tours are far and away the best in the business. His videos are great too.

For quick references, the Eyewitness Top Ten series is also good for the compressed visit (like a one day cruise stop).

Trip Advisor is helpful -though hotel and restaurant ratings must be "taken with a grain of salt."

 

That last sentence should be "…taken with a ton of salt." At one point, a gelato shop was rated the best restaurant in Florence, Italy. :eek: And, it wasn't even one of the good artisinal ones, but a mediocre one on the tourist track.

 

The travel guidebooks are absolutely geared toward the multi-day land traveler, not a day-tripper off a ship. I think it is historical - back in the old days of cruising, I imagine the vast majority of cruisers did organized tours through the ships - they were isolated and herded happily to whatever the ships thought were the "must sees." That is changing to have more people wanting to strike out on their own and tailor their own DIY visits.

As much as I dislike Rick Steves for hotel and restaurant recommendations, he does have good info for places to visit. Grab his city-specific guides if you are going to Europe: Rome, Florence and Tuscany, Venice, Naples and Amalfi Coast, Athens, Barcelona… He has easy-to-follow DIYs in them! Just ignore the hotel/food parts ;)

[Azulann]

When we booked our first Bermuda cruise, last year, I bought the Bermuda Moon Handbook. It was amazing! It quickly becomes apparent that the author is a native of that fascinating island. This guide-book doesn't just promote the usual "tourist traps", but provides a good bit of history -- as well as hints about the more unique and out-of-the way attractions. :cool:

 

Exactly, that is why I love Moon Handbook's. Have used them for every country I have visited.

Hope to see Bermuda some day, but off to Spain and Portugal on my next cruise.

[Langley Cruisers]

I hear what you are saying, OP, but in this day and age of instant gratification, I think most people are more inclined to research online. The days of guide books are long gone for most people; the information is available at your fingertips using the Internet.

 

Having said that, once and only once did I check out a guide book from the library, and it was the aforementioned Frommer's Caribbean Ports of Call, but we also found a ton of info online.