Redbery Books

This off-season we took the opportunity for a real vacation. Opportunity because we just haven’t taken time the last few years to do so. When sick with pneumonia last summer I knew it was a wake-up call to take better care of myself and to get a little more balance. So with frequent flyer miles,10 days and 8 books we headed out of the country.  Eight books, really? Well, that was the compromise to myself, 2 for pleasure for each of us and 4 as part of our guidebook research. Over the years we have developed a pattern for travel guides we look to but it was a habit rather than a choice. We knew some of those guides didn’t always correlate with our travel needs. Those four star hotels sounded great until you looked at the number of dollar signs.

For this trip we took Lonely Planet, Rick Steves, Fodors and DK Eyewitness Travel.  Each day’s itinerary was checked out casually in each guide. Blame it on jet lag but we forgot to unpack the Fodor’s the first half of the trip. Also, I can’t speak to the accommodation recommendations as were fortunate to have use of a house through acquaintances and connections. Our informal analysis came up with these thoughts:

We loved Rick Steve’s walking tours and his recommendations were spot-on for dining (or fooding and drinking). It was a nice blend of special occasion places as well as some mixing with the locals. We had the feeling Rick had traveled these streets. His maps leave something to be desired but if you want to get into the culture and local flavor, this is a consistent favorite.

Lonely Planet has a great writing style, sense of humor, and the ability to show us with words rather than telling.  Instead of telling us traffic was going to be constant rush hour, he put it this way: “People who do wrong in life are made to drive to St. Tropez when they die.”

The DK Eyewitness Travel series is a handy size for travel but could be a mini coffee table book with its full color layout. Sidebars, historical commentary, and photographs make this an engaging format. It’s straightforward which would make it perfect for an armchair traveler as well.

All four of these guide suggestions are down-to-earth, sensible, middle of the road travel. Of course, we realize that not everyone has the same travel needs and we can point you to other travel guides, based on your expectations.  Many publishers have jumped in the travel guide market, each with a bit different slant.  We’d love to hear about your favorites.

When you are ready to plan your trip we can offer 48-hour service on your order. A store our size doesn’t stock specific destination travel guides.  But we do carry a nice selection of travel books that will inspire you, offer insight into novel destinations, and suggest 500 places to travel to whatever your passion is.