Travel guides for first time travellers

So, you’ve decided to go on adventure – amazing! First time travel can be daunting, especially if you’re considering taking off for a few months or longer, but luckily there’s a huge amount of advice, tips and anecdotes out there to get you ready to go. Here’s just a few of the best travel guides for first time travellers so you can start planning your exciting trip!Lonely Planet

The biggest global name in travel guidebooks; name a location and Lonely Planet will have published a guide on it. As well as their hefty books, their website and eBooks are an invaluable source of detailed information also.

– The Big Trip: Your Ultimate Guide to Gap Years and Overseas Adventures. From a thorough planning section to location ideas, find maps and advice sandwiched between stunning photographs to inspire any wandering soul. It’s fast becoming my bible!

– Individual location books can be handy if you’re planning to spend a lot of time in one country. Watch out though: if it’s too heavy, you’ll end up ditching it pretty quickly. An e-book can often be a better option here.

– The Best of 2016 Travel. Each year, their experts bring out a list of the best countries, cities and places to visit. You’ll be adding a number of new destinations to your travel bucket list after reading, I guarantee it.

Great Escapes: 500 Unforgettable Travel Experiences

Another giant in the world of travel journalism, the Rough Guide gives you a hefty dose of inspiration with these experiences. From incredibly famous and popular destinations to living like a local, this is great to flick through when you’re looking to escape from life for a few hours.

Off Track Planet’s Travel Guide for the Young, Sexy and Broke

This is one to pick up if you’re looking for those off-the-wall places to visit in your chosen destination. Part One is broken down into categories of what activities you’re looking for (extreme sports, music, sex and art to name just a few) and it then goes on to talk planning, safety and ethics in its no-nonsense style. A quirky, fun read but one thing to note is that it tends to be based towards encouraging US citizens to venture outside its borders!

Agency Guides

Visit any travel agent and you can easily leave laden down with glossy brochures. For young or first time travellers, STA Travel is the main go-to for big trips but while these brochures are great for giving you ideas, they mainly tend to feature planned tours and flights. Great for if you’re travelling solo for the first time and nervous about it but potentially not so much if you’re on a budget. I’d recommend using these to help plan a route, as they often have the most cost-efficient ways to travel through a country or continent but not necessarily to book everything in sight.

Travel Blogs

Last but certainly not least, there’s an overwhelming amount of free advice out there on the web. Pinterest is a great places to find guides for first time travellers, as are Google and Bloglovin. There’ll be some bad in with the good but the more you read around, the more you’ll find the same tips popping up that will leave you feeling more prepared and confident for your trip in no time at all.

What’s your go-to travel resource when you’re planning a trip?
Laura x