Four years ago, I threw my last Lonely Planet out of the window.

Dreaming about a “cosy atmosphere” and “unbelievably clean rooms”, the descriptions kept me going as I spent two hours lost on the streets of Kiev, Ukraine.

Twelve hours of travel had numbed all compassion so I was exhausted and cantankerous when a young man came to the front door.

The hostel shut down four years ago, he said, and on most days somebody still knocks on the door.

After falling down three storeys, the LP was run over by a tram.

There had to be an alternative. For such a constantly evolving industry, a five-year-old printed guidebook doesn’t make sense.

For such a constantly evolving industry, a ­five-year-old printed guidebook doesn’t make sense

Just think how out of date a Kiev guide will be after the events of the past few months. Plus, books take up valuable room when you’re trying to dodge budget airline luggage charges.

Fortunately, a new generation of guides have emerged. They’re free and they fit in your pocket. And as they come on your smartphone, they’re far less likely to be slung out of the window.

On a recent trip across Europe, I tested out four very different travel guides. In each city I did no prior research, arriving blind and placing unwavering trust in what the guide told me.

Here’s what happened.

City Maps 2 Go

Tested in London

The world’s most downloaded travel guide app, City Maps 2 Go offer a free, downloadable city map that can be used offline.

The Wiki Plus version integrates the maps with Wikipedia articles.

There’s a certain reassurance to being able to glance at your phone and immediately locate 12 pubs within walking distance.

If you have a Wi-Fi connection, then there are also online customer reviews to be tapped into.

It’s an app and guide that filled me with confidence, supporting my tendency to explore with the realism of an up-to-date map. But at times it was information ­overload.

I spent half an hour reading from my phone in St Paul’s Cathedral, instead of actually sightseeing or reading the information boards.

Nothing was left to the imagination as the irrefutable wisdom of the internet was at my fingertips.

When I recounted my two days in London, it seemed like I was regurgitating exactly what it says on Wikipedia.

Undeniably useful, City Maps 2 Go can certainly get people out of sticky travel situations. Just don’t expect anything too original.

Find City Maps 2 Go in the app or play stores. The lite version is free, full version is $1.99, Wiki Plus is an extra $2.99.

Buggl

Tested in Berlin

Imagine if you could write a guide to your own city. And then sell it. That’s the concept behind Buggl, a platform that enables anyone to produce a professional-looking e-travel guide and sell it to the world.

Except a lot of people provide their offerings for free.

Each seems to revel in finding a niche, the list of titles sounding like a rundown of the world’s coolest tours. I’m still waiting for an opportunity to use The Ultimate Breaking Bad Tour of Albuquerque or the Ultimate Hipster Guide to Tel Aviv.

Out of four Berlin options on Buggl, I opted for the Beginner’s Guide to Berlin’s Neighbourhoods and Local Eats.

I was cycling past street art, eating dinner surrounded by bearded hippies, and discovering the very cheapest places to get drunk.

Buggl manages to galvanise a local’s enthusiasm and project it onto the user. It shows rather than tells, hinting at where I could go but firmly leaving the decision-making to me.

I only tested one guide but after three days in Berlin, I was hooked on the concept and added two of my own travel guides to their growing list.

Buggl’s guides can be downloaded as pdfs and many are available for free.

Visit www.buggl.com.

Stay.com Social City Guides

Tested in Amsterdam

Between ditching the Lonely Planet and discovering the alternatives, I used to travel with reams of printed out paper.

I would scour the internet and build a word document with a draft itinerary. Professionalising this DIY concept is stay.com.

Using its platform, you can build a customised guide and then share it with friends who can collaborate and add whatever takes their interest.

A collection of guides from semi-famous locals help provide inspiration.

You can also use social media to request recommendations and get comments on the guide.

By the time we reached Amsterdam, the e-guide was so packed with cafes and restaurants that we spent three hours arguing over where to eat.

The mobile offline map function is outstanding. One glance at the phone and we had immediate graphic access to everywhere we’d planned to visit.

Given the online collaboration was pretty much everywhere in Amsterdam.

When creating a guide, stay.com really pushes the social sharing, perhaps too much. It made ours convoluted and confusing and caused umpteen debates over what to do.

Then again, these guides showcase what’s beautiful about travel: the endless opportunity and the charm of discovering somewhere new.

These guides showcase what’s beautiful about travel: the endless opportunity and the charm of discovering somewhere new

Available in 150 cities and free, stay.com is well worth a look. Just try and keep your guide realistic.

Visit www.stay.com.

USE-IT Guides

Tested in Dresden

Go to most European cities and the tourism office will have a free city map that’s full of adverts. In most cases, the flip side of not getting lost is having to look at tired clichés about five-star hotels, tourist restaurants and overpriced attractions.

In sharp contrast, USE-IT creates commercial-free city maps aimed at young people.

It told me about the tourist traps and pointed instead to side-street vegan cafes and enchanting art galleries.

Written with humour and an insider’s edge, this was a guide that kept me entertained and delivered on its promise to show the local side of the city.

I found €5 pizza joints, live jazz music, happy hours and all the free-to-enter attractions.

Now available in 34 European cities and still not for profit, this is undoubtedly a fantastic guide. You certainly don’t need to be a young person to use it.

It’s for anyone who believes that there is more to a city than its famous sights and for everyone who wants to scratch below the surface when they go on holiday.

The guides can be downloaded as pdfs from www.use-it.travel.