I intend to visit Malcesine on Lake Garda, Italy in 2009. What is the definitive tourist guide? Kenneth Tyler, by email

Sunday Times travel expert Richard Green responds: Your local bookshop should be able to help tracking down the right titles for you, but the speediest way to find out who publishes guide books to a particular region, is to do a search on Amazon.

You'll see that for the Italian Lakes there are about a dozen different guides. About the best is the one produced by Rough Guides (The Italian Lakes; £12.99). It has over 400 pages and strikes a good balance between information on the history and culture of the area, with important nitty gritties, like how to get around and where is good to eat.

Also very good is Cadogan's Lombardy & The Italian Lakes (£14.99). There is good detailed practical information, but also thorough mention of the art history, architecture, and culture of the Lakes area.

The Sunflower guide (£12.99), which has detailed suggestions on car trips and walks, with good maps where necessary.

Then there are the smaller and more pictorial guides, which are good for a general overview of the area, but in which you are unlikely to find details on the small town in which you are staying.

There are guides to the Lakes from the AA (£6.99), Berlitz (£4.99), Insight Guide (£5.99), and the Globetrotter Travel Guide (£8.99).

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