The travel section at Barnes and Noble is overwhleming - mostly in the array of travel series.  Fodor's, Frommers, Lonely Planet, Moon Handbooks, Rough Guides.

In my experience, one of the best is Great Destinations, which covers a sadly limited and eclectic variety of places.   Which ones do you think have really good information and advice?  Which ones are too superficial or too limited?

Fodor's is my go-to choice--I like the big volume with the gold top half on the cover, and if I can find one for a city I'm visiting, their City Guides are incredible to tuck in your purse or pack when actually out sightseeing. I travel a ton and have tried them all, and I always come back to Fodor's.

I think it depends a little on where I'm going and what I'm doing. I tend to go to Lonley Planet for a general overview -- I tavel pretty simply, and they hightlight non-chain hotels, out of the way restaurants and sights and history. But, I recently went overseas and used the National Geographic guide and loved it! I tend to use Fodor's on-line. My library gets Fodor's as well, which may be why I don't feel a need to buy them :).

I don't know Great Expectations -- I'll check them out!

I like the Cadogan series for detail and off the beaten track info, and the Blue Guides for everything else.

I check each one for the country I am going to, then decide.  I tend to end up with a lot of Rough Guides because they offer info on cheap stays and places that are off the beaten path.  There have been some places I have gone to that have no good guides.  Example: Cameroon.  I did find about a 8 page section in a larger book of Western Africa.

Rough Guides! Made for budget travelers! and mostly very funny while staying informative.

I love the Lonely Planet series, especially their Encounter series. I have traveed a lot but I don't always have a week in one place. I check out the Encounter series to read up on the attractions and some places to eat and usually don't regret not having seen something. There are some great itineraries in the front like - if you only have 1 day, if you only have 2 days, etc. I find these especially helpful because sometimes I only have 2 days and then I get to hit all the best things. My husband used to think it was nuts but when we went to Chicago, we hit everything except the John Hanconk builing (I wanted to but he didn't) and on the way to the airport, we swung by and saw the Pump station and drove by this amazing building. My husband was like "WOW! I wish we could see that building..." It was the John Hancock building! The very same that I asked for 2 nghts in a row for him to take me for a drink so we could see the lights of the city :) We hit everything else that the see in 1 day recommended, found some places along the way it didn't and had a wonderful time.

I highly recommend them. Just know one thing - if you order from their site, your credit card may charge you a conversion fee (mine just did) even though the site charges in $ nor eruos. I try to get them used here. If you do though, make sure you get the map that goes with it!

Have fun and be safe in your travels!
Elizabeth