Guide Book Love

I have always believed that planning for a trip is half the fun. Besides scouring blogs, Pinterest, and countless websites to find tips and things to do, I love a good guide book to help me plan my trips. There is just something refreshing about a book in hand with maps, pictures, and lists of the best of everything waiting to be marked up with notes.

Needing a guide book also means a trip to my favorite store, Barnes and Noble. So I was more than happy to check out their guide book selection the other day after school as I prepare for my upcoming summer trip. I could do some serious damage there but I managed to restrain myself this time around. On the list were books on Finland and Amsterdam.

After making a beeline to the guide book section I was bummed to discover one measly book on Finland. Sure there were a couple of books on Scandinavia, but their section on Finland was minimal. I guess Finland doesn’t draw tourists quite like Sweden or Denmark which had several books to chose from. Since there was exactly one copy of one book on Finland (Travel Guide), and it looked like it would be pretty good, I snatched it up and then made my way to the bounty of books on Amsterdam.

The choices for Amsterdam were quite impressive. There were walking guides, city guides, heavily picture books, top 10 books, you name it they had it. I found a couple that looked like they would be the best fit for my; do-it-yourself on the cheap style of travel and then tried to pry myself away. They had my go-to Rick Steves Pocket Amsterdam. Can you be without Rick on a trip? I think not. And then I was suckered into getting the National Geographic Walking Amsterdam: The Best of the City. What can I say, I love a travel book with a lot of pictures 🙂

Armed and ready for reading I slowly extracted myself out of the books and into line to pay. Now for the best part, reading and planning. By the time my trip comes up (in a little over a month, eek!) I will know all the must sees, dos, and hidden gems of each city.

What are some of your favorite guide books?

Katy