The Best Guidebooks

Plenty can be learned of a country or city from a reliable guidebook. That is what makes it essential to every traveller. The intelligent backpacker will appreciate the value of the information that these contain and use them wisely.

One of the most popular guidebooks circulating throughout the backpacking population is that of the Lonely Planet, after the Discovery Channel series of the same name. This series of 140 volumes are written in an easy-to-read fashion packed with maps and recommendations. There have been nothing but good things to be said about this series.

There are guidebooks specifically written with the average backpacker in mind. One is The Backpacker’s Ultimate Guidebook (BUG) series, commonly known as the BUG Guides, which are thinner than most guidebooks, making it one of the prime choices for carrying around. The BUG Guides are also reader-friendly, containing descriptions and ratings for hostels to stay in.

Another popular read is the Let’s Go series. As the title suggests, the series is written in a very casual manner, and is quite well-liked within the student backpacker community. The series of twenty books is written by Harvard students on their summer tours and is updated annually.

Though well-written, a guidebook is called such because it is merely a guide. The places you will be visiting may have changed since its last publication. Your trip is still in your hands. For all you know, you might discover something that is not written in any of the guidebooks for yourself.