10 Reading - Match headings - Travelling Guides

Most of us pick up a guidebook when we're going away. But just as there are many types of traveller, so there are many styles of book. Whether you're keen to know what to see, where to stay or where to go clubbing, it's important to select the book that suits your tastes and your personality. The same destinations are visited by different types of people, all requiring something different from their guide. Travellers are very well served by the guides available, whether they are cultural guides or guides that place more emphasis on nightlife.

Blue Guides are for people who take their sightseeing seriously. The guides are packed with history and full of architectural detail. There are no pictures, but lots of diagrams of things like medieval building plans. The publishers recently introduced restaurant recommendations for the first time and were criticised by some readers, who said that such things should not be in the guides.

The Rough Guides approach has always been to explore countries as lived-in places, not just holiday destinations, and they have an in-depth emphasis on things like the kind of film the local cinema shows or the best bread in the local bakery. There is high-quality writing in these guides and the cultural sections are very strong. The founder of the Rough Guides recently criticised the casual attitude to air travel that could have a terrible effect on global warming. Warnings will appear in all new editions of the guides about the impact of flying and these will encourage readers to "fly less and stay longer".