For the adventurous traveller, no accessory is more essential than an accurate, reliable guide book. There is little in this world more bewildering than arriving in a strange location with no idea where you are, where you need to be or how on earth to get there. Couple this with inability to speak the local lingo and you have a recipe for a genuine nightmare!

Of course, with the myriad of guide book options available, such situations can be avoided altogether with a little careful selection.

Do not be fooled however, all travel books are not created equally! It is possible to buy what seems an ideal guide, only to have a stressful arrival made more unpleasant by the thought of the money wasted on a useless rag. As much as variety is the spice of life, in this particular field it is always best to stick with a tried and tested model. It is for exactly this reason that Lonely Planet and Rough Guide dominate the market.

However, even when narrowed down to the two most popular options, there is still a clear winner in my experience; the Lonely Planet range. There is nothing inherently wrong with Rough Guides as proven my the millions of people that trust them implicitly, they are fine books. Content is almost identical to Lonely Planet with high quality maps and reviews provided to help and traveller along the way.

They can, however, be of the shabbiest build quality I have ever found in a publication, and in a book is designed to be taken adventuring around the world!

My last Rough Guide lost over 15 pages in its first week, despite infrequent use and careful storage while travelling. Furthermore, the pages in question were mostly maps which were somewhat vital! This, I can safely say, has never happened with a Lonely Planet guide.

So to summarise, either of the two biggest brands could prove invaluable in a time of need with fascinating, insightful content and fantastic advice on local etiquette. That is, as long as half of you keep a roll of sellotape handy.