Top 5 Independent City Guides

Top Five Independent City Guides

City guides, you either love them or you hate them. Some give helpful suggestions while others plan out your every move from when you stop off the plane. Similarly you get two kinds of travellers; the organisers who plan everything down to a T to avoid any nasty surprises and then the drifters who plan minimally and welcome their twists of fate. Depending on who you are weighs greatly on your choice of city guide. However some traits are universal. The structure of these guides have recently become much more relaxed. Picking the single book you're going to spend a precious 1kg towards your luggage allowance on can be the difference between packing those hiking boots or not. Here are five independent city guides you'll be thankful to have as a trusty companion on your explorations into the worlds metropolises.

Cereal
Cereal began as a beautiful travel and style magazine, covering six topics including cities, interviews, art and architecture. It also contains a pretty neat literary supplement. It's at no surprise then that Cereal went on to create city guides carrying on their signature minimalist style, their photos adopting a spacious and bright theme. Each page introduces you to a cafe, museum, library, store, bar, park or any other place of interest. It touches upon them ever so slightly with the name, location and a snapshot of text luring you onto the next plane. Currently they have guides for London, New York, Paris and Copenhagen, with many more available online. Cereal tends to transcend the typical city guide, it's clean presentation giving it the freedom to explore topics deep in art, style and architecture.

Monocle 
Yet another set of travel guides born first from a successful magazine. Monocle magazine is the go to for any entrepreneurial bearded man. It is the quintessential lifestyle and current affairs magazine for that guy you buy coffee from who does graphic design on the side and rides a bicycle. Monocle itself is a huge brand with a 24 hour radio show and website, founded by Tyler Brûlé who also created Wallpaper magazine. The city guides are insanely comprehensive and recognisable by their playful, brand conforming cartoons on their front covers. They cover most continents whether you're wanting to check out London from new eyes or try somewhere a little more exotic such as Honolulu. Each page is jam packed with information and inspiring imagery with hotel ideas, food suggestions, where to shop, need to knows, vocabulary and a hell of a lot more. Each business is presented in a personal manner, introducing you to the creator while notable buildings include mini history lessons or interesting facts. In keeping with Monocle's magazine topics the city guides include essays detailing current affairs and issues.

LOST iN
You may have seen these guides dotted about, with their bright, simple front covers brandishing the names of every possibly 'cool' city on the planet from Copenhagen to Berlin. These guides are unique in that they're made like a magazine, in terms of their broad content. Expect to find the usual shopping, culture and food sections as well as thought pieces, specifically what to buy, two-page editorial shots and travel writing.
10 €, www.lostin.com/shop/

The City Reporter
Unlike most city guides on this list Luis Mendo gives the briefest of introductions to the worlds most popular cities. In a handy A6 booklet, which folds out to the size of two A4 sheets, the guides touch upon cultural quirks, basic language points, useful tips and areas to explore. In a guide small enough to slip into our notebook you're given a crash course in handling an alien world from warning you off tipping in Tokyo to teaching you 'I don't understand,' in French. The guides serve as a starting point rather than a crutch written and illustrated by a man passionate about his travel in a simple and wholly accessible way. Luis' enthusiasm about the cities he has visited shows through his imaginative writing as if a good friend is giving you tips for your upcoming trip.
£4, www.thecityreporter.com 
Citix60
Written by 60 local creatives who show you the best ins and outs of the worlds cities Citix60 guides give you the most personalised and out-of-the-box view of places such as Lisbon, Hong Kong and Melbourne. The guide introduces you to each creative that contributed with each place a well-loved market, art-space, shop, restaurant or coffee shop. The cover folds out into a funky cartoon map of the city center while a more detailed map is available inside. Each business has a QR code allowing you to scan and instantly find further information on the company.


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