4 ms·

I haven't looked at any in a very long time, but I recall Frommer's guidebooks as having the feel of McDonald's, relative to say Lonely Planet. I'm eager for t

I haven't looked at any in a very long time, but I recall Frommer's guidebooks as having the feel of McDonald's, relative to say Lonely Planet. I'm eager for the Wikimedia Travel project to get underway https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Travel_Guide https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Travel_Guide

koyote 14y ago
What about http://wikitravel.org http://wikitravel.org ?
- larsberg 14y ago
  Depends on the location. For example, wikitravel is much better for Tokyo or Kyoto than the modern version of the Frommer's or Lonely Planet guidebooks. Having recently been, the Frommer's and LP ones read more like a coffee table book for people who want to visit and list everything they'd see rather than actually figure out what to go to and how to get between them.
- mlinksva 14y ago
  Assuming the Wikimedia Travel project gets off the ground, Wikitravel and its forks, or at least the material and active users and admins of these, will migrate to the new project. Wikitravel is pretty good, but uneven depth of coverage. I usually read at least the main Wikipedia article and Wikitravel article about places I'm going to, and web search and sites like Yelp for details. Together this is a huge improvement over guidebooks. With more attention that a Wikimedia travel site would get, I'd expect even more/better for the types of things I look at Wikitravel for now, probably meaning I'd need to search/yelp/etc just a bit less. (Of course most people would get to Wikimedia Travel via Google, and they could use WT content, so it'd be a win for Google just like Wikipedia, even if it made their purchase of Frommer's worth less.)
GFischer 14y ago
I have fond memories from Frommer's... but I last read one of their guidebooks in the 80's (Europe on 30 dollars a day). So the brand still holds some value (in mindshare, in U$S it's whatever Google paid :) ), and they're right in that all of my investigation is online these days.
mynegation 14y ago
In my experience full-fledged country guides from Lonely Planet are more thorough, detailed and informative. In the area of region-specific (say, Provence in France) and mini-pocket guides with pocket maps Frommer has much more presence and their guides are very good. I am as avid user of smartphones and tablets as any other HN user, but there are many places in the world where you certainly do not want to pull gadgets out of the bag or pocket.
- stcredzero 14y ago
  > I am as avid user of smartphones and tablets as any other HN user, but there are many places in the world where you certainly do not want to pull gadgets out of the bag or pocket. Single-purpose travel PDAs for rent in such parts of the world might be of some use. Have them optimized for the travel guide function, and make them hard to jailbreak and susceptible to bricking when jailbreaking. It may be possible to make them unattractive to steal. (You can steal them, but no one particularly wants to buy them.)
  - Avshalom 14y ago
    or use a book.
    - stcredzero 14y ago
      There's functionality available on a tablet that's not there in a book. Much more timely updates to local events, for one thing. Google Maps for transit information, possibly dispatch of taxis in parts of the world that haven't thought of regulating that yet. Considering the number of people who bought netbooks for the purpose of having a "disposable" computing device for travel, there may be a rental market for a travel tablet.
michaelhoffman 14y ago
I find the Lonely Planet guidebooks are targeted at a very specific sort of traveler (one that is younger and cooler). I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for my parents.
- ghaff 14y ago
  I think that's about right although Lonely Planet is more "mainstream" than it once was. Arguably, Rough Guides try to be the way Lonely Planet was a few years back. Frommer and Fodor are more limited to the more standard tourist attractions, restaurants, and hotels.

koyote 14y ago

What about http://wikitravel.org http://wikitravel.org ?

larsberg 14y ago
Depends on the location. For example, wikitravel is much better for Tokyo or Kyoto than the modern version of the Frommer's or Lonely Planet guidebooks. Having recently been, the Frommer's and LP ones read more like a coffee table book for people who want to visit and list everything they'd see rather than actually figure out what to go to and how to get between them.
mlinksva 14y ago
Assuming the Wikimedia Travel project gets off the ground, Wikitravel and its forks, or at least the material and active users and admins of these, will migrate to the new project. Wikitravel is pretty good, but uneven depth of coverage. I usually read at least the main Wikipedia article and Wikitravel article about places I'm going to, and web search and sites like Yelp for details. Together this is a huge improvement over guidebooks. With more attention that a Wikimedia travel site would get, I'd expect even more/better for the types of things I look at Wikitravel for now, probably meaning I'd need to search/yelp/etc just a bit less. (Of course most people would get to Wikimedia Travel via Google, and they could use WT content, so it'd be a win for Google just like Wikipedia, even if it made their purchase of Frommer's worth less.)

GFischer 14y ago

I have fond memories from Frommer's... but I last read one of their guidebooks in the 80's (Europe on 30 dollars a day). So the brand still holds some value (in mindshare, in U$S it's whatever Google paid :) ), and they're right in that all of my investigation is online these days.

mynegation 14y ago

In my experience full-fledged country guides from Lonely Planet are more thorough, detailed and informative. In the area of region-specific (say, Provence in France) and mini-pocket guides with pocket maps Frommer has much more presence and their guides are very good. I am as avid user of smartphones and tablets as any other HN user, but there are many places in the world where you certainly do not want to pull gadgets out of the bag or pocket.

stcredzero 14y ago
> I am as avid user of smartphones and tablets as any other HN user, but there are many places in the world where you certainly do not want to pull gadgets out of the bag or pocket. Single-purpose travel PDAs for rent in such parts of the world might be of some use. Have them optimized for the travel guide function, and make them hard to jailbreak and susceptible to bricking when jailbreaking. It may be possible to make them unattractive to steal. (You can steal them, but no one particularly wants to buy them.)
- Avshalom 14y ago
  or use a book.
  - stcredzero 14y ago
    There's functionality available on a tablet that's not there in a book. Much more timely updates to local events, for one thing. Google Maps for transit information, possibly dispatch of taxis in parts of the world that haven't thought of regulating that yet. Considering the number of people who bought netbooks for the purpose of having a "disposable" computing device for travel, there may be a rental market for a travel tablet.

michaelhoffman 14y ago

I find the Lonely Planet guidebooks are targeted at a very specific sort of traveler (one that is younger and cooler). I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for my parents.

ghaff 14y ago
I think that's about right although Lonely Planet is more "mainstream" than it once was. Arguably, Rough Guides try to be the way Lonely Planet was a few years back. Frommer and Fodor are more limited to the more standard tourist attractions, restaurants, and hotels.