Job Discussion Forums

[Perpetual Traveller]

No they don't and since what they do offer at the back of the USA guide is so limited I don't know why they bothered, it's a joke. I guess they were trying to cater to those who just pop up to Vancouver from Seattle or something but I doubt that would be a major consideration for anyone who was trying to decide which book to go for.

As for Mexico, I've only ever visited the border towns (Juarez and Tijuana) so didn't require a guide book at all but if I do ever head there I'll put my Let's Go prejudice aside and check it out, for comparison purposes if nothing else. One thing I will give them is that they do a new edition every year unlike some of the others, but then again I have mentioned that I have problems with their accuracy so perhaps they don't do their revisions quite as thoroughly as some of the others.

PT

[dajiang]

Try 'Footprint' guide books.

http://www.footprintbooks.com/

I usually don't take any guide books when travelling, just borrowing some if you need it from fellow travellers does the trick and saves you some weight to carry (especially if it's the LP)

However, I've had a few looks at Footprint and it gives you a clear presentation of places to go to, good maps, and alternative budget places to go to. So, if you're tired of the traditional LP hauling crowd, get a Footprint.

Sadly they don't have a copy of China yet...

Dajiang

[Justin Trullinger]

If anbody coming to Ecuador wants a second hand guide book, I have lots! Everybody who comes to visit buys one, then figures they won't need it when they leave, and it gets left in my apartment, which is now home to numerous rough guides and lonely planets, as well as several less known titles.

I find them all to be startlingly similar, but I would warn friends that, while they can be quite useful in terms deciding what to see, it's hard to know how up to date they are.

A few discoveries:

The accomodation listings are borderline useless for a budget traveller in Ecuador, because, cheap hostels change names, open, close, get sold, try to go upscales, etc, with incredible frequency.

Bus routes and schedules are only valid if you get them from a local, who has been to the place you want to go WITHIN THE LAST WEEK. Otherwise, they've probably changed.

Lists of "dangerous locations" are subject to change frequently. Anyplace listed as risky in the lonely planet gets fewer tourists, presents less opportunities for thieves, and gradually becomes safer. Any place the guide says is safe invites tourists to be careless, and crime picks up. Get advice on "danger zones" from informed locals.

Nothing about visas in a book that is more than a few weeks old could possibly be valid.

In general, a guide can be a useful thing- but when you live in a country that changes presidents, on average, more than once a year, you have to know that other things are changing faster than the guides are coming out.


Regards,
Justin

[Perpetual Traveller]

And if you're coming to Paris the opposite is probably true as French bureaucracy ensures that change takes the longest amount of time possible Also the things that most people come to see, the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Moulin Rouge, Louvre etc tend to stay where they are!

PT

[dmb]

^ And Istanbul is probably somewhere in between. So what does that say about guide books?

[Perpetual Traveller]

Well to me it says always buy them second hand because even the new ones are going to be innacurate or maybe it just sounds like to that to me because I am a cheapskate...

PT

[dmb]

I agree(but then I'm Scottish.) Guide books are good for info/history of what to see/do. But times/prices/etc don't bother reading

[Gregor]

When I was in Western Europe with my girlfriend at the time, she picked up a Lonely Planet book and seemed to enjoy it a great deal. She used it to find some cool stuff, and it was often right around the corner from some other cool stuff, so I guess because of that experience I would endorse Lonely Planet.
Otherwise, though, I don't really use guidebooks because I'm not a traveller at ALL.
So why am I sicking my nose in here? Because the Lonely Planet also has, in my opinion, the best phrasebook.
Now, I used to be very much against the phrasebook. It's useless to memorize phrases, because the response you get is 100% sure to be anything BUT the response the book tells you to give.
So in "perfect" Spanish, you say, "I'm sorry, but I don't speak Spanish." Because you got it from the phrasebook. And the response - again, in very rapid-fire Spanish, is, "Oh, don't be so modest! Your Spanish sounds MELODIOUS! What a nice surprise to find a gringo who speaks Spanish! Oh, Jose, come over here and meet my new friend..."
THAT doesn't help.
BUT! A phrasebook that is organized as well as the Lonely Planet's is good for someone who knows NO local language at all - just point to the word on the page representing what you need, and you're in good shape.
They can also help you put together a more or less coherent message on your own, AND they will help give you a basic introduction to the language in case you decide to study it a bit, and once you have some very basic grammar, you can start using the phrases and vocabulary from the book and expect to understand the rudiments of the replies you might get.
It's a well-put-together book.

[Aramas]

'Lonely Planet' is my choice on the basis that they suck somewhat less and are marginally less irritating than the competition. 'Rough Guide' annoys me with its safety warnings in every second paragraph and the dumbarsed 'cost codes' that you have to look up in the back of the book.

The only thing worse is the traveller that refuses to use guides and then continually asks everyone questions that can only be answered by a trusted local or a guide book.

The trick is to find somewhere not mentioned in any guides and then not tell anyone about it. My favourite places are where the food is terrible, as is the weather, the beer is warm and watery, the girls are ugly and standoffish, tropical diseases are rampant, as are the biting insects, and everything is horribly expensive - or at least that's what I tell everyone

[Don McChesney]

For China,LP and RG are about equal, but LP seems a bit 'down' on every place, finding fault, while RG is more upbeat.
Use Google if you have time, and check out www.passplanet.com it is very comprehensive, and includes city and hotel names etc written in characters which is great, and several references from travellers about what to see and what to avoid.

[Stosskraft]

I have some travel guides on Japan. Lonely Planet(8th) and Feodor's, I would be willing to trade for travel guides to South Asia (Cambodia,Burma or Thailand)or the Philippines.

I would be interested in a fair swap, PM me if interested.

[afowles]

[venus523]

I've been really happy with Let's Go guides. I've used them for France, Italy, Spain, and India. The information was (for the most part) accurate and helpful.

I bought a Rough Guide for Japan... (mostly because it actually mentioned the small town I had been placed in) and was dissapointed - no pricing guides for accomadations, trains, etc. I also had a bad experience following a friend's Lonely Planet map all over Tokyo looking for a hotel that was simply nowhere near where it was on the map.

:)venus

[nomadder]

I have quite a large LP collection and would never give any away as they are my souvenirs and proof that "I did it!". Plus other companies' books would look out of place now. I know the plusses and minuses and can usually get around the inaccuracies and avoid being led on a wild goose chase. If it's far away from most of the things on the city map, don't risk it unless you really want to see it as it might not be there.

There is also the "Lonely Planet Syndrome" that other travellers have noticed whereby the highly recommended places will usually be crap by the time you get there. With so many flocking to their doors standards slip quickly.

Footprint is recommended by many mainly for South America. I used LP and was eventually given a Footprint but found it too detailed for my style of travel. On the other hand there were a few gems in hotels and restaurants not mentioned in LP so it's worth getting info from others who have it. I thought Footprint's maps were terrible and there were the usual inaccuracies.

Do not make the mistake of buying LP's Europe on a Shoestring. There are too many countries to be covered and there's just not enough info unless you stick to London, Paris, Rome etc and even then... A Let's Go sticker in a poorly marked hostel's window saved us from sleeping on a bench in one small town. Probably better to buy E. Europe or W.Europe books separately if you're covering a lot of ground.

LP Mex is pretty good. Central America soso though haven't seen the recent updated one.

I like that Let's Go has more regional guides such as one covering Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia only.

In some, the prices are very accurate but in others not-depends what's been happening in that country's economy and how old the book is. Travelled in Europe right after the euro was introduced -need I say more?

The Japan LP I had is the 6th edition and could have been much more detailed. The India one(since updated) was OK. LP is highly recommended for SEA-that's where they started out.l

Often they at least point you in the right direction and you can ask locals, look around on your own, ask other travellers and scan their guidebooks not to mention check the internet for more info.

[anjelle]

if you have regular access to the internet the lonely planet has the thorn tree which kix ass for info!!

http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/