Hi, I’m Amy, and I have a confession: I’m addicted to guidebooks. And castles. When we moved to Prague, I carried in my bag (or E carried in his, bless him!) not one, not two, but four guidebooks, not to mention the three more I have on my Nook. I am especially fond of Rick Steves–he’s my man.
Of course, this year I learned that guidebooks can take you only so far, and that it’s much, much better to go and see the place for yourself before you let someone else tell you if it’s worthwhile. But most of the time, I find guidebooks so helpful, and they’ve introduced so many places that would have remained under my radar.
Such is the case with the tiny town of Loket, Czech Republic. Loket is so tiny it doesn’t even have its own section in my giant Lonely Planet Europe book–just a little blurb in the section of Karlovy Vary. We attempted to visit Loket on our first trip from Karlovy Vary, as it’s just near there (hence being a blurb in that section), but we happened to be visiting on Easter and all of the buses were shut down.
So, I added Loket to our travel itinerary when my parents’ visited. It was more ideal because we had a car, and I’m so glad we stopped (although by that time we were all tired and ready to be back in Prague). It was about twenty minutes away from Karlovy Vary, but so peaceful, and like many Czech towns, on a windy river. Loket had a beautiful view of green hills, a tiny, perfectly preserved medieval center, baby goats (I mean, baby goats!) and of course, the requisite castle.
Not only is Loket one of the more gorgeous castles of my beloved CZ, but a James Bond movie (Casino Royale) was actually filmed here, and some in nearby Karlovy Vary.
While we only made a very quick stop here, I would have loved to come back for a full day and even a night to soak up the atmosphere of the little village…and to keep playing with the baby goats, of course.
Question:
What do you think of guidebooks? Love ’em or hate ’em or a little bit of both? Have you discovered any great places from a guidebook?
Linking up with Travel Tuesday.
Looks like such a cute little town! I love the combination of green + hills that you sometimes see around places like KV and Krumlov. I think we share a lot of the same sentiments about guidebooks. I am totally a Rick disciple but over the past several years, I’ve realized that I should use his guidebooks not so much like a bible like I used to, but for more of a supplement. He writes about where he loves…. and not much else about other locations. Having a back-up guidebook or source of info is always good!
Yes, I love Rick, but I’ve learned that I really need to make up my own mind and not just follow him. In fact, he wasn’t very excited about hospitality or food in Croatia, and we found both to be mostly amazing! I love him for the history and background he gives me, but it’s good to use other sources and just strike out on my own, too. And I really loved Loket–the hills are so picturesque!
Funny about your obsession with guidebooks. I for one have never been a big fan, maybe because I’ve always felt them to be a bit too “mainstream.” Instead, I love looking things up online, hearing through word of mouth etc., though I bet it would be different if I didn’t have the Internet to help me out.
Nowadays I supplement the guidebooks with the internet too–there is so much stuff to be found there! I love them for the background and history, but I also have learned that I NEED to make up my own mind…instead of just trusting both guidebooks and the internet!!
Love guidebooks. I’m a Lonely Planet girl all the way, so maybe it’s not guide books so much as Lonely Planet specifically! But I also love reading blog posts to help plan travels too! And I happen to also love James Bond so that alone would make me want to visit! And those goats;)
Isn’t it cool that James Bond was filmed there?? I think that’s how I convinced E to go ;). I love Lonely Planet, especially for outside of Europe, and blog posts are so so helpful! Gotta love the internet :).
I could take or leave guide books, but I love lesser known towns that are full of charm (which it sounds like Loket is) and I LOVE castles! I noticed that you are going to Cheptstow this year- are you going to the castle? (I happen to have a post about Chepstow Castle on my blog next Thursday). It is so beautiful, and Tintern Abbey is only about 10 minutes away.
Hi Jaime! We planned to make it to Chepstow but sadly we decided to save money. I have always wanted to visit Tintern Abbey, thanks to my English lit roots, so I plan to make it there someday soon. I’ll make sure to bookmark your post for when I do 🙂
And Loket is definitely off the beaten path, and SO charming 🙂
LOVE guide books! Just like to have them on the book case to bring out and look at once in a while. I have one for every place I have been to but I only buy Rough Guides! Although they don’t sell in the UK 🙁 so maybe I will have to start using Lonely Planets instead. That castle is full of charm and I just love the baby goats!
I love the Rough Guides website–they have so much great info and itinerary ideas and so many PICTURES! I love pictures haha ! I do like Lonely Planet, although not for Europe so much. I haven’t been able to find many printed Rough Guides in the States, either–are they still printing books or just doing the website?
I think they make them but I was under the impression they were just UK based, so the flight information etc is all from the UK and that is why they aren’t readily available here.
Oooh very cute! I do like guidebooks, in particular the overviews of history and culture areoften better than I think you can easily glean from your own research. I also like to have an idea of what sights are regarded as must-sees, even if I’m going to throw that out the window on my own visit 😉
Haha I know–I often don’t even listen to the guidebooks! But it’s good to have an overview and know all of your options 🙂
I enjoy guidebooks, I like having a place to start, plus if you’re living in a place then it’s a great way to get many day trip options. I use my Belgian one all the time – although I don’t take it with me because I’m lazy haha
I think I love guidebooks for the overview and for giving me new ideas–and then I supplement them with the internet, of course haha. unfortunately they are heavy lol so mine often get left behind, too 🙂
A little of both, I always buy them but I don’t end up using them 🙈 This place looks amazing 😍
Ha I always buy them and then read them cover to cover…I’m a nerd ;). And isn’t Loket pretty?!