Are travel guidebooks really good?

Travel guidebooks are the most common used mean for supporting travellers. They gather key information of cities and the places you may not miss. However, you should not stick to their suggestions religiously, as many travellers do. They are not the bibles that they are made out to be, and are often out of date even before they are published.

To get the most out of guidebooks, use them mostly for basic orientation at your destination, then discover the cities on your own.

The information on museums and places of interest are great when all other signs look foreign. But when it comes to restaurants and hotels, each person has its personal taste and budget.

Wandering around on your own is the most pleasant way to discover reasonably-priced gourmet restaurants dishing up a local ambience; without the need for reservations. For hotels, booking online is the best choice when it comes the time to decide where to overnight.

Always look to the publication date of the guidebook before buying it. (It should be printed on the inside page of the book). If you are going to spend many Euros for a book, at least it should be updated. Most of guides’ publishers such as Lonely Planet or Rough Guides usually give the first publication date, the date of publication of the copy in your hands, and when reprinted with travellers' updates.

In what concerns the recommendations given by guidebooks, always look to them with a pinch of salt.

In order to really absorb the best of each city, try to create your own travel guide using the most current travel information available on the internet. They are very helpful as a complement to the information that traditional travel guides include, providing experience from many other tourists that were already at that place.

In conclusion, travel guidebooks are a good source of information. But many other tools can be used to support or even replace this bible for tourists.