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Choosing Guidebooks

Consider buying more than one guide.  They will usually offer different angles, and probably mention different places.

Consider supplementing a general travel guide with a specific guide such as one which focuses on accommodations, eating out, a type of traveler such as gays, pet owners or families, or an activity like hiking.

If you are concerned about having to carry all this reference material, consider tearing out the relevant pages (ouch!) or photocopying them.

If there is nothing else between a selection (as is often the case with guidebooks on North America), choose the one with the most recent publication date, or one that has had numerous editions.

Read the editorial and customer reviews as available on Amazon.com by clicking a title in the Go Northwest! bookstore.

Travel guides are often published as part of a series, such as Frommers, Fodors, Lonely Planet etc.  Knowing something about the reputation of the series/publisher might help.   Some series focus more on budget travelers, some focus on cultural aspects, some focus on main attractions, some focus on places "off the beaten path".  Some are more useful for first-time visitors, some contain information even residents would find useful.  Some are stronger on a particular region, for example "Best Places" guides published by Sasquatch, focus on the Pacific Northwest of America (as you might expect with a name like Sasquatch!).   Publications by Mountaineers Books are also a good source for local information.  Double Eagle Guides focus on the Western U.S.  Umbrella Guides focus on the Pacific Northwest.  City-Smart Guides.  Here are some online sources:

Travel Guide Series and Handbooks - Evaluated Bibliography by Susan Goodwin, Librarian at the Kingwood College in Texas, is an excellent source with brief descriptions of over 50 travel guide series.

The Guide to Guides
Evaluative descriptions of over 25 guide series on the Travel Bug web site.

Travel Book Types and Publishers
Describes about ten guide series in more detail.  On the Map Town web site, a retailer of maps and guides.

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