A couple of summers ago, Rich and I ventured to Poland for a holiday. Guide book in hand we had a marvellous time in Warsaw and although a clunky paperback is a lot to carry when out for the day, when in Poland it was essential if only for the handy phrases in the back!

When browsing round the hotel reception at the leaflets we saw a small guide on Warsaw itself. Being a general guide to Warsaw we picked it up and had a browse through. This was an In Your Pocket guide book, and it proved to be a fabulous alternative to the heavy-duty country-specific guide books that we’d brought with us. Detailing the local and surrounding attractions to Warsaw, offering contemporary restaurant guides and more off-the-beaten-track local and historical information that never makes it into the more generic guide books. Written in an easy to digest format, it was perfect for the few days we spent in Warsaw.

Heading down to Krakow, we looked out for an In Your Pocket Krakow guide, and found one, again, in the hotel reception; and we were pleased to find that is was as useful as it’s Warsaw counterpart.

The beauty of these guides is that they really live up to their name – a comprehensive guide that really can be folded, rolled and/or wedged into your back pocket.

So you can imagine the first thing I suggested to my mum when she announced that she was off to Gdansk with a few of her mates for a jolly weekend exploring – “Look out for an ‘In your pocket’ guide when you get there”.

Naturally I wondered whether there was anything online, so I visited the In Your Pocket website. A cool website with lots of information on a wealth of cities. “Bingo!” I thought. Unfortunately though, they only had the shorter guides for download, so I thought I’d drop them a line to see where I can buy the longer guide. After a few email exchanges I received two complimentary copies of the full guide book through the post.

I wanted to mention this as it’s so refreshing to find a company that offers a quality product and excellent, friendly customer service. Look out for these guides whenever you’re visiting an unfamiliar European city as you’re bound to find something in them that is useful and interesting, or check out their website before you go.