No matter how much you can learn online, nothing replaces a good guide-book you can hold in your hand.

Fortunately, recent years have seen an explosion in family travel titles. In fact, you might want several different books for different purposes. Extravagant? Not compared to the cost of a vacation! One key tip can save you hours of hassles, or hundreds of dollars; meanwhile, insights and background can vastly enrich your trip.

One caution, though: with so many new family travel titles being published, no bookstore can fully stock this market niche. Your best bet for finding titles is to search online.

Here's a run-down on five types of books useful for family travelers.

Vacation Ideas Books
The aim of these books is to help you choose your vacation destination, especially if you're considering a family resort. Regional books such as "Caribbean With Kids" give excellent coverage of the family resorts so popular in these islands. Other titles focus on a US region such as the Southeast, or on family cruises, or ski resorts. Read these books at home while planning your vacation; then buy destination guidebooks for your actual trip.

Destination Guidebooks
Each year sees new family travel titles for specific destinations. Florida With Kids, California with Kids: these books typically offer recommendations for lodgings, sightseeing, and restaurants. Always seek the most specific guidebook possible: zero in on exactly where you want to go. Often you'll find city-level books specifically for families.

Theme Park Guidebooks
The prime examples of this type of guidebook are the many volumes written for touring Disney theme parks. These books are worth their weight in gold, especially if you're visiting Walt Disney World, a mammoth destination with four different theme parks plus two water parks. The traveling family needs practical advice, and lots of it.

Travel in Europe
Those heading to Europe may be tempted to take an entire library: your trip will be greatly enriched if you can read about culture and history on the spot. Find the most specific guidebooks available: for example, for Paris, buy a Paris guidebook rather than a France guidebook. For some cities, you'll find titles specifically for travel with kids. Country-level books for family travelers are also available, such as "Italy With Kids". Choose some books for practical tips (accommodation, meals, sightseeing, etc.), some for cultural enrichment.

Travel-as-Learning Books
Almost any trip can be enriched with some exploration of the history and culture of the area you're visiting. Nowadays, brilliant and beautiful books are produced for kids on topics that range from Renaissance Europe to Mayan temples. Bring along a "learning book" or two on your holiday.