Should You Use a Travel Guidebook?

"Don't read that!" a Polish girl said to me, quite harshly I felt, in the kitchen of the flat where I was couch surfing(which was at the moment hosting a couch surfing party). I looked up from the culture and history of Berlin. "Don't read a guidebook," the girl, who name I have forgotten or perhaps never learned, continued. "Just ask people on the street where to go to eat."

"Um, I'm reading the history," was my reply.

In my defense, the history and cultural background are the more interesting sections of the guidebooks, what I use for pleasure reading to pass the time on trains or at solitary meals, when I can't write in my journal or don't feel like it. There's plenty in a guidebook to keep me entertained, and for someone who almost always carries reading material around, this saves a bit of extra weight.

But there are a whole lot of people out there who don't seem to believe in guidebooks, full stop. And I seem to find them in scenarios such as ultra-budget travel forums, and it would seem, couch surfing parties. According to travel guide non-advocates, "they" only tell you about the touristy places, where you'll find yourself amongst sheep, all people with the same guide book, seeing the same sights, eating at the same restaurants.

Fair point. BUT. There is usually a reason that these places are famous and touristy in the first place. They're part of the reason, at least, that most people visit a certain place. And there's nothing wrong with wanting to see them.

You'll need to know when they open, how much they cost, even, in fact, that they exist. This is where a guidebook (in addition to reason number 1) is invaluable.
Sure, they tell you with restaurants to eat at. Sure they recommend some sights over others. This coverage is admittedly hit and miss. But in my experience, more hit than miss, and if I've gotten a few lemons, I've also has loads of amazing experiences and meals I never would have had if not for Lonely Planet or other guide books.

Which is not to say that I put all my trust in them. I'd like to think I have a moderate approach to guidebooks. If you do take along a guidebook to consult, but don't take everything it say as written in stone, if you expect guidebooks to have a few mistakes, and seek out your own advice from locals or friends who have already been where you're going, you'll have a much better trip than if you had relied on one source of information alone.

By following word of mouth advice I took the Alternative Berlin tour, one of the highlights of the trip. While discussing various and sundry, I pulled out my Lonely Planet Berlin Encounter. "Are you guys in here?" I asked.

"Ah, no," my Alternative guide replied. "Lonely Planet wanted us to be in their book but we told them to fuck off. I'm tired of seeing tourists fed their bullshit." Clearly, this was not Lonely Planet's trip.