Lonely Planet
Between the 1980s through the 2000s, many folks on the travel circuit referred to the Lonely Planet in their hand as the Bible. The guides weren’t perfect, the maps were often terrible, but the humor and magical places these guides suggested by far made up for any issues. These days Lonely Planet is still an excellent choice for a more objective take on things to do and places to stay than what you will find anywhere online. What’s on your planet this week?
Rough Guides
The Rough Guide to Kenya, 5th edition by Richard Trillo, literally changed my life. A German chap named Mark lent it to my one evening in Gondar, Ethiopia. At the time I was mulling the decision to hop a dhow for Yemen, a journey I had planned for months, or continuing an unplanned journing south through Sub-Saharan Africa. Reading the chapters on Kenya, and in particular, learning about the people and wilflife, convinced me to continue on my unplanned Africa journey. I spent the next 10 months in Africa and met some amazing people and saw some breathtaking sites. My life was chnaged. Other than Kenya, Rough Guides provide travel information on destinations worldwide.
Bradt Guides
We used the Bradt Guide to Eritrea 2nd edition, by Edward Paice, for our tour of Eritrea in 1998. It was the only full guidebook on Eritrea at the time. I came to the conclusion that if a Bradt guide is your only choice, then you know you are off-the-beaten-track in what is likely a gorgeous country with emerging tourism. In other words, congratulations, you got there before everyone else!
Trailblazer Guides
Route guides for the adventurous traveler. The most extreme of the guides, and a personal favorite, Trailblazers will literally take you where no one else (but a local) can. I sometimes read thiese guides like novels, even if I am not planning to visit.
Footprint Travel Guides
Probably your best for South America, this guide was first published in 1924 and is the longest running travel guide in the English language.
Blue Guides
With their special focus on art, architecture, and history, Blue Guides offer a unique combination of the historic and cultural overview and in-depth and up-to-date scholarship, accessibly presented, on its sights and sites.
Moon Guides
Caring books for great destinations, and a neat Web site, too.
Sahara Overland
Slightly out of date, but this is still the ultimate, legacy trans-Saharan guidebook. Don’t leave home without it.
Omniglot
A guide to written language. This amazing site has samples of (almost) every written script you will encounter from around the world.