Reply #4: Before you go, read a couple of guidebooks

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. Insight Guide: for general information on culture and history and narrative descriptions of the sights

2. The Rick Steves guidebook (if you haven't been before), because he practically talks you through the most common sights

3. Lonely Planet, Fodors, or Rough Guide, best for info on lodgings and food, although take the recommendations with a grain of salt and check travelers' reports on lodgings with the website called TripAdvisor. On my 2006 trip to England, I was considering staying at a certain B&B in Oxford, which was recommended by Fodor's, but all the recent reviews on TripAdvisor were exceedingly negative. The B&B had come under new management, who had let the place run down and were grouchy besides.