The functional importance of carbohydrates in biological processes, particularly those involving specific molecular recognition, is immense. Characterizing the three-dimensional (3D) structures of carbohydrates and glycoproteins, and their interactions with other molecules, not least the ubiquitous solvent, water, is a key starting point for understanding these processes. The combination of laser-based electronic and vibrational spectroscopy of mass-selected carbohydrate molecules and their hydrated complexes, conducted under molecular beam conditions, with ab initio computation is providing a uniquely powerful means of characterizing 3D carbohydrate conformations; the structures of their hydrated complexes, the hydrogen-bonded networks they support (or which support them); and the factors that determine their conformational and structural preferences.