I use many tools when researching a travel destination, but it takes a very special guidebook for me to plop down my money and make a purchase.
Over the years, two publishing houses have drawn me back again and again by their titles and expertise: JonGlez and National Geographic.
JonGlez is well known for their beautiful coffee table books, but they also came out with a series of fantastic “secret” guidebooks including Secret Paris; Secret Washington, DC; Secret Montreal, An Unusual Guide; Secret New York, Curios Activities; Secret Edinburgh, An Unusual Guide; and New York, Hidden Bars & Restaurants.
And National Geographic, with its great titles like How to be the World’s Smartest Traveler and Where the Locals Go is always a sure bet as well as their walking and destination guides.
If you’d like to infuse a little wanderlust in your children or grandchildren, National Geographic also features a series of children’s books with titles like National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of the World, Buddy Bison’s Yellowstone Adventure, and Rain Forest Colors.
You can order online or check out your local book store in their travel section; that’s the section I always go to first and then I peruse the books-on-CD for my next road trip.
Sometimes it’s like reading a book or magazine versus getting the same information on your Kindle or NOOK. A good guidebook is sometimes better than reading information online, and many times guidebooks offer information that can’t be found anywhere else!
Photos courtesy JonGlez Publishing and National Geographic Publishing
