DK’s Eyewitness guides have picture-laden culture-heavy glossy pages

DK’s Eyewitness guides have picture-laden, culture-heavy glossy pages. Chosen by middle-aged culture vultures who don’t care that the hotel listings are measly because they bring their sleeping bags and camp outside the main sights to avoid the queues. They highlight the newest restaurants, most fashionable bars and latest designer hotels Of the mainstream guides, they’re clearly the most cool. There are a number of pre- or mis-conceptions about guide books TO city guides are thought stylish, lively and opinionated.

So I headed for the airport with three of the other main contenders – Lonely Planet (LP), Rough Guide (RG) and Dorling Kindersley’s (DK) Eyewitness guide. So I needed a guide, but which? If left to my own devices I’d have packed the Time Out (TO) and had done with it But I had a job to do. Berlin was uncharted territory: scarily trendy, I suspected, bleak, and punctured with dimly lit beer cellars spewing out belching budget airline fodder with sausage breath. But as far as the most important locations of a weekend city break – the stylish hotels, the funkiest restaurants and bars, hell, the shops – I had less hope of sniffing them out than squeezing my thighs into a pair of Joseph trousers. If pushed I could probably have dredged up Norman Foster’s dome on the Reichstag from the swirling trivia in my travel-clogged brain. The Wall The Brandenburg Gate Checkpoint Charlie The new Holocaust Memorial.

Further information from Naples Tourist Office, Via San Carlo 9 (00 39 081 402 394).. Citalia (0870 909 7554; www.citalia ) offers two nights’ b&b at the Grand Hotel Vesuvio from £409 per person, based on two sharing, includingflights. The winter programme also includes ballet and concerts.How To Get ThereBritish Airways (0870 8509850; www.ba ) flies from Gatwick from £75 return. Built 40 years before La Scala, the Teatro San Carlo at Via San Carlo 101-103 (00 39 081 797 2331; www.teatrosancarlo.it) is an extravaganza of gilded stucco, frescoed ceiling and tier upon tier of boxes. The main hub is Piazza di San Domenica Maggiore where you should pause at caf?caturchio to watch the world go by.Best NightspotObviously, a night at the opera. Home to many city landmarks, it is a mosaic of Baroque, Moorish, medieval and Renaissance architecture, at times in the same building.

Di Matteo at Via Tribunali, 94 (00 39 081 455 262) serves the best pizzas in Italy.About €4.50 (£3.20) for a beer and a pizza margherita.Best Cultural AttractionAmong the labyrinthine collection of the National Archeology Museum on Piazza Museo (00 39 081 440 166) treasures include the Farnese Bull and the bronzes of the Tyrannicides.Best ShoppingClothes horses should hit the Chiaia area where designer brands rub shoulders with bars and caf? Don’t leave Naples without tasting the chocolate logs made by Gay-Odin at Via Toledo 214 (00 39 081 400 063).Best sightseeingPlunge into the Spaccanapoli neighbourhood. Try grilled red Sicilian prawns and Torta Caprese (chocolate and almond cake) About €40 (£28) per head for three courses with wine. My Home Your Home (00 39 081 1956 5835; www.myhomeyourhome.it) , is a useful agency offering b&bs and apartments.Best restaurantIt’s worth the taxi fare to reach Al Faretto at Via Marechiaro 127 (00 39 081 575 0407; www.alfaretto.it) in a cliffside village on the edge of the city. Opened in 1882, its VIP guests range from Oscar Wilde to the Spice Girls.