Today is

By: Ikedi Ani-okoye

Travel guides

Fortunately, in our time-poor, holiday hungry modern lives, travel guides are the ultimate easy reference for practical tips, compiled by people in the know. However, many readers take them for granted: how are they actually put together, and what sort of pictures do they paint of a place and its people? The new version of lonely Planet's London City Guide provides a perfect opportunity to find out.

First of all, compiling a guide like London is an enormous task. The three co-authors conducted 1900 hours of research and visited or were intimately familiar with every place they wrote about. I asked one member of this intrepid trio, Steve Fallon, whether it was an exhausting job: "yes, it is a lot of work, but it's very fulfilling. A lot of footwork is involved; there's no way to cover a country or city other than to go out there and walk right into it. it's also a great way to discover new places. "

Choosing exactly which locations to cover was apparently an"organic" process, and the authors had plenty of freedom to decide what went in. They were all our own choices, pretty much", confirmed Steve, "though London is a bit different [to other guides we have done) because we live here. We know the city" Of course, living in London doesn't provide much insight into hotels, but when it comes to restaurants, bars and clubs, the authors had a head start. However, in such a dynamic place as London, where things change quickly, how can the guide keep Visitors' fingers on the pulse? That's a difficult thing to achieve, but Steve believes it's still important to try: "Some trendy places won't last the life of the book, but should go in there."

By now you are no doubt itching to know how the guide portrays London. Despite the pessimistic views of some people today, the guide's depiction is generally glowing. London is "officially the world's greatest city for drama",Tate Modern "the world's leading modern art gallery" and even when it comes to food (not a traditional English strength) the guide says "London has caught up with and, in some respects, overtaken its European cousins". There are, course, some negative aspects.

A (very true observation running throughout the book is die exorbitant level of London Prices: "Eating out in London is outlandishly expensive'; "Accommodation in London is among the most expensive on earth"; "Compare the cheapest one-way fare central London. . . with those charged on the Paris metro and NewYork Subway
and Londoners clearly pay oven the odds" (though, as Steve pointed out to me, the advantage of this is that whenever Londoners go abroad everything seems cheap)
And what about the way Londoners themselves are portrayed? The book paints a generally enthusiastic but schizophrenic portrait of our citizens - they are outgoing and fun-loving, yet bad-tempered and introverted, a paradox summed up neatly by one statement on comedy venues: "You might not think Londoners are a cheerful lot when they growl at you on the tube, but actually, they love a good chuckle".

I asked Steve about Londoners' attitudes and how they are perceived. "Traditionally foreigners viewed them as being not overly friendly but correct. London is changing a lot - I love it a lot, but people have shorter tempers and there are incidents on the streets. But any time you need something from Londoners, they're fine. People are helpful and information is available everywhere".

A typical example of changing attitudes, Steve pointed out, is that not long ago one stranger would step on another's toes, and they would both apologise. That doesn't happen anymore.

To hold these opinions about a population is one thing, but to express them in print can be another matter. There was considerable raising of eyebrows when the 2006 Rough Guide to England claimed that trying to start a conversation with a stranger in this country "can be seen as tantamount to physical assault's. Though generally very positive about Londoners, Lonely Planet London isn't afraid to make the occasional gibe at their expense: in an explanation of Tube etiquette (obviously a particular bugbear of the authors!), the book offers advice such as:

"Under pain of death, do not offer your seat to the elderly, disabled, pregnant or faint; instead, you should bury your head in a book and pretend you can't see clean " That scenario is all too familiar, but deep doom I still took exception to this 'slight' on our character - confirming another of the guide's observations: "Londoners love to gripe about their city, but if you join in with you". l wondered whether travel writers have to be careful when making sweeping statements about people's characteristics and political beliefs (apparently the congestion charge is "punishing but popular"!). Does Steve think There is a need to describe populations tactfully? "To a certain extent you might have to, but Londoners are resilient - they're not going to care too much what a couple of writers say. It's all opinion, subjective "

One benefit of this subjectivity (and a likely explanation for the 'invective' against Londoners'Tube habits) is that it allows the authors to take liberties with the tone and inject a healthy dose of humour, a distinctive feature throughout fhe book (on a torture exhibition at the Toner of London it says,"Frankly you'd see scarier gear at any London S&M Club"). Questioned about this, Steve said"Guide book Writers tend to forget people on holiday came to have fun. People love a lighter approach. The guide doesn't have to seem encyclopaedic:"

Of course, there are other, more fundamental issues when it comes to tailoring a travel guide to its readers. I was interested to note that none of London's three authors is a native-born Londoner. Steve himself is American, Vesna Maric is Bosnian andTom Masters, though English, was brought up in Buckinghamsire. But crucially, all three have lived in London for a number of years. Did this 'outsider' status, this blend of distance and familiarity, help the trio write for tourists, who are outsiders themselves? "l believe so, especially when talking about national characteristics", said Steve.

"47% of Lonely Planet readers are from the US; to make references to Blue Peter just doesn't cut it. You have to be a little bit away." Obviously, as this Highlights, the guide is aimed primarily at visitors from outside the UK, but does Steve believe Londoners Have anything to learn from it? "l think so, yeah. All my London Friends say 'I didn't know that' in terms of sights and museums and bars. Often the foreigner knows the country and city best. " Indeed, Steve confesses to being Far more familiar with London than his native Boston. Maybe we should get to know our city better and beat him at his own game.