Acquiring a tourist guide is one of the best decisions when planning your own trip. For this it is important to know how they are used and what their content is, as well as their advantages and disadvantages. Likewise, we show you the best guides in Spanish in the world.

Below you have an index with all the points that we are going to deal with in this article.

If you want specific information about a specific place, click on the destination in this list that is of interest to you:



Advantages and disadvantages

Starting with the definition of a tourist guide, it is a printed or digital publication that gathers information of interest and usefulness for tourists about a destination, itinerary or geographic area. In short, they are books for the traveler.

These publications have numerous benefits. The main one is your utility, as it allows us to quickly know the destination we are going to visit, including maps and useful information. Ultimately, with them we can see the world, plan our trip and even learn about history.

Another advantage is that nowadays we can find them in different formats, adapting to our needs: in book, online, for mobile through app, audio guides, for electronic books such as Kindle or iPad, etc.

There are even editions children's, encouraging them to discover new places and introducing them to the world of travel. Some of the most prominent are made by Memolaviajar.com, Lonely Planet and Nórdica Libros.

However, we also found some drawbacks. One of them is its cost, since quality ones usually have a high price. Also, if it is an old edition, the information may be out of date and therefore useless or even detrimental to our journey.

One last disadvantage is that if the guide is known, the advice and routes it shows will be followed by many people, and therefore it is possible that we only visit the most crowded places in the destination where we are.

How are tourist guides used?

It is important to know how to use these books. You do not have to follow the predetermined order of the publication, but you can read the sections that interest you most at all times.

Tourist guides usually have a index in which the sections of this are indicated. Therefore, the best way to search is to use this section. In this way we find what interests us most in the most direct way.

If this is the first time you use it and you want to get a general idea of ​​the destination, it is best to first read the section on how to get there and how to get around. After this, you can locate on the map the area where you are going to be and the attractions that are near it.

Once you have read information about the attractions that are in the area you are going to visit, you can spend some time in the advice section to guide you on where to sleep or in which restaurants to eat. In this way you will have a complete and quick idea of ​​the destination.

What are they for?

The main function of a travel guide is to grant insights about a place and thereby offer a kind of tourist assistance. In general, the data they contain is the following:

  • Location
  • How to get
  • Migratory processes
  • What to see and what to do
  • Where to sleep and where to eat
  • Other information and recommendations

Thus, another of its functions is to advise or recommend, since the editor of these books has already been to that destination and knows what we can find in the places and establishments that we visit.



There are different types of guides, which are adapted to the taste of each traveler. Some of them explain how to travel with children or backpackers to a destination, others focus on the cultural aspects of the place, etc.

We can even find online guides of satanic and horror content, in which they show us places that appear in scary movies, such as Thamesmead, the neighborhood of London protagonist of "A Clockwork Orange."

The best guides in the world

The most famous guides in Spanish and recommended by travelers are the following:

  • Globetrotter: they are published by the Anaya Group and translated from the French collection Guide du Routard.
  • Lonely Planet: they began to be published in the 70s. You can acquire them through Fnac, among other portals.
  • Carrefour: your travel department produces some publications for free and for download from its website. They have a total of 28.
  • Michelín: under the name of The Green Guide They show the best itineraries and attractions. They also have thematic publications, such as caravan trips.
  • of God Editors: They originate from an Argentine family passionate about travel. They currently have more than 100 titles.
  • National Geographic: Diario Clarín collections, in Argentina, offers translations into Spanish exclusively from this important entity
  • La Nación newspaper: Despite the fact that this Argentine newspaper has not published guides, it does make very interesting tourism supplements for travelers
  • COPEC: The Compañía de Petróleos de Chile has the Chiletur Guides. They are sold in some service stations in the country, although they also publish a lot of information on their website.

Some of these guides, such as Lonely Planet or National Geographic, are worldwide, that is, they have books of this type in English and other languages. Due to their fame, it is easy to get them second-hand on many Internet portals.

Also, many tourist destinations such as Barcelona, Sevilla o Madrid publish their own official editions in format app (application) for mobile or tablet, so that you can easily use them while touring the city.

If you prefer to use more original guides, the Anaya Touring publishing house has the collection Travel Inspiration, with which he intends to excite travelers in a different way. One of his books is titled The best destinations to observe the skies in Spain.

Recommendations for use

Although the information in travel guides is usually very useful, we advise you not to follow it to the letter. That is, if during the trip you discover a place that does not appear in the book, it is advisable to experience it. by oneself.

When using it, you should spend most of the time before traveling, in order to organize everything correctly, and use the book during the trip only as a reference.

The most important thing when looking for a good book for the traveler is to observe the publication date. The more recent it is, the better, as it will be more current and will not contain outdated or outdated information.

There are a large number of publishers that publish guides, so it is better to acquire one that has good opinions and is recommended by other travelers as you may come across some of poor quality.

We must also take into account the size, since if we are going to use it during our trip it is convenient that we obtain a pocket edition, which is more manageable and light.

Another option is to purchase it online, in order to carry it comfortably on your mobile or tablet, or install one of the app that we mentioned above. In this way you will see that traveling with a tourist guide is a highly recommended option.

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