Top 10 Reasons to Use a Travel Guide or How to Love a Book and Not an APP

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10 Reasons to use a Travel Guide(1)

Reasons to Use a Travel Guide

The good thing about going to a brand new city is that is has so many new discoveries just waiting for you to see them.  Maybe it will be a historical attraction (like Versailles in France) or an outstanding cathedral like Notre Dame in Paris or Old Montreal or Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.  Whatever treasure the city holds for you, you just want to see it.  Right.Now. Right.Away. To be honest with you, it is best to do a bit of research when you are travelling and a good reason to use a travel guide to plan. 

You can do this type of research for just about any city in the world.  If you go to Instagram and then use the hashtag of the city, #Barcelona for example, you will see some beautiful images from travellers from all over the world.  The good thing is that with the geo-location features part of most apps and platforms, most people will tag the actual location of where the picture was taken.  This facilitates looking up the city or attraction in your trusty guide book.  You may think that the era of paper books is over and only an app will do but I will disagree if only by pointing out that guide books don’t need Wi-Fi or batteries.

Here are my Top Ten reasons to use a travel guide instead of an app:

Basic Travel Information

  1. Basic travel information.  A travel guide will let you know what the currency, language and which customs are important to take note of. It will also give you tips on airlines that fly to that particular destination and which airport is located where when numerous airports service one city (i.e. New York City).  A guide can provide various options for getting to the city centre from the airport via bus, train, taxi or rental car.    Most tour guides will tell you how to purchase a public transit ticket, what time the transit runs.  They could also have a few quirky details like something as simple as how to order a cup of coffee with a simple phrase guide.
    How to order a Coffee in Spain @DownshiftingPRO

    Yes, you can find out many things on-line but sometimes, you just need to have those answers right on hand when you are standing at the bus station trying to figure out how much to tip the porter!
Reasons to Use a Travel Guide = DK Witness travel guides

No WIFI or batteries needed

2. No WIFI or batteries needed. Although apps are easy to carry and don’t weigh as much as books, you will always need a smartphone, tablet or laptop to access the information you are seeking.  Even if you do have these electronics, you will likely be searching for WIFI or a local SIM card wherever you go.  I found in that both Barcelona and Paris, WIFI is readily available but there were times when we were on a city street desperately looking for free WIFI.

Reasons to Use a Travel Guide = Official travel guide from Barcelona Tourism

Maps are awesome

3. Maps are awesome.  I know that you can get a GPS Google map to take you just about anywhere you need to go but there again you need data or WIFI to access it.  Other good reasons to use a travel guide with a map is being able to have a quick overview without distractions. Having a small MapGuide (like the one pictured below from Barcelona Tourism) is a godsend.  It has 24 maps that you can pull out with all the relevant information for ‘must-see’ attractions, including metro stops, cafe, bars and restaurant suggestions in the vicinity.  It’s a win/win situation if the Tourism Board puts out the guide because you know you have an up-to-date and reliable guide.

Because maps are very helpful no matter what WIFI is available Reasons to Use a Travel Guide = DK Witness travel guides

Accurate Images

4. Accurate images or pictures.  Another good reason to use a travel guide is that I am a visual learner so having a picture of what the museum front looks like or what the plaza looks like is always helpful.  There is no doubt that DK Eyewitness Travel guides excel at this.  The Barcelona and Catalonia Guide has 415 photographs, 15  illustrations and a pull-out map. The photography is always clear and concise and you have an idea what to look for, be it a masterpiece in a museum or the altar of a cathedral.  In the Sweden Tour Guide, you can see area by area.  I love the spectacular landscape photography in these books.  Even some of the smaller guides have great photographs.  If you want to have something a bit more manageable, you will have a similar experience with the Rough Guides Pocket Guide

Reasons to Use a Travel Guide = DK Witness travel guides

Size Matters

5. Size matters. Sometimes you just need a small guide and pocket guides are very good to carry once you’ve done your initial search.  Pocket guides tend to have themes like Top 10 (attraction, museum, restaurant, bars or children’s activity etc.).  In Top 10 Stockholm you can read about the Top 10  Design and Fashion Shops.  If you read the Festival and Event section, you will be able to read about special events that are held in the summer, winter, spring or fall that helps you with your travel planning.  If you are in love with churches and cathedrals you will welcome a short-list of which ones to see.  Another good reason to use a travel guide is the fact that every DK Eyewitness Travel pocket guide also has a pull-out map for you to use and take out discreetly.  No need to scream “I’m a tourist…”

Reasons to Use a Travel Guide = Pocket Rough Guides

Dig Deeper into the history and culture

6. Dig Deeper into the history and culture of your destination. Larger travel guide let the reader get a little deeper into the history and culture, must-see cities and a longer list of hotels, restaurants, bars and attractions.  For example, you may want to get the background on why a particular monument or statue is important.  Finding out where the washroom is when you are at a playground with your kids, may come in handy. 

When I lived in France in the 1980s, my brother was pretty adamant about having Michelin Guides. First and foremost these guides were written by a French national for travel within France.  There are guides for each of the regions in France along with City Guides and the world-famous red Michelin Restaurant Guides.   Although most North Americans are familiar with the idea of a Michelin star as an elite standard for restaurateurs, some don’t know that these guides are the gold standard for haute cuisine.  A restaurant’s reputation (and ultimate success) can be attributed to gaining or losing a star.  The Michelin Tourist Green Guide, however, is more focused on history, art, architecture, relevant information for those that want to dig deeper. 


Above is a dog-eared copy of a Michelin Guide of Flanders, Picardy and the Paris Region.  I just wanted to give you an idea of what they look like and how well used my copy was.  One of my favourite features is the detailed illustrations of the museum and church layouts.  The Micheline guides focus on historic and cultural attractions, for this reason, they tend to be ageless.  After all, a cathedral that has been around since Charlemagne is not about to get a modern ‘makeover’.

Give me a simple plan

7. Give me a plan. A simple plan. Many guide books provide itineraries to follow.  Though the independent, free-spirited traveller may scoff at such a suggestion, when you are in a very big city like London, Paris or Rome, you may find it necessary to have a plan. A solid I-know-where-I-am-going-for-the-next-three-days sort of plan.  A pre-determined itinerary found in a travel guide is just the answer. 

Twelve years ago, we took the girls to Disney World.  Although I had been years ago, I knew that this was a completely different park.  I bought The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World to help me navigate all those parks.  That was a great idea because there were 1, 3, 5 and 7-day park tours that you could follow.  It was so helpful because it told you where you should pick up a fast pass (to cut the wait time and get a specific time to ride the attraction) but while you were waiting, it guided you to another ride that was close by.  It was brilliant and helped us see most of the parks in just a few days. 

Tour plans can help you save time by alleviating the possibility of getting lost.  Yes, I know getting lost is half the fun but trust me when you get older and you are not in great health or you are travelling with young children… wandering around aimlessly in the heat with a toddler is no fun at all.

Insider information

8. Insider information.  Many guide books are in fact written by seasoned travel writers, bloggers and reviewers.  Many of these contributors are veterans of travel adventures.  Some are local, others come as tourist (and therefore have a keen eye for the interesting).  The big difference between reading a travel or tour guide and reading on-line reviews is that the chance of the writer actually going to the destination may be greater. 

Get insider tips when you read a travel guide

Unfortunately, there are often reviews on websites that are not accurate or true.  The writer may not have visited the location or hotel.  I am a frequent contributor to Trip Advisor and I give my honest opinion of the property or attraction that I visited.  I know not all reviews are legitimate but if you read enough of them, you will know which ones are fake. And fake news is one more reasons to use a travel guide to do your research on a location. They have to have fact-checkers!

To each his own

9. A flavour for everyone. Guide books come in every size and shape as well as every possible suggestion for travel.  You can find guide books on how to tour Disney in three days, snorkel the great barrier reef, lists of the best flea markets in Paris and the best river cruises in Europe. 

Guide books are written for solo travel, LGBTQ, couple, family, budget and luxury travel.  There are foodie travel guides and guides that will help you find the best deal.  Guides can help you find the perfect hiking trail and where to park your RV in any number of national parks. 

You can find a guide that will help you spend $50 a day or blow the bank account on a luxury river cruise in Europe.  There are travel guides for every type of travel, budget, and niche.  There may not be an app for all of those particular choices.

Reasons to Use a Travel Guide

It’s a good read

10. It’s a good read.plain.and.simple.  There is nothing wrong with sitting on the sofa, having a sandwich and a cup of tea and reading a guide book.  I plan on doing just that as I prepare to go back to Northern Europe this summer.  I am hoping to get to Stockholm for TBEX Europe and maybe… just maybe take a European River Cruise in Germany. 

The alternative is going from Sweden to Russia to go to St. Petersburg to visit the iconic Hermitage Museum.  This is a very big bucket list item for me.  I would love to see the most prestigious museum in the world but first of all, I have to do some research.  I’m not sure how to get from Stockholm to St. Petersburg or how to fly home from there.  I don’t know where to stay or what I should be eating when I am in Sweden but these are all things, I am willing to learn by reading… a lot. 

There are many reasons to use a travel guide when planning a trip, not the least of which if finding new places to visit. With so many choices I wonder how I’m going to choose… let me see, there must be an app for that, right?

Read about museums, galleries, historical information in a travel guide Reasons to Use a Travel Guide

Disclosure:  I have received some of these travel guides, maps and tour books from various sponsors through 2015 and 2016.  I would like to thank DK Canada, Rough Guides, Barcelona Tourism (in conjunction with TBEX) and The European Tourism Expo for helping me find my way.  All opinions are that of @DownshiftingPRO

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Margarita Ibbott is a travel and lifestyle blogger. She blogs about travel in Canada, the United States and Europe giving practical advice through restaurant, hotel and attraction reviews. She writes for DownshiftingPRO.com and other online media outlets.

3 thoughts on “Top 10 Reasons to Use a Travel Guide or How to Love a Book and Not an APP”

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  2. I love reading through travel books when I plan a trip. I like to make notes, highight sections and check out the maps. I find it so much easier to do all this in a book rather then online.

  3. Excellent! I agree. I don’t always want an app. But sometimes I do. I might download an app for a bit and then remove it when done the trip. There’s no shortage of info out there for sure. DK has some fantastic guide books and children’s books too. I enjoy their new books a lot.

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