Monocle

God, how I hate travel guides!

There are multiple reasons for that: first off, there's that Lonely Planet story, where an author freely made up all the information, sometimes based on word-of-mouth from his bolivian nanny. (See "Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?")

Second, how do you know that "This is the best place for X?" if you don't have time to see all places and never even try to leave the trodden paths that all travel guides recommend?
Here I have this nice little story, when once I was waiting for a friend at the entrance steps to Vienna University in the middle of summer. Tourists all around made me think of a story said friend had told me before, that japanese tourists seemed to have the Paternoster in the NIG in their travel guides because lots of them showed up there. Well, there I stood, waiting, when a japanese couple came to me, they couldn't speak any german and barely any english. I definitely couldn't read their japanese travel guide! But I did recognize the picture they showed me: The Paternoster in the NIG.
See how boring it is? You go someplace, hopefully someplace exciting, you're prepared... and end up with memories and pictures of all the same places as all the other tourists being led and misled by travel guides! Stop it!

Try to explore! Try to find something new. Something maybe less exciting but way less touristy! See other spots, meet other people. You'll end up with better stories.

So, I haven't read many travel guides. Even sticking to TripAdvisor is a bad idea in my opinion. But how would you even try to judge the quality of a travel guide series? Easy: by reading the guides about your home town or region, that you know very well and intimately. Read that one guide and compare it to your experiences: do you like their recommendations? Is it freely made up? Is it featuring the same spots being overrun by tourists already?

The Monocle Guide to Vienna is not made up, it is definitely different from other travel guides I've seen so far. It features essays, culture, music, shopping, food. But in a hipster sort of way. Some pictures are misplaced, they struggle with our Umlaute. Some of their recommended stores are so hip they are out of commission already! And it's not for the budget-minded tourist. At all!

It might not be the best guide (series) out there, but it's good. For me, I might use it as a starting point for tours for visitors especially those who come here more often and have seen the typical tourist places already.… (mehr)