Added: 11/06/2005 |
Five best guidebooksFive best guidebooks
1. Z-Guides
Sometimes the size of the best guidebooks really does matter, as proved by the dinky little Z-Guide series. About the size of two credit cards stacked on top of each other, these ingenious guides unfold to 24 times their size, revealing an easy-to-read map, the reverse of which is crammed with useful informationand guidebook corrections. A number of subsections offer practical advice about transport, a list of the major sights, cafés, restaurants and bars, all of which are numbered and marked on the map. Other elements include a handy column offering suggestions for a "Perfect Day" and a small box dedicated to something particular to the city, such as a walking-tour through Georgian Dublin. The guides are very useful for a weekend break and now cover more than 70 destinations, stretching across Europe, North America, the Far East and Australia, with new titles such as Tokyo, Lisbon and Vienna in the pipeline.
2. HIP Hotels
What hotel aficionado, aspiring or otherwise, doesn't have at least one copy of Herbert Ypma's much-emulated HIP Hotels on their bookshelf? Of course, HIP doesn't just stand for trendy but for Highly Individual Place. Suitably fabulous hotels from Italian palazzos to thatched Balinese idylls, cherry-picked from across the world by globetrotting Ypma, feature in the best guidebooks with drool-inducing photographs. There's no denying that Ypma has hit on a publishing phenomenon - there are currently nine HIP Hotels best guidebooks in the series, published on themes including "Escape", "Ski", "France", "Italy" and "Orient". Fans don't have to wait long for the next instalment, the gargantuan 528-page HIP Hotels Atlas, containing more than 80 choices, some new and some old favourites picked from previous publications.
3. Nota Bene
If your choice of hotel depends on which one offers the highest thread-count in its Egyptian-cotton sheets, Nota Bene is for you. These best guidebooks for the discerning traveller are subscriber only and published 10 times a year with regular updates on its members' website. There is also a section dedicated to news and short comment-style pieces addressing issues that evidently preoccupy the minds of stylish travellers the world over, such as the demise of the design hotel. Nota Bene prides itself on its impartiality, gives frank appraisals and is thorough - all the stays are paid for, which presumably goes some way to justifying the £235 subscription fee. A large chunk of the editorial space is dedicated to dissecting what's on offer at the various hotels, bars and restaurants. The tone is unashamedly condescending, some might say it could just be taking itself a little too seriously. There are more than 30 guides to a clutch of suitably fashionable destinations including Rome, the Aeolian Islands, Marrakech and the Côte d'Azur, with the likes of Shanghai, the Napa Valley and an issue dedicated to safaris out soon.
4. Osterie d'Italia
Carlo Petrini's Slow Food movement, founded in 1986 to promote the idea of savouring food, drink and diversity, has gone from strength to strength in recent years. While the movement itself has more than 83,000 members worldwide, it has also spawned a number of useful publications including this weighty tome. Now in its 16th year, no self-respecting foodie should be without a copy of Osterie d'Italia on a visit to Italy. Forget that it's all in Italian - you need the addresses and phone numbers. Guides are updated annually and the 2006 edition, due out later this year, will contain more than 1,700 restaurant recommendations across Italy. The restaurants in the guide are not necessarily the most expensive joints in town (one of the criteria is that the menu costs no more than ^35 - about £25 -per head), just good examples of the local cuisine. Some restaurants are tucked down alleyways in unlikely areas, but stick with it - recommendations rarely disappoint. Each region of Italy is given a chapter with maps at the beginning pinpointing the towns and villages containing "Slow Food" restaurants. Entries that have noteworthy local food, wine and cheese are denoted with an extra snail, bottle or a round of cheese respectively.
5. Luxe
Luxe is a Hong Kong-based publisher offering a refreshing tongue-in-cheek approach to guidebook writing. You will find the tone either fabulously witty or fantastically irritating depending on your point of view. There is no denying its series of guides' usefulness however, offering some of the most up-to-date recommendations in many major Asian and Australian destinations. These small concertina-style guidebook collections are very useful if you have limited time. A whistlestop visit to Bangkok was greatly enhanced by one of its tips to get a riverside restaurant to pick me up for dinner by boat. The guides offer a short and sweet list of three or four places to stay for varying budgets, restaurants, bars, clubs, sightseeing highlights and half-day shopping itineraries, as well as plenty of hidden places. There are many amusing asides, and useful local knowledge, such as not needing to tip taxi drivers in Shanghai, as well as practical information, such as where to find the local tourist office. All the information is gathered by a panel of 20 local residents, so you feel as though you are getting privileged information. Recent guides include Melbourne, Beijing, Chiang Mai and Phuket. This month sees the addition of Seoul and Dubai as well as updates for the current titles: Bali, Bangkok, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sydney and Tokyo.
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