Everyone has their own method of trip planning. If you’re my mom, you start eight months in advance, starting with the Internet, then advancing to the aisles at Barnes and Noble, selectively gathering phrase books and travel guides. If you’re my friend Neil, you just show up somewhere, say, Czechoslovakia, and hope for the best. And if you’re me, you fall somewhere in the middle. You buy the travel guide and the phrase book, but you wait until you’re hovering over the middle of the Atlantic to crack the spine. Which is why, the best guides, in my… uh, book, are the ones that give you all the crucial stuff before the evening meal service. Here are some of my favorites:

Let’s Go is tailored for the not-so-big budget. Some of the hostels I stayed in didn’t make their radar, but the cheap eats they recommended were some of the best eatin’ I had in Italy. And when I found myself in wandering around Milan, craving something more familiar, I just followed the map right to the American Bookstore. Do be mindful of the little numbers next to restaurant blurbs - it’s easy to get caught up in the drool-worthy food descriptions and forget all about your budget.

It’s because of my mother’s diligent trip planning that I got turned on to MapEasy. Leave your guidebook in the hostel and take one of these maps along and you’ll miss nothing. From shopping to food to historic sites, it’s all mapped out. The sites are user-submitted (MapEasy does not take money to advertise restaurants or shops), so you’re not going to be disappointed when the hype does not match the reality. From refreshing out of the way vegetarian cafes in Barcelona to the must-have dining experience in Florence, these maps almost always led to treasure.

Anyone have a travel guide they swear by? I’d love to hear about it.

Thursday, March 6, 2008 | advice, travel tips