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GUIDEBOOKS TO ALMOST EVERYWHERE Published: April 18, 1982
RICHARD EDER is chief of The Times Paris bureau. By RICHARD EDER
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''G o with me,'' the classical guidebook commanded, calling itself, for that reason, ''vade mecum.'' Guidebooks emerged when grand tours began to go under: those arranged in lordly fashion, using servants and letters of introduction, and those carried out more rumbustiously -Dumas brawling through Andalusia, Borrow busybodying his way around what he chose to call ''Wild Wales.'' They gave place to the institutionalized timidity of the Victorians, who preferred books to introductions, as being more likely to unite a decent moral tone with thorough instruction. Hence Baedeker.
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Guidebooks have since sprouted in every direction. The heirs to Baedeker flourish: Blue Guides and Nagel's guides, detailing village by village and mile after mile. They are soberly written and ostensibly without angles or color. Only ostensibly: The notion that the world has an intelligible history that has deposited artifacts that are worth seeing and, furthermore, ought to be seen, is colorful enough these days, if you think about it.
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They are the guidebook as ideal: and also, perhaps as obstacle. They set out a trip as dozens or hundreds of goals, with a notion that traveling does not consist of losing yourself but of keeping yourself in hand. They sharpen the edge of anxiety, as if their main point was not so much to see things as to make sure you haven't missed any.
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As for seeing, perhaps they do get in the way: they are the anatomical chart of the real object, and a tourist standing in Chartres cathedral and following the ogives in the guidebook is seeing things by a kind of mental black-light that illuminates something indisputably real about the place - but not precisely the thing that makes it worth coming so far to see.
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The travel guide is not simply a book: it is a person, as well. The Blue Guide has been to an expensive college and prefers to be known as le Guide Bleu. Its traveling clothes are well-cut and even if it doesn't list restaurants it makes a point of going to good, not necessarily expensive, ones. It has been to them before, and is greeted by the proprietor.
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Nagel went to a state university where it studied harder than Blue Guide, didn't have such a good time, but got better marks and a Ph.D. Its clothes come off the rack and wherever it decides to eat, it makes notes during the meal. Blue Guide, Nagel thinks, is a dilettante.
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Neither has much use for Fodor's, which is noisy and travels with its wife and another couple. (Blue Guide has been known to sneak a Fodor's in the bottom of its suitcase, though, for a little light reading.)
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Fodor's has a very good time, picks up a touch of something in Siena that doesn't last, though, buys presents for the children and doesn't remember every place it visited. A nice tweedy lady of a certain age at the next table is going through Fielding. Arthur Frommer's Dollarwise Guide has just bought a $600 guitar because they are cheaper here, and you get workmanship. It has an ant problem from time to time owing to the cheese and chocolate in its luggage. ''Paris at Night'' stays in its hotel each evening reading about it. ''France en Jeans'' is the niece of a friend. It did a French civilization summer course at Aix-en-Provence, is heading out to Rennes with a bunch of kids it met, and would like to leave its three suitcases with you for a week or two. Michelin is not a person: neither the red one nor the green. It is a universal condition, a flyer's manual, a navigational chart. What it makes you wonder about, though, is the other hilltop town you pass by on your way to a starred town; the restaurant down the street from the starred restaurant, the hotel across the square from the recommended hotel. Is Michelin economizing a great swatch of the world, putting it aside in a kind of forest reserve so it won't get worn out by tourists? Such a pristine air these non-Michelined places have, like untracked snow. And the day a shopkeeper tells you about an unlisted restaurant her family goes to, and you go: Is it as marvelous as it seems, or only so for not being written down? Traveling occurs between the lines of the guidebooks. But what would we do without the lines to start off from? Guidebooks can replace vision with self-consciousness - for the guide-wired traveler the church's name exists before the church does - but they also reassure. Most of us can't tolerate unrelieved strangeness. The thing to do is to leave the book in the hotel room by mistake every third morning, or to read its map backwards and go the other way. Anyway, the books have other uses. Anticipatory reading, for instance, for a journey that may take place never, or only years later. To imagine Denmark is a very fine thing: I won't say finer than going there, but fine in its own way. ''From Horsens to Arhus the main road (A 10) runs past the Yding Skovhoj Hills, the highest point in the whole of Denmark (173 m) on left, and then through Skanderborg, situated on a beautiful lake,'' Nagel says. Arhus is a sweeping white-walled town with a view for miles. The Yding Skovhoj Hills are emerald green: and Skanderborg Lake is turquoise laced with purple. Later, if I ever go there, who knows what these places will really look like: but they will look better, in any case, because I imagined them. Or retrospective reading. After a day traveling to Doune Castle in Scotland, to Balquhidder and Killin, past Loch Tay and under Ben Lawers, and from there to Aberfeldy and Pitlochry. After dinner, Blue Guide tells me of one of my stops: ''Gargunnock house (garden open), 3 m. S., is said to have been visited by Chopin, who composed the schottische, the popular scottish country dance, for Miss Gargunnock.'' Oh, Miss Gargunnock: I was there too. Britain For the serious traveler to Britain, one interested in seeing in detail the great houses, castles, churches and museums that dot every county, the Blue Guides are probably the most complete. They are, however, written in the earnest and humorless style of the Baedekers of old, have no illustrations and contain no information about hotels, restaurants or prices. The more practical side of British tourism is covered by three guides that are issued annually: ''Egon Ronay's Lucas Guide,'' ''The Good Food Guide,'' and the Michelin red guide. Michelin, in my judgment, is the weakest of the three, except for its superbly detailed city and town maps. ''The Good Food Guide'' gives detailed judgments of relatively few restaurants; Ronay covers both hotels and restaurants. If I were buying only one, it would be Ronay. For those on limited budgets, two other Ronay guides are indispensable. One covers pubs and the other, called ''Just a Bite,'' lists places that serve good, cheap, simple food. For those visiting only London, I would strongly suggest the green Michelin guide to the capital. It is packed with historical and cultural information, maps, charts, line-drawings and addresses. Walkers will profit from Anton Powell's new book ''Londonwalks'' (Holt, Rinehart, Winston). Among hundreds of specialist guides, I must mention four: Mervyn Blatch's ''Guide to London Churches'' (Constable), Elsie Burch Donald's ''London Shopping Guide'' (Penguin), the Oxford University Press's handsome illustrated literary guide (for those who would walk in the footsteps of Shakespeare and Wordsworth) and the inexpensive paperback annual called ''Historic Houses, Castles and Gardens'' (International Publications Service), the only source of accurate, up-to-date data on often eccentric opening hours. Visitors to Scotland would do well to invest in the detailed and comprehensive ''Harper's Handbook to Edinburgh,'' which is available, as far as I know, only locally. R.W.Apple Jr. Ireland The Blue Guide contains the most complete information on sights and museums. It is thorough, but a bit dull. For hotels and restaurants, I find ''Egon Ronay's Lucas Guide'' essential. It has a separate section on Ireland that lists all the best places. Fodor's ''Ireland'' is a useful introduction for someone who has never visited Ireland before, especially the general chapters that deal with the literary tradition, for example, or the Irish love for sports. A very good specialized guidebook is ''A Literary Guide to Ireland,'' by Susan and Thomas Cahill. It was published in the United States in 1973, and is now out of print, but you can buy it in Dublin bookstores. It contains evocative descriptions of the parts of the Irish scene important to such writers as Yeats, Joyce, Swift and O'Casey, and tells the tourist how to follow in their footsteps. William Borders France A man on the Paris Metro is reading his newspaper upside down. The fellow next to him says: ''Pardon, monsieur, but you're reading the paper upside down.'' The man looks at him and says: ''You think it's easy?'' Seeing France without a Michelin guide is much the same. It can be done, but it isn't easy. In fact, it's downright foolish. Most travelers are familiar with the red guide, with its lists of hundreds of restaurants and hotels, but not everyone knows about the green guides and the road maps. The maps, very simply, are excellent, and cover every corner of France. There are 43 of them, so there is no excuse for getting lost. They do not include larger-scale maps of cities, which is irritating, but then the city maps are in the red guide, with special notations on where the best restaurants are to be found. The green guides are pocket-sized encyclopedias, and are a necessity for any traveler who wants something more than a tour-bus monologue. There are 19 green guides for France, six of them in English. They are so good that not even the French, who hate to admit they don't know everything about France, carry them. After the Michelin guides, the best book to have in Paris is ''A Touch of Paris,'' a guide put together by a group of young Americans who live there. It is sensible, witty and complete, without being outsized. As a bonus, it has superb photographs and great drawings by the French cartoonist Sempe. For wine buffs, Alexis Lichine's ''The Wines and Vineyards of France'' (Knopf) is a must. Mr. Lichine provides not only the story of the wines, but also itineraries for visiting the wine regions. Each chapter ends with a list of hotels and restaurants. After 40 years of tramping the wine roads of France, Mr. Lichine has some excellent tips to offer. Frank J. Prial Switzerland There are many good guidebooks on Switzerland. Perhaps because I look for the solid information that enables me to decide why, where, when and how best to see what I elect to visit, the Michelin green guide is the one I first pull off my bookshelves to plan an excursion when I have not left it in the glove compartment of my car. The English version of the Swiss green guide is now almost impossible to find in the shops, but a completely updated revised edition is due out in July, Michelin says. Fodor's ''Guide to Switzerland'' has a detailed chapter on each of the nation's highly diverse regions, as well as more general information about the country. Its easy style makes for summer reading, without forgetting its basic purpose of enabling the visitor to enjoy what Switzerland has to offer. For anyone who delights in tramping about a foreign country (as distinct from scaling peaks with guides and ropes), a Sierra Club publication, ''Footloose in the Swiss Alps'' by William Reifsnyder, is the ideal traveling companion. Another way to get inside Switzerland is to take the advice of Margaret Zellers by going ''The Inn Way'' (Berkshire Traveller Press). The author, who seems to have left no stone unturned, tells much about Switzerland and the Swiss in this guide to the out-of-theway places to stay. Miss Zellers has also put together, for the Swiss National Tourist Office, a 32-page handbook, ''The Unique World of Switzerland,'' that is available at any Swiss National Tourist Office. Victor Lusinchi Germany The thing about guidebooks in Germany is that most of them are written for people going somewhere else. This is understandable, because the Germans are Europe's most active tourists, and seem to feel comforted by the sense of circumscription that a guidebook gives you, a mirage of order even where you know there might be none. That leaves a short shelf of guidebooks about Germany. Do not expect the quirky or gaily idiosyncratic in a country that doesn't see itself as such. For instance, I like a place called Konigswinter, across the river from Bonn. It's a hoot: donkey carts, bars, accordion bands, Turkish guys trying to pick up the Dutch girls off the Rhine River day-liners. But do you think there's a guidebook with even a vaguely apostate approach that might mention it? No. So make do. Food: Trust the red Michelin. (The best way really would be to clip out the German gourmet magazines but that's a chore.) Michelin also does places to stay, if you can follow all those little markings that look like they come from a Monopoly set. Robert Kane's ''Germany A to Z'' (Rand, McNally) also does pretty well on hotels, I think, noting correctly that one place where I had a room for a month rivaled Brandon, Manitoba, for atmosphere. It is clearly not so good on restaurants, with my 1980 copy making no mention of either Aubergine or Tantris, the two Munich restaurants that are the country's best. As for maps and descriptions of things to see, there is the Michelin green guide and Baedeker's. I think they're both peculiarly antiseptic - the country is really much more beautiful and interesting than they let on. The Baedeker's has some good features, including lists of all the golf courses, casinos, zeppelin museums, salt mines and diabetes clinics open to the public. John Vinocur Russia For an omnibus guidebook that will steer you to the right trolleybus for Moscow's Marx and Engels Museum or the tastiest dishes in Uzbekistan, the classic is Nagel's ''Guide to the U S.S.R.'' But at more than 1,000 pages and with a price of $45, this tome may be more than the tourist needs. A good substitute of more limited range is the Blue Guide to Moscow and Leningrad. Victor and Jennifer Louis's ''Complete Guide to the Soviet Union,'' written by a couple who live in a curious demi-monde between the Soviet system and the world outside, is cheaper, almost as exhaustive and in some ways more up-to-date. Soviet guidebooks incline to the leaden. But if you'd like a view that's both sympathetic and readable, hunt up John E. Felber's ''Tourist Manual for the U.S.S.R.'' (International Intertrade). This 220-page paperback is a melange of sensible cautions (''Don't lose your patience - keep a chipper attitude - avoid arguments'') and dizzying reversals of common experience (''Soviet customs are very lenient with tourist baggage''). With Mr. Felber at hand you will find comfort in the most vexing situations. If you're looking for good food the Soviet Union is not for you. But Lynn and Wesley Fisher's ''The Moscow Gourmet'' will help you to make the most of what there is. The section on ''waiter sovieticus'' is probably the best ever written on that ornery species. ''If you scream at the waiter,'' advise the Fishers, ''he will probably scream back.'' For the connoisseur there is nothing to rival Baedeker's ''Russia 1914,'' a classic that has become a rarity even in its 1971 reprint. Here are the sights and sounds of the old Russia, some of them still discernible behind the sterile facade of the new. The images are worth savoring still. John F. Burns Spain The choice of guidebooks is a very private statement about oneself. It resembles one's choice of friends. It hints at economic position, frugality or its opposite, frivolity or intellectual pretension. That said, the snob in Spain and Portugal goes with the classics. The outof-print Guides Bleu, with one volume for Spain and another for Portugal, Madeira and the Azores, remain the scholar's guides to the nave of every cathedral in Iberia. Where else can you learn that in the 14th century, on the island of Lanzarote, ''the women enjoyed the privilege of polyandry, being allowed three husbands who succeeded each other at the new moon''? If the Guide Bleu is for the graduate student of Iberian tourism, the reliable green Michelin guide is for the serious undergraduate who means to get through the Prado in less than a week. Its companion for sleeping and eating purposes, the red Michelin, is idiosyncratically French in its perception that the best food in Spain is served near the French border, in places like Barcelona and San Sebastian. That this is true does not remove the foreign taint. The newly issued ''Baedeker's Spain'' is a relatively serious tour of the main sights, with simple maps and pictures. The traveler who wants to be told to do only a few things in a few places will undoubtedly want Fodor's. The natives use other things. In the capital, for eating, ''Madrid Gastronomico'' and ''Guia Gastronomica de Madrid,'' and, in the provinces, ''Guia Gastronomica de Espana,'' which can be bought at well-stocked newspaper kiosks. The Banco Exterior has just issued ''La Guia del Viajero,'' which gives many places to eat and sleep across the country. James M. Markham Italy For several years I have been collecting old Baedekers. For anyone who plans to visit Italy, I'd recommend the 1930 editions of ''Northern Italy With Florence,'' ''Rome and Central Italy'' and ''Southern Italy and Sicily, With Sardinia, Malta, Tripoli and Corfu,'' together with the 1927 ''Tyrol and the Dolomites'' and the 1928 ''Switzerland With Chamonix and the Italian Lakes.'' All these travelers' companions are full of good advice for railroad passengers, and have almost none for motorists, let alone the jet crowd. They recommend hotels and restaurants that are only dim memories, and quote rates that are about one-thousanth of today's. Yet with all their anachronisms, these red-bound oldies are still most useful for their painstaking descriptions of the enduring sights - the frescoes in the palaces of Tuscany, the panoramas from alpine peaks, the beauty of Lake Como. Their accuracy and exhaustiveness is unmatched by any of the younger generation of guidebooks, including the automobile-oriented Baedeker series that came out after World War II. (True, the current travel literature has the up-to-date listing of hotels and eating places, but for accommodation and food, I'd rather rely on word-of-mouth and advice from local people.) Of course, Baedeker frowns on fun in traveling. With a pedantry that comes through even in the English-language editions, the stern taskmaster relentlessly orders his charges to visit the Egyptian-Assyrian collections in museum basements, climb high towers, bribe or bully sacristans into turning on the lights to make musty Baroque paintings visible and to take in the cemetery in Pisa, ''for which 53 shiploads of earth were brought from Jerusalem in 1203.'' Without Baedeker I'd never have known. Paul Hofmann Greece For travelers who wish to immerse themselves in the layers of culture and history that go to make up Greece, the Blue Guide is as detailed and comprehensive as anyone could wish. Complete with street plan of Athens and maps of Greece and several of the islands, it is a mine of historical information from ancient times to the present. Less highbrow, but sufficiently detailed to satisfy most nonspecialist readers, the ''Guide to Greece'' by Michael von Haag and Neville Lewis combines historical detail with anecdotes and comments on local customs. Also useful and readable is the familiar Frommer ''Greece and Yugoslavia on 15 and 20 Dollars a Day,'' by John Wilcock. Mr. Wilcock is helpful in providing additional practical travel information, such as the starting points of buses and telephone numbers of hotels. Other sources of pratical information are two monthly publications, ''Greek Travel Pages'' and ''Key Travel,'' which contain bus, train and boat schedules, comprehensive lists of hotels, museums, facilities, opening hours and prices and telephone numbers of embassies, airlines and travel agencies. There are also several guides to individual towns and islands. The various publications of Lycabbetus Press provide a historical survey, information on local mythology and detailed walking hours of 16 localities, including Delphi, Aegina, Naxos and Paros. The Lycabbetus guides are clearly written and have maps and photographs, generally black and white. The local guidebooks published by Ekdotike Athinon are noteworthy for their excellent color plates. In addition to guides to such towns and cities as Delphi, Heraklion and Thessaloniki, they also publish guides to the Acropolis and various museums. Paul Anastasi Turkey According to educated consensus, the best overall guidebook to Turkey is the Blue Guide, which gives full and fair treatment to all the civilizations in Asia Minor from classical times through the Ottoman Empire. The book is available here in a 1970 English edition and a 1978 French one. The Nagel ''Travel Guide to Turkey 1974'' is good on Istanbul and western Anatolia, but shrugs off the eastern parts of the country rather summarily. Fodor's ''Turkey, 1980,'' has some inexactitudes that raise the eyebrows of the experts. The Traveller's Guide series is generally dependable and interesting. There are several specific guidebooks on that great city, Istanbul, better known as Constantinople or Byzantium. ''Strolling Through Istanbul,'' by Hilary Sumner Boyd and John Freely (Redhouse Press, Istanbul), has maps and reads like a novel. ''A Guide to Istanbul,'' by the Turkish journalist Celik Gulersoy has interesting old pictures and a local view of things. For amateur archeologists and even specialists, there are several classics. Ekrem Akurgal's ''Ancient Civilizations and Ruins of Turkey,'' which covers Turkey from prehistoric times through the Roman Empire, is indispensable. Also recommended are the four books on classical Turkey by George Bean: ''Turkey Beyond the Meander,'' which deals with the Carian civilization; ''Aegean Turkey,'' which focuses on the Biblical sites of Izmir (ancient Smyrna) and Ephesus; ''Lycian Turkey,'' which is about that wild southwest corner of the peninsula, and ''Turkey's Southern Shore,'' which covers Pamphyllia and the area where the apostle Paul traveled. Among other regional guidebooks, there is the very readable ''Biblical Sites in Turkey,'' by Everett C. Blake and Anna G. Edmonds (Redhouse Press, Istanbul), and Gwyn Williams's detailed guide and history called simply ''Eastern Turkey.'' Marvine Howe Egypt The single best guidebook for the traveler seriously interested in exploring pharaonic Egypt, Moslem Egypt and the Egypt of the late 20th century is ''Nagel's Encyclopedia-Guide.'' First published in 1980, the 816-page book is a crash course in archeology, theology, history and geography. It contains detailed drawings and foldout inset maps that are invaluable to a tourist. The catch is that it is expensive. A copy costs nearly $50. But, despite occasional sententious, even arcane, asides, Nagel's is worth it for the vast amount of lore gathered between its covers. (The section on the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, for instance, runs many pages, with descriptions of what is to be found in that vast, often confusing, building's 50 rooms.) It does not list hotels, restaurants and the like. Therefore a companion guide such as Arthur Frommer's ''Dollarwise Guide to Egypt'' is recommended for details on where to eat, drink and make merry. For someone planning a lengthy stay in Cairo, a book published by the American University in Cairo, called ''Cairo: A Practical Guide,'' is essential. It is full of information, from banks to bazaars, and, in a complex city where a phone book is nonexistent, contains valuable telephone numbers - provided the phones are working. This guide costs about $7 and is available at Cairo bookshops and hotel newsstands. It contains 11 extremely useful detailed maps of the city. There are numerous specialized guidebooks for various sites. One of the best is ''Luxor'' (Longman) by Jill Kamil. Miss Kamil also has a book out on the pyramids at Sakkara. Her works are available at bookshops and at places like the Nile Hilton Hotel. William E. Farrell Israel The best guidebook for Israel is the Bible. Stand on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, turn to Matthew 23:37 and read the words of Jesus's lament as he stood on this very spot: ''O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee ...'' This, of course, is where it all happened - or almost all - from the very beginnings of the Old Testament right through the New. An excellent companion volume is ''Discovering the World of the Bible,'' by LaMar C. Berrett (Brigham Young University Press). Each location is described in a short passage with the precise biblical references. The book covers not only Israel but also sites in Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey. The classic guide to Israel is Zev Vilnay's ''Israel Guide'' (International Publications Service), a formidable mini-encyclopedia (but in an easily portable volume) on the history and archeology of Israel proper and the occupied territories with diagrams of the sites and clear walking and driving directions. The ''Archeology'' volume of the Israel Pocket Library series (Keter Books) also contains excellent descriptions and diagrams of digs and sites. For lighter fare, try ''Footloose in Jerusalem'' (Crown), by Sarah Fox Kaminker, which sets out a series of eight walking tours throughout the city. Newcomers and residents alike find them illuminating. A good shopping guide, which is fun to read even if you don't need its advice, is ''The Underground Jerusalem Guide,'' by Janet Kaplan and Judy Stacey Goldman (Keter Books). It helps you find your way to the city's craftsmen, tucked away down back alleys everything from marriage broker to leather worker to glass blower. The book, written in 1976, has become somewhat outdated, but it's still worth browsing through. Even if the craftsman is no longer where the book says he is, the search can be exciting. David K. Shipler Southeast Asia In Asia, a guidebook is not only advisable, it is essential. Unlike travel in Europe or Africa, where experiences tend to blend across country borders, every stop on a Manila, Bangkok, Singapore, Jakarta, Bali, Hong Kong itinerary brings the traveler to an area that bears little or no resemblance to the one before. For the multi-stop traveler, the Far Eastern Economic Review puts out an annual ''All Asia Guide,'' which gives travel suggestions, hotel lists, visa information and a reading list, and is by far the most complete reference. A similar regional guide ''Pacific Islands Yearbook,'' produced by the Australian-based Pacific Publications, is the only up-to-date guide to the Pacific islands. It is expensive (about $35), but it is the only guide that provides information on, for example, the World War II relics on Betio in the tiny island nation of Kiribati. Singapore-based Apa Productions publishes the best of the country guides, among them volumes on Thailand and the Philippines. Entertaining, but too bulky to carry along, Apa guides should be read before and after an Asian visit. The only country guide on Indonesia better than Apa's is a thick paperback by Bill Dalton, entitled ''Indonesia Handbook'' (Moon Publications). This guide gives insight into the complicated structure of Indonesian religion and life; the information on feasts and festivals is particularly useful in a country where there seems to be a ceremony of some sort every day. The chatty commentary on such things as how to appease an erupting volcano with animal sacrifice makes this book a good travel companion - although it is banned in Indonesia because of its descriptions of corruption. Singapore and Hong Kong are Asia's eating and shopping capitals. Shopping is relatively easy in Singapore, but eating can be an adventure. ''Singapore Feasts,'' another Apa book, gives phone numbers, prices and meal suggestions. ''Hong Kong Shopper,'' by Michelle Kay, is slightly out of date, but very helpful. One of the best eating guides is Harry Rolnick's ''Hong Kong.'' Pamela G. Hollie India The single most comprehensive guide to the subcontinent is a direct descendant of a remarkable Victorian tome first published in 1859 by the firm of John Murray, ''Handbook for Travelers in India.'' Its 22d edition was published three years ago, and is now called ''A Handbook for Travelers in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.'' (Facts on File is its United States distributor.) Murray's should satisfy any tourist who wants to know what's where and what's what - and how long it's been like that. Its detailed entries concentrate on the historical and cultural; it does not list hotels or restaurants. Slightly lighter, but also exhaustive, is Nagel's guide to India and Nepal. Its first 140 pages are filled with concise essays on Indian religions, social structure, history and art that are a good introduction to this often baffling part of the world. Like Murray's, Nagel's does not provide much guidance into accommodations and comparative hygiene. Fodor's guide to India is intended for the tourist who wants to be assured of comfort. It focuses on hotels and shopping and eating, but is a bit superficial on culture and misses some of the Indianness of the place. The Fodor guide to Islamic Asia rises above that standard, however, and excellently covers Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Even though two-thirds of this area is pretty much off limits these days, the Pakistan section alone is worth the price of the book. There is also a new guide published by four American women who have lived in New Delhi for several years. Called ''Glimpses of India,'' it sets out more than 60 trips, ranging from afternoon outings from Delhi to three-week itineraries. It has tips on trekking and on traveling with children and it lists hundreds of small but delightful ''discoveries.'' It costs $5 and is available in New Delhi at the U. S. Embassy bookstore, or at the book shop in Jorbagh market (or write to one of the authors, Joan Westley, in care of the American Embassy School in New Delhi). For bird watchers, Salim Ali's ''Birds of India'' (Oxford University Press) is essential. Michael T. Kaufman China The most comprehensive China guidebook remains Nagel's. It is expensive and bulky, which makes it a nuisance to lug around on a day's sightseeing. But the formidable wealth of heavily archeological and architectural detail in its nearly 1,500 pages is bound to satisfy if not overwhelm the most curious traveler. A new edition was brought up to date last year. The most popular paperback among English-speaking foreigners living in Peking is ''China Companion,'' by Evelyne Garside, the wife of a British diplomat who served two tours in that city. Mrs. Garside learned personally whereof she speaks, by peeking around the facade officially presented to foreigners. Her book, first published last year in England and newly available in the United States from Farrar, Straus and Giroux, is already slightly dated, through no real fault of hers. She is knowledgeable and does not mince words. If the hotel or restaurant is dreadful, she warns you. A little further down my list is the ''China Guidebook'' published by Eurasia Press in New York. Its claim of being definitive is overblown, but it does deal with practical problems of traveling in China and gives a good rundown of cities in convenient alphabetical order. For travelers coming to China on packaged tours, a guidebook may not be particularly useful about where to go and what to do. For such travelers, a better choice might be something less conventional that will explain the significance of what they are allowed to see. Anyone who invests in such a trip would benefit from three recent books. ''Coming Alive: China After Mao'' (McGraw Hill), by Roger Garside, is an astute eyewitness account of China's transition from a xenophobic Maoist garrison state to a comparatively open society. ''The Chinese,'' by David Bonavia, who covers China for both The Times of London and the Far Eastern Economic Review, is an entertaining and intimate portrait of how the Chinese live and work. ''The Gate of Heavenly Peace,'' by Jonathan Spence (Viking), traces China's modern development through its intellectual triumphs and frustrations - it is one of the liveliest historical studies of China in years. A traveler who reads any of these is unlikely to succumb to the glib cliches of an officially assigned guide. Christopher S. Wren Japan ''The New Official Guide: Japan,'' compiled by the Japan National Tourist Organization, is the companion of diplomats and journalists here. Although this red-covered, cloth-bound volume has 1,100 pages (and 72 maps), it can be carried easily in one hand. It is divided into two sections, with both general information about Japan and advice specifically for travelers on cities, landmarks and areas. It contains far more than the casual tourist might want or need to know, but it is definitive. It costs about $21.25, and is available at Japan National Tourist Organization offices in Japan and the United States. ''Japan: A Travel Survival Kit,'' by Ian McQueen (Lonely Planet), is a handy, 480-page paperback by a veteran Japanese traveler. It contains straightforward information on all the major tourist sites in Japan and helpful tips for foreigners designed to make traveling in Japan easier and more enjoyable. Among specialized offerings, ''Kyoto: A Contemplative Guide,'' by Gouverneur Mosher (Charles E. Tuttle), is a 368-page volume that combines travel information and cultural scholarship. Its essays provide a context for an appreciation of Kyoto, the ancient imperial capital of Japan. ''Kanazawa: The Other Side of Japan,'' by Ruth Stevens (Nakagawa Taisho), is a detailed and informative guide to Kanazawa, a town on the opposite side of island of Honshu from Tokyo, best known for its old castles and traditional gardens. ''Eating Cheap in Japan,'' by Kimiko Nagasawa and Camy Condon (Shufunotomo), is a slim paperback filled with pictures and descriptions of many Japanese dishes. It is helpful in identifying local specialties from the plastic models that are displayed in most Japanese restaurants, tells what is in each dish and provides the Japanese words for ordering. Steve Lohr Canada The most detailed and informative general guidebook to Canada is Stephen Birnbaum's ''Canada 1982'' (Houghton Mifflin). Province by province, it gives attractions, maps and prices for almost every visitor's needs. If French is your language, there is the comprehensive Guide Bleu. ''Offbeat Canada: 101 Different Vacation Adventures,'' by Gerry Hall (New American Library), describes a variety of trips: train excursions on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad from Skagway, Alaska, to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory; hiking the Pangnirtung Pass and Auyuittuq National Park on the Arctic Circle; white-water rafting on the rivers of British Columbia. Each adventure ends with information on how to arrange it yourself. One of the best and most readable regional guides is ''New Brunswick In and Out,'' by Colleen Thompson (Waxwing Productions). The book covers formal and folk history, major cities and towns with maps, walking and driving trips, festivals and places to stay, eat, drink, shop, fish. There is a short glossary of local words. Among other specialized guides, ''Where to Eat in Canada,'' by Anne Hardy (Oberon Press), lists 500 restaurants across the country and is updated annually. ''Toronto Guidebook'' (Key Publishers Ltd.) is an excellent city guide, with detailed walking tours, events, galleries, theaters, hotels, eating, drinking and shopping spots. (Notice, though, that it was last updated in 1979, so prices have changed.) ''Country Bed and Breakfast,'' by John Thompson (Deneau and Greenberg), is perfect for those planning an off-the-beaten-track vacation or those on a limited budget. Each entry tells where the establishment - farm or guesthouse - is, who runs it, what they offer for how much, how to get there and what previous guests thought about their lodging. Henry Giniger Mexico Without question, the best guidebook to Mexico remains the Blue Guide. It is particularly good for a driving tour of Mexico - it provides the mileage between and details on every imaginable point of interest -and is unsurpassed among non-specialist literature on archeological subjects. Reflecting the French interest in the Mayas, it dedicates pages to the Yucatan and, presuming that all selfrespecting Maya-buffs would also go to Guatemala, it includes a lengthy secton on Mexico's southern neighbor. (With a civil war raging in Guatemala, though, that section is best read in Mexico.) The Blue Guide does overlook such travel requirements as sleeping and eating. For hotels, restaurants and other useful information, Fodor's takes some beating. It is essentially practical everything from how to retire in Mexico to how to say ''without starch, please'' to your Mexican laundryman. Its chapters on individual towns and resorts are written in an entertainingly chatty style by old Mexico hands. But ignore the prices in this or any other Mexico travel book. The Mexican peso was devalued in late February and most prices - in dollars, at least - should now be much lower. A different approach is offered by Richard Bloomgarden who, over the years, has produced more than 20 of a series called ''The Easy Guide to ...''. These are 30- to 40-page booklets, with maps and photos, on all of Mexico's main cities, resorts and ruins. At about $2 each (and available in most hotel lobbies), they are a bargain. For visitors trapped in the capital and looking for escape, Rudi Robbins's ''One-Day Car Trips from Mexico City'' lives up to its title. And in one day, believe me, you can see a lot. Alan Riding GUIDEBOOKS TO ALMOST EVERYWHERE By Edward Schumacher South America If you are traveling from Peru south, excluding Brazil, the best guidebook is ''The South American Handbook,'' edited by John Brooks (Trade and Travel Publications). It is updated annually; the 1982 edition should be out soon. The book covers all of South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Its small type and 1,300 pages make the individual sections on each country almost equal to a small book in themselves. Each section is filled with authoritative historical, political and economic background. The ''Handbook'' is designed for the traveler who wants to do it all on his own. It lists not only first-class hotels and restaurants but also cheap and out-of-the-way ones. It recommends banks, tourist agencies, sporting clubs, bookshops and tearooms, as well as nightclubs and theaters. In the Buenos Aires section, for example, it also describes the suburbs and surrounding towns in the Pampas. Likewise, it leads the intrepid traveler through such out-of-the-way adventures as going overland from La Paz, Bolivia, to Machu Picchu, Peru. It gives prices (often outdated, however) and times and phone numbers, as well as dos and don'ts on shopping, tipping, crime and the like. The book's price - $25 - is steep for someone going to just one of the countries covered, but the sad fact is that there are no good single country books. The other continental handbook, Fodor's, is fine, but not as comprehensive and adventurous. For hikers and nature lovers, there is ''Backpacking and Trekking in Peru and Bolivia,'' by Hilary and George Bradt (Bradt Enterprises). The latest edition was published in 1980 and is widely available in Peru and Bolivia, and in some stores in the United States. Edward Schumacher Illustrations: drawing
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