Let's Go Travel Guidebooks

When it comes to young, independent travelers like myself there is by far an overwhelming consensus that the guide book most favorable is Lonely Planet Publications. However, after traveling using both Lonely Planet and Lets Go Guidebooks I have to disagree on that widely held opinion. While I can not disagree that Lonely Planet has the best English language website (the Thorn Tree Message Board is extremely comprehensive and I have found it to be more helpful than the books themselves) and they selection covers more continents and countries, I think if Lets Go expanded its empire they would give Lonely Planet a run for their money.

Lets Go is written and edited by Harvard University students and is geared towards the lower income/budget travelers. It covers topics such as budget accommodations, places to grab a bite to eat, and other similar topics covered in guidebooks. Lets Go appears to shine in two areas though, one being its coverage on tourist sites and other local areas of interest and the other being which tours to skip and miss (including prices, start times, etc..) While taking a tour during backpacking trip may not seem to make much sense, daily walking and biking tours seem to attract just that, young, single, backpackers. I was apprehensive myself at first to partake in one as it made me think of dull school trips, but during my first "free" walking tour in Berlin I found out it was a great place to meet people traveling. Most of these local city tours are run by expats themselves but I have found them to be extremely insightful, informing, and interesting. I have taking walking tours in Berlin, Munich, and Rome, but the best tour I took was either a bike tour of Krakow run by an expat from Florida or a wine tasting day trip in Napa and Sonoma Valley. The "free" tours run on solely tips and they also offer additional tours and pub crawls at cost. I found these trips and recommendations on which to miss or not to miss from Let's Go.

In the Spring of 2006 I embarked on a 10 country, 14 city Euro-Trip with only my Let's Go guidebook with me. I tore out each section of the applicable countries I was visiting and disposed of them along the way. The guidebooks almost appears as if it is made welcoming you to do so (as opposed to the glossy, binded Lonely Planet books which seem too nice to disassemble with their full colored photos. Since they come from a North American university they do tend to cater to North Americans and their most popular destinations, but slowly they are branching out. (i.e. let's go thailand, brazil, etc...). I think once Let's Go gets the audience it deserves Lonely Planet will have a run for their money!