Average customer rating:
- Terrible, Vague and semi-useless
- Great For Broke Students or Cheap Skates!
- Too much, too little, too late...
- Good overview of Europe
- Lame and worthless
|
Lonely Planet Europe on a Shoestring (Europe on a Shoestring, 2nd ed)
Scott McNeely , and
et al
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
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ASIN: 1864501502 |
Amazon.com
For years, Lonely Planet resisted pressure to cram the whole of Europe into a single guide. To the delight of backpackers everywhere, they've finally given in--with a vengeance. The first edition of Europe on a Shoestring packs 40 countries into 1,200 pages, while still finding room to brief you on all the aspects of pretrip preparation, from packing right to finding the best airfares.
Of course, given Lonely Planet's youthful irreverence, you shouldn't expect your grandfather's Europe. Coverage of traditional favorites like England is trimmed to make room for pocketbook-friendly destinations in Turkey, Morocco, and the Baltic states. The Eastern Europe coverage journeys beyond the tourist-thronged streets of Prague to lesser-known gems like Riga and Vilnius. Lonely Planet even covers the former Yugoslavia, as it slowly begins to emerge from its days as a war-torn no man's land. No matter where you are, the guide points out regional highlights to help you sift through its wealth of information.
As the name implies, Europe on a shoestring focuses on "budget" travel. Fear not--you needn't resign yourself to meals of bread and water and endless nights on the floor of a seedy flophouse. The 30-odd book contributors believe it's possible to travel cheaply without sacrificing style, comfort, and safety. Though the accommodations sections focus on hostels, there are enough bed-and-breakfasts and guesthouses to keep you a safe distance from rowdy spring breakers, if you so desire. Similarly, the entertainment sections offer everything from pubs packed with rowdy Australian backpackers to the finest theater, opera, and ballet in the world.
If you want to take on only a part of the continent, you're still better off with a less comprehensive guide. But if you're interested in exploring St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Petersburg's Hermitage, and everything in between, this book gives you all you need to see Europe on your own terms. --Andrew Nieland
Book Description
Note from Publisher: This is the old edition of Lonely Planet's guide to Europe on a Shoestring.
Lonely Planet's new edition of Europe on a Shoestring may be found by typing the ISBN number, 1740597796, into the search box.
The spectacular new 4th edition is the most comprehensive guide to Europe, covering 43 countries. It offers effortless planning with a range of travel routes and a 4-page Festivals section, 174 maps, including a full-color regional map, easy-to-use language section with key phrases for 29 languages.
The 4th edition of Lonely Planet's Europe on a Shoestring covers Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Britain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia (Moscow, St Petersburg & Kaliningrad), Serbia & Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and Ukraine.
Customer Reviews:
Terrible, Vague and semi-useless.......2006-08-27
I'm generally a huge fan of lonely planet books but I've found this one extremely frustrating. It's extremely vague about sites in smaller towns. In some countries (Germany) it uses native language names for sites without translating what the hell half of them are. The section on Greece is comically terrible. If you're going to europe for a very short time and want to only hit the capitals this may be a good idea, for anything even close to depth forget about it.
Great For Broke Students or Cheap Skates!.......2005-02-02
I used this book to get me through Europe as well as plan my backpacking adventure, and I thought it was great (especially for London). I barely had enough $ to afford the plane ticket to Europe, much less spend more on other things. The restaurant recommendations were especially useful in places like Athens. It was condensed enough (probably too condensed for some) so that I didn't have to waste time tracking things down. If you are short on time and money, this is the book for you. If you have money and more time, this book isn't for you then and you should upgrade to Frommer's and the like. I would echo what another reviewer said and make certain you have the most recent edition of this book because things can be out of date (especially prices) rather quickly.
Too much, too little, too late..........2005-01-04
With 17 countries on a 102-day itinerary and a careful eye on our budget, my son and I needed a book like this for our recently completed trip. Although we stuck with it until the end, I gotta say, Lonely Planet's "Europe on a Shoestring" has lots of flaws and you should think carefully before buying it.
THE GOOD NEWS: This is a great alternative to buying a dozen country-specific books. You'll save on pack weight and on dollars (or Euros). Furthermore, since its from Lonely Planet, this book does a lot better job than most of the "mainstream tourist" books of recognizing that a $300-a-night hotel room and a $50 meal are NOT in your plans.
THE BAD NEWS: (a) The prices and lots of info are out of date and getting more so. (b) The maps will taunt you with enough information to get you going but not enough to keep from getting lost, and (c) Overall the book offers a weird combination of too-much and too-little information.
You should consider this book only if you are planning to visit at least 10 different countries in Europe - otherwise you are better off buying individual country guides while in Europe (or sneaking a peek at the freebies stashed at many Hostel reception desks.)
My rating is three stars because you have to realize that there is probably no book out there that does an adequate job of `covering' all of Europe - but there are still lots of travelers, like us, who hope to do just that!
* * * details follow
(A) Check the COPYRIGHT date of the book very carefully before you buy! The one currently for sale is copyright early 2003. This sounded pretty current to us but it apparently means LP wrapped up whatever research they did into updating prices and other information sometime in 2001 or '02; for a trip in 2004 this was WAY OUT OF DATE. For one in 2005 it will be worse. It just gets to be a drag `translating' the prices: every 15 Euro Hostel is really going to be "18 to 20". Every 7 Euro admission fee: "9 or 10". Even expecting this problem, it leaves you feeling like your "shoestring" is getting shredded even more than it already is!
And, of course, prices aren't the only thing that can change in 2 or 3 years! We ran into museums and sights that had been closed for months and even the very strange situation of the LP book saying a museum was going to be closed "until 2004" and then not offering any info about it... as we walked by its open doors! We also bumped up against some hostels and places to stay that were either listed but long-gone or unlisted but two-years-"new."
Consider waiting for a new edition.
(B) The MAPS are a very strange problem. LP has made a clear effort to give you map info for the major cities in most countries and that shows that they realize you will probably be spending most of your time "pounding the pavement." But you won't really need their maps for getting around and touring a city - most major cities have much better maps available for free or cheap and you can usually rustle them up at the train station or hostel.
The REAL REASON you will need the sort of map this book provides is for the tricky first hour in a new city. You've just gotten off yet another train in yet another city and face another new language that's burbling all around you and your first goal is to get to your hostel or hotel and drop your pack.
But the LP city maps are the worst possible compromise of providing not enough info to serve as touring maps but also not enough to get you from that first important point-A to point-B! They trim back on space and printing by only naming SOME of the streets. You'd be surprised how many different ways there are to walk out of a typical European train station! We were unhappily surprised how many times we did that and found ourselves on a street whose name did not grace the LP map.
OF COURSE ASKING strangers is a great part of the travel experience and most of the time it was fun to figure out the best sequence of gestures and pidgin English and pseudo-Eurish to ask someone where the heck we were! But you'll do plenty of that anyways and besides, if, like Blanche DuBois, you've "always relied upon the kindness of strangers", why bring a guidebook at all?
(C) Its hard to whack LP for trying TOO hard; but when you are ending a 20 mile hike knowing that the 4-pound guidebook in your pack has at least 2-pounds of info about countries you aren't ever going to visit, it tends to ring in your mind with every step! This book was TOO extensive for us and I can't imagine anyone with an itinerary that would include even 75% of the countries listed. Do you want to lug around all that info on Lithuania and Latvia and Slovakia and Slovenia ? Our answer was to take a good sharp knife to the pages and hack out about 600 pages of excess. If you're a bibliophile and that prospect makes you shudder, at least think carefully about their "Western Europe" or "Eastern..." books instead.
At the same time, we often felt that the book offered too little information. For most of the larger countries, the book feels incomplete once you venture out of THE MAJOR CITY. I realize that this is the "we can't include everything" problem again, but its no help to understand their editorial challenges when you are lost in Lubeck or trying to find out about a place that's listed in your hostels book but not LP.
(D) Minor but annoying complaints include (1) less focus on hostels than I expected, (2) limited info on money-saving "self-catering" (e.g. where to buy food to COOK) and (3) too much silly self-promotion (it became a joke with us to read the section for each country where they `recommend' other books about the country and somehow only ever recommend other LP guides!
(E) Minor but gratifying kudos for their (1) thoughtful and informative country histories, (2) limited but necessary language guides (you can go far indeed if you just memorize the words for "thank you" in most places)
I guess the fact is that traveling as we did, lots of countries, lots of cities and lots of short stays, isn't a reasonable way to see Europe. OF COURSE its better to spend two weeks in Berlin - and get a "Berlin Book" - or a month zigzagging through France - and buy a "France book." But unless you've got unlimited time (and unlimited money) you'll probably face the same dilemma that drove us to our wacky itinerary and this ultimately unsatisfactory book: how can you sit there and plan to just "skip Italy" or "pass up Vienna"? Like us, like this book, you will probably end up trying too hard to do everything.
Enjoy your trip.
Good overview of Europe.......2004-04-29
I spent three months in Europe (England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium) last summer, and used this book as my primary guide.
It is good for finding the basics (hostels, train and bus stations, etc) but not much else, and with so much area to cover this should hardly be surprising.
As about 2/3 of my time was spent in Italy, I do wish I'd purchased an Italy specific guide... luckily I had access to various other books that were more in depth.
The maps and contact information were accurate. I don't think I ever used this guide for restaurant recommendations, though. It's much easier and more fun to go menu-shopping or ask locals. Hostel operators tend to know what's up too.
Lame and worthless.......2004-01-14
This deadweight trunk of uselessness is better a door stop than a guide. Dont be fooled. Buy each country if you are going to use Lonely Planet. It is not so much the size of the book, but the useless info they include. It did make me think about going to Morocco, though. Still wondering why they would include it in a European guide.
Amazon.com
Lonely Planet guides pride themselves on going places few other guidebooks ever venture--you'll find Lonely Planet guides to Antarctica, Papua New Guinea, and Cambodia, to name only a few of their more far-flung destinations. But even when this series is covering a more popular destination such as Western Europe, the spirit of discovery that imbues more obscure titles is still present. In Lonely Planet Western Europe on a Shoestring the authors and researchers have done their best to make budget travel both fun and fulfilling. There's plenty of back story on every destination, practical information about embassies, newspapers, bookshops, and medical and emergency services plus comprehensive coverage of sights and entertainments. Though the book is primarily geared toward budget travelers, the authors do include the occasional splurge. Best of all, the book contains 200 detailed maps and brief language guides in the back to French, Dutch, German, Italian, Greek, Spanish, and Portuguese. Whether you're planning a whirlwind tour of 12 European countries in three weeks or intending to stay awhile, Lonely Planet Western Europe will get you started out on the right foot.
Book Description
A comprehensive guide to independent travel in Western Europe: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.
Features: 200 detailed maps of countries, regions and cities; the best places to stay and eat on any budget; language guide with useful words and phrases in seven languages; up-to-date notes on the politics, people and economy of each country; all the transport options, from the Channel Tunnel to Rhine cruises; the nitty-gritty on visas, border crossings and currency conversion; and where to go hiking, skiing, cycling, surfing and wine-tasting.
Customer Reviews:
LP is a guide, not an itinerary.......2006-04-14
I have taken several extensive (3+months) trips to Europe and, having used most of the major European travel guides in the past, I have always been impressed with the relative superiority of LP. I think what most unhappy reviews of these travel guides miss is that these books are all tailored to a very specific market, i.e. "Let's Go" is not for anyone over the age of 30 who wants a serious, non-party oriented European trip; Rick Steves' targets middle-aged and older travelers who need hand-holding because they have little or no experience planning and executing trips abroad; Fodor's is for older adults for whom money is not a real concern; and Lonely Planet is for budget-conscious backpackers of most ages who are looking to spend the least money possible and don't mind roughing it a bit to see the sights. Therefore, you are not going to find the best restaraunts/ hotels in LP, you are going to find the cheapest reasonable local resources that often have an unusual or quirky twist.
From my experience, the LP directions on traveling to/from places, finding train stations, airports, etc. are the most useful thing about the book and well worth the price. However, they don't publish train timetables and don't pretend to give that kind of info because it often changes. You can look that up online. That said, there are some flaws in the books as far as clarity in descriptions for a few point-to-point connections, which can be bit confusing. The book can only cover so much, though. All in all, I've had few hitches in using these guides and highly recommend them to other travelers.
great guide.......2006-02-22
For the price it's worth it. I only miss some full color maps.
Not Worth It.......2006-01-27
This guidebook covers the countries of western Europe. However, it seems that Lonely Planet tried to cover too much in this guidebook, so most of the descriptions of sights are barely more than a few sentences and a phone number. It's better to think of this as a giant checklist of places you could visit while in Europe, but don't rely on this for any amount of information. If you're looking for travel and sightseeing information, it's better to get the individual country books for the countries that you are going to travel to. To tell the truth, I bought this because I'm planning a multi-country trip in Europe, so I was hoping that this would contain exstensive information about getting between countries by train, but I was really disappointed to find that the information on this was severely lacking. If you your looking for something like that, Thomas Cook's Europe by rail books are better. Save your money and buy something else.
Europe bound.......2005-08-18
In planning our trip to England, France and Spain, this book has been tremendously useful. There are endless resources (thankfully, online resources too) which have proven helpful. The maps are also important and valuable tools.
I recommend this series of books for those embarking on a European vacation.
Un buen libro de referencia.......2002-04-11
Recientemente hice mi primer viaje a 8 ciudades europeas (Londres, Bruselas, Berna, Roma, Florencia, Barcelona, Madrid y Paris) usando este libro, usando sus recomendaciones en hoteles, museos y otras atracciones, lo único que deberían mejorar son los mapas, pero se complementa bien con los mapas que regalan en las agencias de información turística. Muy buen libro, muy actualizado.
Average customer rating:
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Western Europe on a Shoestring (Lonely Planet Shoestring Guides)
Tony Wheeler , and
et al
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
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ASIN: 0864421494 |
Average customer rating:
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Mediterranean Europe on a Shoestring (Lonely Planet Shoestring Guides)
Daniel Robinson , and
et al
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
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ASIN: 0864421508 |
Book Description
This revised edition of the highly successful book, Real Options, offers corporate decision-makers the ability to assess the profitability of their ventures and decide which avenue of expansion or investment to go down and, crucially, when to take that leap. The reader goes on a journey through real options, from the basics to more advanced topics such as options and game theory. It provides expert guidance on how to implement the theory to maximize investment opportunities by utilizing uncertainty as an asset and reducing downside risk.
Customer Reviews:
NOT a practitioners guide.......2007-07-03
I'm feeling very frustrated with this book, and here's why. The text contains sample questions, and directs to a website for the solutions. The website requires registration in order to access the material. After filling out the necessary details, I received an email from the publisher stating that I did not qualify as I am not a lecturer. I pointed out that the text claims to be a practitioners guide, not a lecturers guide. After numerour emails back and forth I've given up - I'll return it instead.
Most curiously I was never offered to purchase the material, so I can't even feel conned - just pissed-off.
Excellent intro for students.......2006-04-29
I regret not requiring this text for my students this semester. While there are a few typo's, that is not the point, as the problems are all easy to work out and solve.
A very, very good book. If you are teaching a senior level course that uses even just a few weeks of real options (like my engineering economy course) use this book! You can cover the whole book in 10 or 12 lectures. The end of chapter problems (while a trifle scant) are well done!
Useful but hard to understand.......2005-10-08
I use this book as a required book in a course on my graduate study. It is hard to understand and writen like a novel. However, it is very up-to-date. Readers should have a bit strong background on options, finance and investment.
Excellent book for the practitioner.......2005-08-21
I would rate this 5 stars from a practitioner's perspective, which is the intended audience. But, in terms of actual coverage of real options, Trigeorgis is better. However, Copeland and Antikarov do a great job with this book in introducing real options. There are sufficient examples and you get a good understanding of the topic off the bat. Copeland is a very good author, and he is one of my favorites. It's a good thing that there is a revised edition already, because the first one just had many typos.
Cecilia Gaye Uruguay.......2004-10-14
Copeland and Antikarov, demonstrate in excellent form that NPV is flawed and tends to undervalue the investment opportunities. NPV is a static calculations that fails in the consideration of the many opportunities that management has over the lifetime of a project. Unfortunately the intent of the authors of offering solutions to the questions posed at the end of each chapter as well as real options models, flaw since www.etexere.com/realoptions doesn't exist.
Book Description
A practical guide to building fully operational financial cash flow models for structured finance transactions
Structured finance and securitization deals are becoming more commonplace on Wall Street. Up until now, however, market participants have had to create their own models to analyze these deals, and new entrants have had to learn as they go. Modeling Structured Finance Cash Flows with Microsoft Excel provides readers with the information they need to build a cash flow model for structured finance and securitization deals. Financial professional Keith Allman explains individual functions and formulas, while also explaining the theory behind the spreadsheets. Each chapter begins with a discussion of theory, followed by a section called "Model Builder," in which Allman translates the theory into functions and formulas. In addition, the companion CD-ROM features all of the modeling exercises, as well as a final version of the model that is created in the text.
Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.
Customer Reviews:
Good Intro to Cash Flow Modeling.......2007-09-20
Anyone needing to learn how structured finance cash flow models work will benefit from going through this book and building the spreadsheet-based model it describes. It will be faster if you are already good at using Excel for complex modeling or pricing, but there is a fair amount of Excel advice for those who need it. The book models a single pool of mortgages that can be described by weighted average statistics incorporating both prepayment and default scenarios. Great care is taken to make the model flexible in terms of the kinds of mortgages in the pool. On the liability side the model allows for the creation of a single senior class and a sub class with an interest rate swap and a reserve. While very good for learning the cash flow consequences of sequential and pro rata payment waterfalls, this model cannot describe the structures actually issued in the market. The skills learned, however, should allow the reader to build models capable of modeling issued structures.
The writing is clear and the examples are explained well. The flow of cash into and out of the structure is emphasized by clear inputs, cash flow modeling and summary outputs.
Excellent introduction to MBS modeling.......2007-08-13
Keith's book saved me hours of trial-and-error effort with Excel for modeling structured transactions. This book takes a simple, step-by-step approach to help the reader understand the mechanics of building the cash flow model for Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS).
Once you understand the basics of model creation and cash flow, then it is a matter of refining your skills by revere-engineering more MBS transactions out there. You will find all the basic tools to become proficient in that task by following this book.
Excellent Hands-On Introduction to Structured Finance.......2007-06-03
In structured finance, there is a tremendous discrepancy between academic literature and practice. In purporting a generalizable, scientific approach, many textbooks avoid explaining the intracacies of actual structured finance deals. The fundamental issue is that the implicit value of deal transparency required for issuer and investor tends to be overlooked by authors approaching the field from an academic background. Technical pyrotechnics that suit liquid markets fail when fees, interest rates, and other deal specifics are malleable constructs negotiated among a handful of parties. At the same time, basic bond math on an unsegregated pool of loans cannot accurately describe how assets generate cash flows and the risks faced by investors.
MFSC is the *only* book (afaik) that demonstrates how real structured finance pros bridge the void between these 2 common pitfalls made by other structured finance books. For one, the calculations that belie each component of a structured finance deal is integrated into a single model rather than considered separately. Other books may describe how cash flows pay out in a senior-sub structure, but they won't, for example, take the time to step through how funding costs and triggers affect the cash flows. The primary model also gives the user flexibility to stress the model and enables the user to treat the model as a base for all structured finance deals. Through a neatly organized inputs sheet, each component in the primary model described painstakingly anticipates the gamut of variations common to these types of deals.
All this in a book that's easy to follow and a delight to read. Five stars.
Modeling of CMBS.......2007-06-03
Keith's book does an excellent job at helping both new analysts to MD's in understanding modeling of complex master tapes (models). If you need to know how to structure a fixed or floating rate transaction this book will give you key tools to understand, build and read strats, term sheets, and OC data. Many of the functions and formulas that are explained are used in real working models but in additon to that this book explains key concepts in the structured finance world. Unlike other books this book has a much more active learning style and really gets you involved.
I look forward to the day when Keith writes a book focusing on CMBS, I will defintely buy that one also.
TM
CIB
CMBS
Very Good for Professionals.......2007-05-07
The book explains very well the building and works of a very huge excell worsheet, for professionals it will be a great and interesting reading, and sometimes it will be like a great novel, when you can't stop reading
and always want to go to the next chapter before leaving it.
For begineers it will be a little hard to understand the concepts and the meanings of each chapter, but it will help too.
Book Description
It teaches the reader how to build financial models—not templates—with step-by-step instructions in Excel.
Progressing from simple examples to practical, real-world applications, this book covers the time value of money, valuation, capital budgeting, financial planning, and options and corporate finance.
For financial planners and analysts.
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