Great Britain (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

Doing a tour of England, Wales and Scotland? Get this book. Great regional coverage and a strong London section as well. Being Great Britain, historical background is important and there's plenty here without it getting too textbook-like. The numerous photos, illustrations and maps help immeasurably in keeping it all interesting. Indispensable.

NB: I rarely use the Eyewitness guides for hotels, and the selection given is a bit limited.

London (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

This book has to be the definitive souvenir guidebook of London. They claim 1,200 photos alone and the claim looks reasonable. I lived in London and found a lot of material new to me and fascinating!

London was originally a collection of villages, and this book gives succinct "portraits" of the various areas. Lots of practical information and exceptional cut away views of prominent sites are a big help.

On the other hand, if you're only in London for a few days, this is overkill. The London section in the GB Guide (above) is more than enough. Or the Top Ten Guide below.

Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guide to London (Eyewitness Travel Top 10)

It's smaller (192 pp) and not so detailed, but how much do you actually need? This is a useful book that is easier to slip into your pocket than the bigger ones, so the decision whether to take it with you when you're walking is a LOT less of an issue.

My practice tends to be to take a general country or area guide and supplement it with a Top Ten Guide for particular cities.

Dk Eyewitness Travel Guides: Scotland (Dk Eyewitness Travel Guides.)

If you're specifically spending a lot of time in Scotland, this is the one to have in your bag. Really the equivalent of the London Guide but for North of the Border!

I particularly liked the way it deals with places on a seasonal basis as well as by location; this is an important consideration in the Scottish climate...

Again, beautifully illustrated.