Travel books worth packing — and the ones to read first

A trip involves two or three different kinds of travel book, and mixing them up leads to a heavy bag and a disappointing read. Sort them by job.

Guidebooks: buy current, use lightly

Opening times, prices and transport change fast, so a guidebook is one of the few books where the newest edition genuinely matters. Buy it new, and consider the digital edition to save weight.

Travel writing: read before you go

A good book about a place — history, a walk, a year spent living there — does more for how you experience a trip than any list of sights. This is the reading to do at home in the weeks before, not on the plane.

Phrasebooks and pocket references

• A slim phrasebook still beats a phone when there is no signal.
• A small natural-history or architecture guide turns a walk into something more.

Where to look

Browse travel & holiday. Buy guidebooks new for the current edition; travel writing is timeless, so buy it used.