Most travel books offer general information such as recommended lodging, restaurants and places of interest for a particular destination. But each series has its own particular strengths.

Baedeker’s and the Blue Guides offer significantly different information than the general travel guides and are geared to the serious traveler. While not good for locating food and lodging, they offer a wealth of information on art, architecture and history. The Blue Guides are especially detailed.

Fodor’s Travel Guides offer listings of accommo-dations, restaurants and places of interest as well as some history of a particular area. They tend toward the upscale.

Frommer’s Travel Guides offer more background information about a location than Fodors. They also suggest tours geared to the length of your stay at a destination.

Insight (Discovery Channel), Compass American, DK Eyewitness, and Knopf: These series are heavily illustrated with photographs of sights and culture.

Karen Brown’s Charming Inns and Itineraries include listings of non-chain hotels and bed & breakfasts, mostly in Europe. For United States coverage, try the Recommended Country Inns series.

Let’s Go: Written by college students for college students, these are the best source for hostel information and cheap eats.

Lonely Planet: This series offers a nice mix of inexpensive and more upscale accommodations and eateries. These guides offer alternative information not found in the general travel books such as listings for campgrounds, gay/lesbian-friendly hotels and vegetarian restaurants. They also include information on uncommon destinations, provinces and regions not covered by other guides. Also a good bet for college students.

Mobil Travel Guides and Fodor’s Road Guides offer comparable information, with brief lists of hotels, restaurants and places of interest in American cities. They are published by region and also include many small towns not covered by other guides. Although Mobil has the name recognition, the Fodor’s Road series offers more information.

If you’re looking for…

Art, architecture and history of a place
• Baedeker’s
• Blue Guides

Bed & Breakfasts and Inns
• Karen Brown’s Charming Inns Guides
• Recommended Country Inns

Budget travel destinations
• Let’s Go
• Lonely Planet

General travel information
• Fodor’s
• Frommer’s
• Lonely Planet

Hostel information
• Let’s Go
• Lonely Planet

Information about a region, province or county
• Lonely Planet

Pictures showing life and culture in a foreign country
• Compass American
• DK Eyewitness
• Insight (Discovery Channel)
• Knopf

Regional travel in the United States
• Fodor’s Road Guides
• Mobil Travel Guides

Shopping locations
• Born to Shop series

Small towns travel information
• Lonely Planet for International
• Mobil Travel Guides for the US

Prepared by Martha Krause and Amy Johnson Balicki, September 2002