Guide Book Publishers
Travel Literature and Gift Books

Travel Reference:
Africa
Atlases
Asia
Australia/Oceania
Caribbean
Europe
Central and South America
Language Books/Cassettes
Middle East
North America
San Francisco and Bay Area

G u i d e B o o k s

A guide book is one of the most essential pieces of packing. With the explosion in guide book publishing, there is an increasing availability of specialized guides for remote destinations. Besides general guides to a country, region or city, there are trekking guides, rail guides, architectural guides, museum and art guides, hotel guides, food guides cultural guides and gay guides. When choosing a guide book, look for ones written by people who travel the way you do, or have the same interests or general budget. These are some of the main guide book series:

Access Guides View GuideBooks These straightforward, upscale guides are arranged by neighborhood or area, for the ease of planning. They provide information (without a lot of detail) on hotels, restaurants, attractions and shops without much discussion on culture/histroy.	Hedonist Guides View GuideBooks These stylish hardbound books live up to their name. Though there are heaps of guidebooks focusing on the tastes and pleasures of the new upwardly mobile, the Hedonists guides stand out for their ability to combine new venues, whether clubs, restaurants or hotels, and long-time institutions. Plus, breaking away from the pack, they do books on less popular cities like Tallinn, Beirut, Lisbon, Moscow, Marrakesh, Istanbul and Stockholm, as well as Miami, London, Milan, Madrid, Berlin and Prague.
Where Cityguides View GuideBooks These pocket-sized city guides include pop-out city and neighborhood maps. With plenty of color photos, they offer quick blurbs on the essential sights for each destination, as well as listings for shopping, dining and accommodation. The Eat! and Shop! guides concentrate on dining and shopping.	Moleskine City Notebooks View GuideBooks Flipping through the pages of one of these new Moleksine books, you may be tempted to ask “what is it?” Because, after 30 some-odd pages of city and public transportation maps, you arrive at the first of a series of blank pages. Moleskine says it is the first guidebook that you write yourself, and we agree. There are sections for food, drinks, sleeping, places, books, music, events, getting around and more. No more jotting web addresses and recommendations on scraps of paper or bookmarks. And, even if you are still inclined to jot things down on various scraps of paper, this Moleskine series, like all their journals, includes an expandable inner pocket made of cardboard and an elastic closure. Available for Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Dublin, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Prague and Vienna. $16.95 each.
Luxe Guides View GuideBooks Luxe guides are relatively new, pocket-sized accordion style fold out guides that provide the more discerning traveler with an insider's view of a variety of locations, especially in Asia and Australia. Most Luxe guides cover a single city, though there are some regional ones. They are packed with high-end practicalities for accommodation, dining, shopping, nightlife, spas, and not-to-miss sight-seeing.	Time Out Shortlist Guides View GuideBooks They’re small, they’re handy, but they’re not condensed versions of the Time Out Guides. The Time Out Shortlist guides cover major, mostly European cities. As the name implies, the guides are full of paragraph length descriptions. There are some good walking itineraries through different neighborhoods, as well as lists of major sights (which tend towards museums and churches.). The Shortlists excel, however, in their sections on eating, drinking, shopping and sleeping. Their choices are excellent (and usually pricey.) The annual guides also include a calendar of events for the coming year.
Blue Guides View GuideBooks The information in these guides is almost encyclopedic. Detailed information covers history, culture, walks and museums. Also includes background information on food, language, religion, etc. There is very little practical information.	Bradt Guides. View GuideBooks Hilary Bradt, the founder of this imprint, pioneered the publishing of off-the-beaten-track guides. The Guide to Madagascar is classic, as are their backpacking guides to Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru.
Cadogan Guides View GuideBooks Highly detailed and practical guides. The city guides are made up of a series of excellent walks. The country and regional guides are very well-researched, highlighting the main sites in each town and including a number of accommodations and restaurants. Recommended.	Compass American Guides View GuideBooks This series offers guides devoted solely to U.S. cities and states. These books function as combination almanacs and guidebooks, providing detailed histories of the various areas of the city or state as well as brilliant color photographs. Each book spends the majority of pages dealing with historical and social elements of the city or state from region to region before closing with a practical information section that deals with restaurants, hotels and other pertinent travel information
Culture Shock View GuideBooks "A Guide to Customs and Etiquette". Highly readable series giving information for the long term visitor. Culture Shock includes history, geography as well as the expected details about customs, religion, family and traveling.	DK Eyewitness Travel Guides View GuideBooks With descriptive color photos on every page, DK guides are a perfect way to see what you want to see on a trip. They give excellent treatment to architecture and art. A separate section covers practical details: accommodations, food, shopping and entertainment. Highly recommended.
Falcon Guides View GuideBooks Maps, distances, elevation charts, back country regulations; if these are your travel watchwords, then Falcon Guides will seem like old friends. These books specialize in hiking America's National Parks, and they do it damn well. They also publish Driving guides, rock climbing guides and guides to regional hot springs in the U.S.	Fodor's Guides View GuideBooks With over 100 titles covering much of the globe, Fodor's remains one of the largest American guidebook publishers. They offer fairly comprehensive listings concerning what to do, where to stay and where to eat and focus on a higher budget traveler. As far as a source for historical and cultural backgrounds, these books stray from the mark. All in all, Fodor's books offer a practical source for travel with little room for adventure. Also by Fodor's is the Up Close series, for budget and adventurous travelers.
Footprint Handbooks View GuideBooks Highly recommended for the independent traveler with an interest in details of history and culture, as well as practical information. These country guides are as complete as they get: no town or village seems to left out, no matter how dull or obscure it may be. Their South American Handbook has been around for more than 75 years. Besides guides to the Caribbean and Mexico and Central America, Footprint does individual country guides for most South American countries, as well as guides to South Africa, India, South India, Rajasthan, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bilbao, Scotland's Highlands and Diving the World.	Frommer's Guides View GuideBooks Often (and understandably) confused with Fodor's, the other giant American guidebook publisher, Frommer's concentrates its sights on Europe and the U.S., but offers coverage of most of the world. A solid guide when it comes to hotels and restaurants, these books offer less information on sights and history than other guide book series. Frommer's Irreverent Guides are city guides geared to the young and hip.
Get Lost! Cool Guides View GuideBooks If you're an independent minded, leaning-to-the-left sort of traveler, this could be the guidebook for you. Published by an independent, anti-corporate crew, the two books in the series, Amsterdam and San Francisco, offer savvy advice and excellent listings, covering cafes to shopping and everything else. These guidebooks also come equipped with political and social commentaries. Printed on hemp paper, Get Lost Cool Guides allow you to explore and help the environment simultaneously.	Hidden Series View GuideBooks The Hidden series aims to give attention to places off the beaten path. Especially geared for outdoor activities, including lodging and local food finds, the books employ little markers to point out the "hidden" sites in a given region.
Insiders Guides View GuideBooks These guides are not for the rucksack crowd. Concentrating on history, sights and culture rather than basic necessities, these guides are generally filled with numerous photographs and magazine type essays. Excellent reference points for those travelers interested in making a visit into a permanent stay. Insiders' guides now include the series Off the Beaten Path.	Insight Guides View GuideBooks Flipping through an Insight Guide is similar to watching a friend show you slides from his or her last trip. These guides are filled with color photographs depicting every aspect of culture and sightseeing. The books offer little in advice on where to stay or other travel information, but they are wonderful cultural warm-ups.
Karen Brown Guides View GuideBooks These guides deliver detailed information on charming hotels, bed and breakfasts, and small inns throughout Europe. This is all they are intended for, and this they do well.	Knopf Guides View GuideBooks These are gorgeously designed cultural guides. The Knopf Guides focus heavily on art and architecture, providing outstanding photography to fire the imagination. These guides operate well as primers for investigating new cultures, but they are not known for their listings of lodgings and eateries.
Let's Go View GuideBooks This series is designed for travelers who have the desire to travel without the appropriate bulging pocketbook. Written entirely by Harvard students, these books supply the budget options for every aspect of travel. While the listings for places to stay and eat are extensive, they're often not the most interesting or pleasant. Generally, these books are best for first-time adventurers.	Lonely Planet Guides View GuideBooks If you want an adventure that will offer you sights off the beaten path as well as affordable prices, this is the guidebook for you. Lonely Planet is famous for its attention to detail where necessities are concerned. Beyond the practical information, these books don't delve deeply as some other guides, but they seldom leave anything off their lists. They also publish walking guides, phrase books, food guides, and the "Encounter" series, a "best of" type guide that emphasizes eating, drinking, shopping and fun. Lonely Planet is generally considered to be one of the best sources for independent travelers.
Michelin Red and Green Guides View GuideBooks These books are excellent for those more affluent travelers interested in touring Europe. The Red Guides provide excellent references to the hotels and restaurants of Europe while employing their famous symbols of recommendation. The Green Guides offer more extensive information concerning touring, including historical and artistic introductions and comprehensive listings of sights. The guides are cross-referenced in detail to each other and the full range of Michelin maps.	Moon Handbooks View GuideBooks A more detailed historical treatment for the budget traveler. Moon guides present practical information plus good cultural and historical background. Their Cuba Handbook is our largest selling guide to that country.
Rick Steves View GuideBooks Let's begin by addressing how silly this fellow can be. It's true, but silliness is hardly a crime, and he has the goods on where you want to visit throughout Europe. His insights often include little-known hotels and restaurants that deserve the recognition. He's also adept at steering travelers through the sightseeing process in such a way that they see the things they really ought to. Ignore the covers and give these books another look.	Rough Guides View GuideBooks This British company's guides are popular with independent (but not necessarily budget minded) travelers. The Rough Guides include more cultural and historical context than other guides as well as sometimes politically-tinged viewpoints. They offer extensive information concerning lodgings and eateries. Their maps are superb as well. Besides country and city guides, they also offer phrase books and world music CDs.
Sunflower Guides View GuideBooks These handy, compact imported guides offer excellent advice for short car or walking trips to various locales throughout Europe. They come highly recommended by wanderers of all sorts. Regions covered include Tuscany, Sorrento, the Dolomites, the Pyrenees, the south of France, Mallorca, Lanzarote and the Canary Islands.	Time Out Guides View GuideBooks From the editors of the Time Out London and Time Out New York magazines, these excellent, city guides are laid out in a similar fashion to their magazine listings. Their listings for accommodations, restaurants, night life, gay and lesbian sites, museums and galleries favor the trendy, yet are on-the-mark
Zagat Guides View GuideBooks These are easily the most famous and respected dining guidebooks. While supreme in their coverage of mid-range to chic dining, they often neglect many of the more inexpensive and colorful restaurants. Their books cover many major U.S. and European cities as well as Tokyo. With an easy to use design and clearly defined ratings, these guides rarely leave the diner unsatisfied or unprepared.	Wallpaper City Guides View GuideBooks Wallpaper Magazine has researched 40 (soon to be 60) of the world’s great cities, distilled their cool, design-oriented elements and packaged them in small, precise and inexpensive guides. They feature museums or notable buildings that few other guides mention. Unless your stay is brief, they are the sort of guides you would want to bring along with a more comprehensive guide. They tend to surprise you with an occasional dive bar or old restaurant, For the most part, though, you’ll need a fat wallet for the restaurants, accommodations, bars and spas they mention.
MTV Guides View GuideBooks Their “collaged” book covers evoke the cut-paste-and-photocopy ‘zines of the 1980s. But, as the MTV generation ages, so does its taste. Budget accommodations are best left to the Let’s Go guides. These guides run the gamut from sort-of low end to $500 hotel rooms. The sightseeing is good, though not as comprehensive as some of the competition. Still, with sections like “Most Awesome Ancient Ruins,” “Best Party Zone,” and “Best College Towns,” the MTV guides are positioning themselves as the young, hip and possibly trust-funded alternative.	Granta City Guides View GuideBooks These recently published guides offer an insider’s view of Rome, Budapest and Athens for the discerning and literate minded traveler. The main sights and attractions are covered in detail, but these guides also open up another side of the city that one doesn’t always get to experience as a visitor. They are arranged as walking guides, and eloquently take the traveler on nuanced tours of the known and unknown city. The Athens guide features a walk that encompasses an S&M Emporium, a Boxing Hall, the first Dairy café, and a 1930s era arcade. The Rome guide outlines museums best visited at night and where to find the finest cup of coffee. If you are interested in experiencing a classic European city in a different light, this series would make an admirable companion.