A good travel guide can be an utter vacation-saver when you’re exploring an unfamiliar place with a limited timetable. First-time visitors to London haven’t finished packing until they’ve shoved one or two good travel guides in their backpacks. But with so many choices, picking the right book can actually become one of the most frustrating parts of planning your trip: some guides are redundant, some compliment one another, some are comprehensive, others are superficial.
Let’s Go London City Guide, Rick Steves’Great Britain, and Andrew Duncan’s Walking London are three very different books that serve distinct purposes. And while they certainly aren’t the only London guides worth checking out, there’s a 99% chance that at least one of them will fit your individual needs.
Let’s Go is arguably the hottest travel writing firm in the world right now. They pride themselves on putting out guides that are hip, thrifty, and-with a new version published every year-timely and accurate. Their London City Guide is no exception. Within the 350+ pages of the book, you’ll find heaps of detailed advice on dining, drinking, nightlife, museums and galleries, shopping, transportation, and accommodations (including hostels, hotels, bed & breakfasts, and even residence halls.) All of this information is conveniently arranged by neighborhood. Within the pages of a Let’s Go guide you’ll also find maps, maps, maps and more maps. London’s sprawling, random, old-meets-new street layouts can make it tough to navigate, but you’ll have no trouble if you’re carrying the Let’s Go guide: the first 8 and last 31 pages are completely dedicated to maps.
On the downside, Let’s Go has quite a bit of advertising on its pages, some of which can be obtrusive at times. And more significantly, Let’s Go lacks personality. It’s packed with practical information like addresses, prices, and schedules, but it lacks that human touch that can be so comforting to a traveler in an unfamiliar place.
That’s where Rick Steves comes in. Personal travel stories, frank opinions, and historical tidbits make Rick Steves’ Great Britain a perfect companion to (or replacement for) the Let’s Go guide. With a section headed “Disappointments of London”, you know this guy isn’t pulling any punches.
But the thing that makes Steves really stand out from other travel writers is his drawings. The man insists that his readers get a visual representation of everything he writes about. His guide is filled with easy-to-follow hand-drawn maps of everything from whole regions, cities, and neighborhoods, right on down to floorplans of galleries, castles, and museums.
And-as you’ve likely guessed from the title-Rick Steves’ Great Britain doesn’t deal exclusively with London. The book covers all of the best that England, Wales and Scotland have to offer. This makes it perfect for travelers who plan to spend time outside of London for a portion of their trip. Steves also publishes a London-specific city guide, but with 80+ pages of the Great Britain book dedicated solely to London, why bother?
My only issue with Steves’ writing is that while he certainly doesn’t advocate throwing money away, he may not be quite budget-oriented enough for some travelers (such as those on a student’s budget.) For example, his accommodation recommendations deal almost exclusively with hotels, giving hostels only a passing mention. And while the people at Let’s Go seem to understand that you’re willing to walk eight miles for a cheap drink, Steves’ readers have to resign themselves to the idea that they’re going to be paying 10 bucks for a beer.
Last, but in no way least, I strongly recommend checking out Walking London by Andrew Duncan. It’s a very unique book: not an all-encompassing city guide, but a step-by-step manual for 30 do-it-yourself walking tours through the city’s most notable neighborhoods. Even if you don’t do a single one of the tours in its entirety, keeping a copy of Walking London in your day bag ensures that you won’t miss any important landmarks, good food, or photo opportunities as you’re walking from place to place.
While I wouldn’t recommend using Walking London as your only travel guide, it makes an awesome companion for any of the more comprehensive city or country guides. If you do decide to pick it up, I advocate “Westminster and St. James” and “Bankside and Southwark” as two can’t-miss walks.
Whichever books you decide to go with, there’s one important secret to using them properly: study them before you go. There’s no better way to ruin a vacation than spending the entire time with your face buried in a travel guide.
