Who reads Michelin these days?

Well, Michael Portillo does. He adores pottering around France with his Red Guide looking for star-rated establishments. But Michelin has acquired a slightly stuffy, Baedekerish reputation. On the other hand, its star rating system was ahead of its time.

Which of the books are online - the red (restaurant and hotel), the green (touring) or the yellow maps?

All of them, and in English. The driving directions, which cover the whole of Europe, are particularly impressive. You can choose the quickest, shortest, toll-less, motorway or Michelin recommended routes and save or print out an itinerary. Then click on the symbols to call up details of nearby hotels and restaurants and town maps.

And campsites?

Only in France. The exhaustive Green Guide listings are online, too, with their "Worth a journey/ Worth a detour/Interesting" ratings. But bear in mind that the Michelin guides have helped to define what constitutes a tourist attraction, and any starred entry will be packed with other travellers.

What about restaurants?

Michelin guides favour French cooking, at least in Britain, and this means that most of their recommendations are largely unaffordable. The situation elsewhere in Europe is better, but you'll have to take a lot on trust: the reviews are only very cursory and will typically extol the "fresh produce, sympathetically cooked."

What's the rating?

Two stars: competent, useful but idiosyncratic. Coverage of the UK is strangely partial, too - Birmingham and Edinburgh are included, but not Oxford or Cambridge.