Lonely Planet (Lonely Planet in general)

Member Name: cezzybunny

Product:	Lonely Planet in general
Date:	25/09/09 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good inside knowledge, phrasebook bits in the back of each book

Disadvantages: Don't treat them as gospel

I have been using Lonely Planet guides religiously for years now. They are very handy to use as a base from which to plan your trip, however you have to take the information they contain with a pinch of salt.

First a bit of background. Lonely Planet guides were first created by Tony and Maureen Wheeler in 1973 after a long trip across the Middle East. They made their travel notes into a handy guidebook, and Lonely Planet was born. Since 2007, the BBC has owned a 75% share in the company, with the Wheelers retaining the remainder.

There are many types of Lonely Planet guide book - from the huge region guides (SE Asia on a shoestring, Africa etc...), to country guides (Nepal, Italy etc...) and also the Encounter guides for cities (like Beijing). The region guides are useful for a big multi-country trip, whilst the Encounter guides are handier for a weekend. You can also go to the Lonely Planet website to download individual country guides from the bigger travel books so you can pick and choose which ones you have, and don't have to carry so much paper.

In general, I find the LP guidebooks invaluable, just don't take them as gospel. Take it from me, there's nowt worse than riding on the back of a motorbike up a mountain in Uganda to find that the charming camp actually closed over a year ago. Do your research. I also often find the maps to be of poor quality, especially in the Trans-Siberian guide, where I found restaurants and cafes were not where they appeared on the map.

Great guides, but be wary of following them to the letter....

Summary: See review