During my travels, where word of mouth and recommendations had not reached me, I relied on Lonely Planet guidebooks. While I would highly recommend the Malaysian and Thailand guides - I felt the Australian book was often inaccurate in its descriptions, and sparse on information for certain areas.
Does anyone feel that the Rough Guide or Footprint books are better than those produced by Lonely Planet? Has anyone a guidebook on a country/area that they felt was invaluable to them whilst travelling?
Reply to this Always a tough one -I find a guide book pretty much an essential though I try not to rely on it.
My personal preference is for the LonelyPlanet - mainly because I find the maps easy to follow. Last year though our Bulgaria LP guide book was not so accurate, a hotel that was "suggested" in Sofia was more or less a brothel, beds so uncomfortable I slept on the floor, the Rough Guide was much better.
I've only had experience with one non RoughGuide/LP guide book and that was Lets Go Mexico - the maps were terrible and the emphasis was not on budget which was a priority for me at that time... luckly I had the LP and my travelling friend had the Lets Go.
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