I don't travel enough to have set habits, but what little experience I have tends to agree. You could crowdsource a guidebook, and if I want a brief summary or something really specific I'll often look online, but if I want a general summary of the area with sections for all the things I commonly need to know but might not have thought to look for, having someone specifically assembling it seems to produce a better result. Plus, as you say, being able to read it offline.
I'm very much a guide book person as well (I have two entire shelves of my bookcase dedicated to maps and guidebooks!). I do sometimes use my kindle for storing other guides, but battery fail happens at some frustrating times, so I don't think I've travelled abroad without one in the last 10-15 years or so.
Yes, guidebooks are great. When M and I first got together, we had a bit of a guidebook holywar, because he preferred rough guides, and I preferred lonely planet. I have since been won over though!
I think it depends on the sort of holidays you take though. In the pre-internet days it was pretty hard to find hotel contact details without a guidebook or a travel agent, and all that has changed now.
I love guidebooks; they give you a much better overall picture of a place than you can get from websites. I actually read them recreationally, for places I have no real intention of visiting.
Lonely Planet is not really a favourite of mine but this is ominous news for the industry. I prefer Rough Guides and Bradt.
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I think it depends on the sort of holidays you take though. In the pre-internet days it was pretty hard to find hotel contact details without a guidebook or a travel agent, and all that has changed now.
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Lonely Planet is not really a favourite of mine but this is ominous news for the industry. I prefer Rough Guides and Bradt.
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