Picking a guide book

[bcasper1]

Hey everyone. Thanks in advance for your help.
This summer I will be traveling to Europe and I need advice on which guide books to purchase. Yesterday I bought, Let's Go, Italy 2007 because I will be spending most of my time in Italy, but I’m trying to choose a guide book for the rest of my journey. The options which seem good to me are:

Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door 2007. www.amazon.com/gp/product/1566918081/ref=pd_cp_b_title/103-1994754-5797463
Or
Lonely Planet Europe On A Shoestring.
www.amazon.com/Lonely-Planet-Europe-Shoestring/dp/1740597796/ref=pd_sim_b_1/103-5250769-1916623

These links go to Amazon, and after reading the reviews I can’t decide which would be best to have if I am to choose only one. Help! Also I will most likely be getting:
Party Europe, Second Edition.
www.amazon.com/Party-Europe-Second-This-Life/dp/0976112019/sr=1-1/qid=1164682219/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-1994754-

So between my party and me, we will only have these three books. Is that about right?
We will have one for Italy, one for Europe in general, and finally one for partying. Any advice would be great.
Thanks for your tips!

[pointofnoreturn]

Buy the Rick Steves book. If you have Let's Go, no need to purchase Lonely Planet. It's just a waste of money.

[bcasper1]

are you sure? because the Let's Go is exclusively Italy, and the Lonely Planet is all of Europe.

[pointofnoreturn]

bcasper1 said:

are you sure? because the Let's Go is exclusively Italy, and the Lonely Planet is all of Europe.

I would have picked Let's Go: Europe on a Budget over Lonely Planet: Europe on a Shoestring. My personal opinion.

Rick Steves' Europe through the Backdoor is a great guide if you haven't been to Europe yet (or well... more than 1 country in Europe). It's a very valuable tool.

[bcasper1]

well its not too late to get, Let's Go: Europe on a Budget as opposed to Europe on a Shoestring.
So then do you recomend Let's Go: Europe on a Budget - Or - Rick Steves' Europe through the Backdoor?

[Eagle]

One comment on the Guidebooks that you mentioned. The Rick Steves book "Europe Through The Back Door" is more of a "pre-read" reference book, rather than a resource to be packed along. You might want to have a look at his "Best of Europe 2007" book instead, or one of his country specific books.

Happy travels!!!

[pointofnoreturn]

Absolutely. Rick Steve's Backdoor book is a great addition to any new backpacker's travel book list. It is a very useful book. But like Eagle said, it's a pre-planning tool - not a country resource book. He does have some pages from his book already on his website for free. So google his name and you can get a lot more information there.

I would actually have the following books in my list:
- Rick Steves Europe through the Backdoor
- Let's Go Europe on a Budget
- Let's Go Italy (if you are planning an extensive tour of Italy)

It is up to you to decide what books you want. If you want LP, then go ahead and purchase it. I just find it extremely heavy and it's difficult to read the pages and it's just very distracting and unattractive. You could just purchase Let's Go Europe on a Budget in addition to the Let's Go Italy book you already have, if you're planning to visit other countries than Italy. It doesn't make a difference whether it's LP or LG.

[bcasper1]

Okay I did it. I ordered Let's Go Western Europe, and Party Europe in addition to Let's Go Italy.
Also I didn't mention this before but my roomate also has The Rough Guide to First-Time Europe. This one is good for before you go but I thought I would mention that too.

Thanks for your help guys!