Review by Bruce Tierney
It's a pretty fair bet that if a place is large enough to have a name, an altitude, and a few indigenous locals, someone has probably written a guidebook about it.
Vacationers fall into two general categories: tourists and travelers. The tourist tends to be the more affluent, less adventurous of the two. A package tour, a cruise or a Club Med-type vacation would likely appeal to the tourist. The traveler, on the other hand, is more likely to be flexible, both in terms of timing and what he/she is willing to experience. A loose itinerary, day-to-day living among the locals, and a "what the heck" attitude characterize the traveler. Some guidebooks are geared toward the tourist, others toward the traveler; some try, with varying degrees of success, to bridge the gap. Here, then, are some of the many currently available.
Fodor's is the granddaddy of guidebooks for the tourist. No glossy pictures and fancy color maps, just info, info, info. Updated every year, Fodor's Gold Guides (Fodor's) offer concise reviews of attractions, accommodations, and restaurants, complete with current pricing information. Both domestic and foreign destinations are available, more than 80 in all. Each Fodoršs contains a section entitled Fodor's Choice, a sort of "top ten" list of attractions, scenes, and establishments. And, no matter how hard we ought to try, let's not forget shopping and golf.
Logically laid out, alphabetically by state, then by city, Mobil Travel Guides (Fodor's) are exceptionally user-friendly for tourist and traveler alike. Color maps, including time/distance maps, are located at the beginning of each guide. Pricing information is comprehensive and up to date.
The hip-pocket, plastic-encased Knopf Guides (Alfred A. Knopf) are mini-encyclopedias, jam-packed with all manner of useful and fascinating info. In addition to the usual sections on nature, history, architecture, and the like, Knopf Guides devote an entire section to the country as viewed through the eyes of artists; yet another to the country as seen by writers, quoting such luminaries as S.J. Perelman, Yukio Mishima, and Joseph Conrad, to name but a few. The all-color illustrations and maps are first-rate, the practical information less so. Best used in conjunction with another guidebook, these nonetheless make excellent reading in preparation for your journey. This series focuses on foreign destinations.
The Rick Steves' Guides (John Muir Publications) are distinctly travelers' handbooks. To quote Steves' First Law of Travel: "The more you spend the bigger the wall you build between yourself and the culture you traveled so far to visit. Stay in the small inns, eat in the family-style restaurants, visit out-of-the-way places, rub elbows with the locals. You'll spend less money and have a great time in the process." In his best-selling Europe Through the Back Door, Steves suggests several 22-day itineraries for Euro-hopping, as well as tips for traveling with babies, camera care, and political awareness. The second half of the book is devoted to a few dozen off-the-beaten-track destinations to get you started on the arduous process of conversion from tourist to traveler. An up-to-date pricing appendix rounds out this excellent guidebook series.
Available for out-of-the-way destinations such as Burma and Lebanon, Bradt Guides (Bradt) are oriented toward the traveler as well. Something of a mixed bag, Bradt Guides offer the usual stew of history/geography/practicality, but occasionally stray into, well, weirdness. In the Lebanon guidebook, for instance, in the section about things to do, author Lynda Keen tells us about recreational flying (as in airplane) in Lebanon: "There used to be an aviation club at the airport." That's it, the whole quote. Still, she redeems herself with a story, perhaps apocryphal, about a small Lebanese child learning the ways of negotiation: "A kindergarten teacher asks a pupil, 'What is two and two?,' to which the child replies, 'Are you buying or selling?' "
If you enjoy National Geographic magazine, you will find the Smithsonian Guides to Natural America (Random House) much to your liking. Beautiful photos of wildlife, flowers, and panoramic scenery, coupled with conversational text, make these guides very pleasant reading. Regarding restaurants, hotels, etc., you're on your own.
Glossy and packed with information, Eyewitness Travel Guides (Dorling Kindersley) are billed as "The Guides That Show You What Others Only Tell You," an apt description. The photography is first-rate, the text concise and professional. Plus, there is stuff in here that you will never find in any other guidebook anywhere. Period. For instance, how about pictures of police cars, so you'll know if that guy in the mirror Ray-Bans has the right to pull you over. Or, in the guide to Spain, photos of tapas, those delicious little snacks that you had no idea what they were made of, but now you do. Or a rendering of a Spanish mailbox, which looks for all the world like a giant yellow fire hydrant, and which you'd never pick out as a mailbox in a hundred years unless you had been raised in Andalucia. But, I digress. Buy some other handbook to get up-to-date precise info about the price of shoelaces at Safeway, but buy this one for fun.
Lonely Planet Guides are to the traveler what Fodor's Guides are to the tourist: the travel bible. In a quarter-century, give or take, the Travel Survival Kits have become the guidebooks by which all other travelers' guides are measured. With titles like "Across Asia on the Cheap," and "Southeast Asia on a Shoestring," Lonely Planet has hooked a generation of explorers in search of the unusual, the mystical, the inexpensive. (My dogeared and marked-up copy of Africa on a Shoestring occupies a hallowed spot in my bookcase after performing yeoman service on a six-month trans-Sahara adventure.) All sorts of practical information is addressed, the getting of visas, what shots you need, and so forth. Sections dealing with the special needs of gay, disabled, and elderly travelers can be found in many of the guides. Well-drawn maps and color photographs round out this series. Lonely Planet Guides cover just about anywhere you can think of, as well as a number of places you haven't heard of yet. If you can afford only one guidebook (in which case, you are, by definition, a traveler), this is the one to buy.
So to all my fellow travelers and tourists, 11 parting words of advice: be patient, be open, be flexible: choose a good guide book. And, happy trails.
Note: Prices of guides vary.
Bruce Tierney is a writer in Atlanta.
©1997, ProMotion, inc.