‘Are guidebooks becoming irrelevant?’ Adam Leith Gollner asks in the introduction to GOOD’s Guide to Guidebooks.

‘Not quite yet,’ he answers. After all, there’s something ‘reassuring about clutching a guidebook as you stumble from monument to monument through a foreign land’, isn’t there? Your Lonely Planet still feels ‘more dependable than some shut-in with a Wikitravel avatar’, doesn’t it?

I’m a guidebook fan, so I’d answer yes to both of those questions. But even an enthusiast can admit that not all guides are equal - that’s why blunt, entertaining reviews like the GOOD guide are so useful.

Plus, I give them a few huge bonus points for the mad alliteration.

Community Connection: The Matador community loves a good debate about guidebooks! Check out the articles “5 Reasons Wiki Travel Guides Are Better Than Guidebooks” and “6 Simple Ways to Travel Without Your Guidebook.”

Photo: Jaako

Eva Holland

Eva Holland is a historical researcher and freelance writer based in Ottawa, Canada. She is a blogger for World Hum and for Rolf Potts Vagablogging, and her travel writing has appeared in The Ottawa Citizen, and The Edmonton Journal.