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Travel guidebooks: Choosing the one that's just right
My Cuba travel companions and I accomplished the ultimate travel guidebook experiment during the first week of our travels. We each decided to bring a different Cuba guide with us to test which guidebook reigned supreme (kind of like the Iron Chef: Cuba). I was never a good science student, so I apologize for the rudimentary experiment form that follows...Objective:
To identify the guidebook that provides the most comprehensive and useful information for travelers to Cuba.
Participants and their respective materials (guidebooks):
Lora - Lonely Planet Cuba by Brendan Sainsbury
Frank - Frommer's Guide to Cuba by Susan Boobbyer
Peter - The Rough Guide to Cuba by Matthew Norman & Fiona McAuslan
Brenda - Moon Handbook Cuba by Christopher P. Baker
Procedure:2. Identify travel guidebook components and assessment criteria.
3. Use assessment criteria to rank the usefulness and/or accuracy of the guidebook components.
Before the trip, most participants' top guidebook choice was Lonely Planet. Personally, I permanently dissed Lonely Planet when I was writing for Viva Travel Guides in Colombia last year and found out that LP's Colombia guidebook writer, Thomas Kohnstamm, researched his book (with LP's consent) from the States. Despite these sentiments, I suspected we would likely discover that, while LP's information would be quite useful, it would also be the most used guidebook in Cuba, thereby making it an overexposed travel resource.
AssessmentWhat follows is our assessment of the important guidebook components.
- Author: There's really no doubt about the most experienced Cuba author in the bunch. Moon's Christopher P. Baker has been traveling to Cuba for nearly 20 years -- once by motorcycle. And he's met Fidel Castro. (Read my "Talking Travel" post with him HERE).
- Country overview and history: Lonely Planet always does a fantastic job with the informational section to country guides, and this one is full of well-written, helpful history and facts.
- Suggested itineraries: LP's Brendan Sainsbury also puts together some really original trip ideas like "Roads less traveled" and "Bird-watchers dream." However, the one problem with these is their length. Sainsbury has several trips of up to two months, but tourist visas expire after 30 days.
- Maps: Lonely Planet, hands down. Their maps are not only accurate but extremely handy.
- Accurate information: Moon Handbooks is chock full of accurate and insightful info. Spot-on addresses, up-to-date phone numbers, and exact hours of operation are all there.
- Size: Frommer's Cuba is the lightest and most travel friendly. It's not realistic to carry around a hunking travel guide like the Rough Guide to Cuba or Moon Cuba.
- Cuba-specific issues we encountered: The casas particulares information in all of the books just aren't useful -- the reason being that casas, with their two-guestroom per night limit, can easily become full.
- Online tools and information: Moon Cuba has the richest online resource, with information drawn from Baker's guidebook as well as a cool blog updated by Baker himself. Be aware, however, that Internet is expensive in Cuba (US$8 per hour). Do your research ahead of time, and leave your time there for travel.
ConclusionBased on Christopher P. Baker's wealth of experience in Cuba, Moon is a sure thing. Sainsbury's Lonely Planet Cuba is also a rich and trusty companion. Frommer's Cuba, though the most recently updated (in January 2009), provided the most basic travel and destination info. We didn't use the Rough Guide to Cuba at all; it was unjustifiably heavy and difficult to follow.
I think it's worth mentioning that too many people carry the Lonely Planet guidebook around -- not just in Cuba but around the world. In Cuba, it's the only one I saw in at least five different languages (the content is the same). While useful, Lonely Planet is suffering from a unfortunate hipster effect: the same restaurants, hotels, and sights are becoming overrun by "budget backpackers," and travelers are relying too heavily on LP-specific travel tips and suggestions.
Cuba is a really easy place to travel without a guidebook, but few tourists are willing to trust themselves and explore the place emptyhanded.
Please keep in mind that this experiment was based purely on our experience using Cuba guidebooks in Cuba and that our collective experience using these guidebooks should be taken as lightly or seriously as you deem worthy.
Filed under: History, Learning, Gear, North America, Cuba, United States, Books, Caribbean
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
David Stanley Apr 25th 2009 8:51PM
It's worth noting that Christopher P. Baker is currently the only Cuba guidebook author with a actual stake in his book as he owns the copyright and earns royalties on actual sales. The Lonely Planet, Frommer's, and Rough Guide authors are mere writers for hire who are paid a flat fee by publishers who own all rights. Chris has the security of knowing he'll be doing subsequent editions while the Lonely Planet, Frommer's, and Rough Guide updaters can be let go at any time. In fact, Lonely Planet has a policy of regularly moving their updaters around to different areas so they don't become too attached to "their" books. It does make a difference as Chris has a personal incentive to care whereas the others are done and gone once the final installment of their fees is paid. I know because I researched and wrote the first two editions of Lonely Planet Cuba.
Willy Apr 26th 2009 8:51AM
"Regarding Kohnstamm's claim to have written for the Colombia guide without having revisited the country, Lonely Planet clarified that he had only been commissioned to write the history chapter for that book, stating "when he was commissioned it was understood that he wouldn't be going to the destination" something Kohnstamm confirmed and "stressed" in later interviews."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kohnstamm
I don't think someone needs to RE-visit a country to brush up the history chapter. Further, it's ridiculous of you to slam all LP books based on one (supposed) rotten apple. That's like someone refusing to read Gadling, because of one blogger's poor post.
This is a really great compare-and-contrast, though.
Robert Reid Apr 26th 2009 10:09AM
For what it's worth, I just updated Thomas Kohnstamm's History chapter for the upcoming edition of LP's History chapter of the Colombia guide and I found no errors in it whatsoever. That said, I did make many changes/additions -- as I tend to do with all LP guidebook jobs, I put my own voice on it.
By the way, I did go to Colombia. I also updated Bogota.
Leif Pettersen May 1st 2009 3:02PM
Brenda, please do yourself and your readers a favor and read more than one source when you research an article. That you're slamming TK's research - which was, by all accounts, sound - with such strong yet feebly researched opinions is thick with obnoxious irony.
Katy B. May 4th 2009 3:14PM
I work for Rough Guides (and for DK Eyewitness Travel) and so am always interested in criticism and praise of the series, and try to take the long view, so to speak, insofar as that's possible, since my interest in travel is personal as much as professional. This article didn't sit well with me because I think that claiming to evaluate a variety of different series meaningfully on the strength or weakness of one country guide is bold, if not out-and-out foolhardy.
Though your conclusions vis a vis Cuba are interesting, I'd enjoy reading a broader appraisal of each of the series.
Beyond the general payment policies for authors that are generalizable across series, the quality of books can vary within a series a good deal. That said, only by looking at multiple books by one publisher do you get a flavor--appealing or less so, based on personal taste--for the each series approach to geography and mapping, a destination's history and culture, value for money vs. pure thriftiness vs. "the best at any price," or whether they favor regional companies or more established operators, and all kinds of other factors that make each book different.
By the way, the whole Thomas K. Colombia issue was just a PR stunt: he just updated the history section, which I feel is totally kosher to do from afar.
Brenda, I hope you're able to check out the new first edition Rough Guide to Havana when it comes out in Jan 2010.