In recent years many adaptation planning guides have been produced. Do these capture recent advances in adaptation thinking to the best effect for planners? The common features of over 30 of these recent guides highlight key features that are so consistent that all guides should contain them or explain why not. Certain recent advances in adaptation planning are not reflected in many guides but theory and practice suggest should be. These include a much greater emphasis on context analysis and methods for this; better definition of how to identify adaptation measures and options; clarification of the methods for appraising among adaptation options; and some further guidance on implementation and monitoring. Most importantly, we find that examples of applied adaptation planning are diverse but can be captured in three general cycles for any organisation, region or sector – a Scan cycle that identifies general areas of decision making where there are risks and adaptation opportunities that require more detailed attention; a Portfolio cycle that leads to relative priorities across that set of decision areas; and a Project cycle that helps implement the specific investments needed in relation to one area of decision-making. This simple classification leads to a surprising number of insights about how planners should emphasise different issues in the individual steps of different adaptation planning cycles, to be summarised in this paper.