Welcome to GoingEuro.com! Travel information on destinations within Europe.

Here you will find helpful travel tips along with a list of travel guides, books and other products that I have used and liked or that I have run across and thought worth mentioning. I hope you will find GoingEuro.com not only informative, but easy to use as well. If you have questions or comments please shoot me an e-mail. I am always on the look out for ways to improve GoingEuro.com, so your input is important to me. I would like to thank you for dropping by and to mention I will be adding new destinations from time to time, so please check back every now and then. I also would like to thank you in advance if you decide to purchase any products (books, magazines, language CD’s and so fourth) through GoingEuro.com. Your support is much appreciated.

I do a fair amount of research on the Internet before going on vacation including restaurants, checking out hotels and searching for apartments. In addition, I check to see what museums and other attractions are closed due to renovation work. However, I still depend on guidebooks and other print material to read up on what there is to see and do. I look for guides written by people who live in the city or country, for example Cristian Bonetto’s Rome Encounter. Or written by someone who at least spends part of the part of the world they are writing about, for example The Rough Guide to Languedoc & Roussillon by Brian Catlos.

I also use apps for my iPod Touch such as London Museums and London Bus. Digital format is perfect for guidebooks because it makes it easier to update information. Of course, the trade off is with all technology it can always break. A book on the other hand doesn’t break. I prefer to utilize technology, yet not let it take over everything. In addition, accessing the Internet via an iPhone or Smartphone can be expensive while vacationing in Europe, so some of these apps including London Bus are great, but roaming charges can add up very quickly. Using a map may seem old fashioned, but it can be a lot cheaper than using an app.   

In addition, guidebooks such as the Blue Guide Venice and Blue Guide Rome offer more than just restaurant and hotel recommendations. They offer is in depth information on the cultural aspects like museums and churches. Other guides such as 24 Great Walks in London and  Giles Desmons’ Walking Paris or Markets of Paris by Dixon and Ruthanne Long, offer you walking tours and more specific information such as markets in Paris for the foodies out there.   

While on vacation I take along Moleskine City Notebook Rome, Moleskine City Notebook London and so on, to keep track for my own little discoveries (restaurants etc.) that I come across and to note for future trips places that I particularly liked and would return to on future trips.

The Internet and apps are useful, but they are not the end all resource. You use them in conjunction with other resources such as guidebooks written by those who have lived or travelled extensively in the area they are writing about.

So my point is take advantage of all the resources out there when researching and planning your trip. And keep in mind everything is going to have limitations and pros and cons. It is always a good idea not to depend on just one resource. These days the traveler is no longer dependent just on guidebooks, although guidebooks are still relevant and indispensible really if you think about it. I can’t imagine what I would do without my TimeOut London guide or what I would have done without 24 Great Walks in London or Blue Guide Rome. At the same time, I couldn’t imagine not having the Internet to do research and planning. I probably would never have found the fabulous apartments in Venice or Rome without the Internet.   

Bon Voyage! Have a safe and enjoyable trip.

Terrence D. Zarnick
Publisher

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