Book Description
Chase the ghosts - or your shadow - through the basement halls of Diocletian's Palace in Split, p. 191. Eyeball an elephant amid the subtropical greenery at Tito's hideaway on the Brijuni Islands, p. 135. Sniff out a truffle in the Istrian hills and cook them local-style with eggs or pasta, p. 148. Get your kit off and swim with the naturist locals on the Pakleni Islands, p. 222. Find out if all those spotted dogs really come from Dalmatia, p. 22.
The original English-language guide to Croatia; a decade of in-country experience; 60 maps.
Content updated daily: visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews, updates and traveller suggestions.
Customer Reviews:
Lonely Planet Delivers, As Usual.......2007-07-26
My wife and I used this book recently on a trip through Croatia and found it a very good mix of broad and deep, offering plenty of the details we needed for our stay in Split and drive down the coast towards Makarska, as well as great recommendations on what to do and where to go in general. We followed the book's advice when we went to the island of Brac (just off the coast near Split) for the day and visited a tiny little town on the far side of the island called Milna, and found it to be just amazing. Recommended.
Awesome!!.......2007-03-09
This book is a must have for anyone traveling to Coratia. It is so informative and I love it!!!!!!
A solid guide w/ mostly accurate info.......2006-12-08
I used LP Croatia side-by-side with the Rough Guide to Croatia during May and June 2006. I only visited Southern and Central Dalmatia including Split, Hvar, and Dubrovnik.
LP Croatia is concise and had no serious inaccuracies but it lacked lots of the context, detail, and history that the Rough Guide provided. If you're just looking for places to go, how to get there, and where to stay I'd get LP. If you want more of a tour guide with lots of bios, background, art & architecture info, I'd take the Rough Guide. If I went again, I'd take both.
Pros: Good logistical information on how to get around and where sites were. Good food sections (burek is amazing) and good language/phrase sections(except that the most important words were all buried). Also, did a great job of explaining how the private room accommodations work. Provided good, practical advice on how to get the best rooms, etc.
Cons:
Maps were sometimes inaccurate--Rough Guide's were generally better. This was largely because of the lack of street signs and lots of small alleys that trick you. GPS would have been very useful.
Unusually, I think LP underrated some places--namely Dubrovnik.
Doesn't prioritize where to go or what to see. For instance, Diocletian's Palace in Split was covered in graffiti and the city had little to offer.
They need a section on "If you have to choose" between different sites and different cities that tells you which are the best sites overall for certain interests.
Bottom line: LP Croatia was a solid travel guide but it could have provided more advice to the first-time traveler.
Indispensable guide to Croatia.......2005-08-06
My husband and I just came back from Croatia and used this guidebook religiously for the past three weeks. We thought it was just great. All of the information was spot-on and the descriptions were amusing and accurate. The author clearly loves Croatia and offers in-depth insight into the country. We particularly liked her choice of itineraries and highlights. Traveling around Croatia is so complicated that we really needed to rely on the boat information. Here again, the book didn't let us down. We checked out a lot of guidebooks before settling on this one and we weren't sorry.
good, but has some defects.......2004-06-22
like all travel guides, you can find something that is not there in 'lonely planet croatia'... i will be traveling croatia this summer and have had the advantage of using several guidebooks in my planning... they all have their pros and cons, so a review of any of them must necessarily discuss these:
the pros: the maps and city plans are substantially better than in the competitors' guidebooks... lonely planet is one of the few cheap-o style travel guidebooks that gives you information on at least a few hotels that are not youth hostels, dives or other forms of bottom-barrel accommodation; in other words, they at least give you a few mid-range and expensive options if you wish to go that way... all the essentials are there, with great suggestions on places to sleep, eat and visit
the cons: as with ALL of the backpacker/youth travel guidebooks (LP, rough guide, let's go and company), the information on sights/monuments/museums, etc., is SEVERELY lacking... there is just the most basic of information on the history of the sights that you have gone so far to see... which makes it necessary to buy another book, pay an expensive guide or some such thing... (for instance, you will rarely read detailed descriptions of the artwork to be found in a church and are often left wandering about saying 'this is so beautiful, i wonder what it is...i wish the guidebook would tell me more!') i know this would make the guidebooks huge, but even 50% more information would be wonderful so as to have a little bit more of a grip on what you are looking at after taking a 12-hour ferry ride across the adriatic to get there!
which is why, despite its quality, i always felt the need to take another guidebook along, just in case...using my usual technique of tearing out just the pages i would need from each book
Average customer rating:
- World Traveler
- A top quality guide for business and pleasure travelers alike.
- USEFULL RESUME
- 2007 Edition: Well Updated & Comprehensive!
- Good on average, but lacking in some respects
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Lonely Planet Eastern Europe
Tom Masters ,
Brett Atkinson ,
Greg Bloom ,
Peter Dragicevich , and
Lisa Dunford
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Similar Items:
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Rick Steves' Best of Eastern Europe 2006 (Rick Steves)
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Lonely Planet Western Europe
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Rick Steves' Best of Eastern Europe 2007 (Rick Steves)
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Let's Go Eastern Europe On A Budget 12th Edition (Let's Go Eastern Europe)
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Lonely Planet Croatia
Accessories:
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Oxford(R) Poly Card Guides, A-Z, 4in. x 6in., Assorted Colors
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Oxford(R) Poly Card Guides, A-Z, 5in. x 8in., Assorted Colors
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3 x 5 Daily (1 31) Poly Card Guides, 1/5 Tab Cut, Assorted Colors, 30 Guides/Set (ESS73150)
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5 x 8 Daily (1 31) Poly Card Guides, 1/5 Tab Cut, Assorted Colors, 30 Guides/Set (ESS73152)
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ESS73147 - ESS73147 Monthly Index Cards, 1/3 Cut Tab, 3x5, Assorted
Product Features:
- Card Color - White
- Card Size - 5 x 8
- Card Type - Index
- Quantity Per Box/Pack - 100 per pack
- Ruling - Ruled
ASIN: 1741044766 |
Product Description
Lonely Planet Eastern Europe
Customer Reviews:
World Traveler.......2007-07-30
The book is in excellent condition and has been most helpful in planning a trip to Prague, Krakow, and Budapest. Most of the suggested middle-range hotels had already booked which is a good indication that the guide book had good selections.
A top quality guide for business and pleasure travelers alike........2007-07-09
Eastern Europe is Lonely Planet's comprehensive travel guide compiled by thirteen authors who spent 4732 combined hours of on-the-road research, covering the nations of Albania, Belarus, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. Each nation's section features maps, festivals and events, specific dangers and annoyances for travelers, a concise mini-history, recommended places to sleep, eat, and see, and much more. "Bulgarians shake their head 'yes' and nod their head 'no'... If in doubt, ask 'da ili ne?' (yes or no?)." At nearly one thousand pages in length, Eastern Europe strives to squeeze in everything a world tourist absolutely needs to know about a staggering diversity of nations, cultures, and customs, and is a top quality guide for business and pleasure travelers alike.
USEFULL RESUME.......2007-06-08
You won't find the whole information of those countries, but it has an excelent synthesis.
I'm happy with my purchase.
2007 Edition: Well Updated & Comprehensive!.......2007-03-27
Not all Lonely Planet guides are equal, but I found this one to be very good!
It covers pretty much all the former socialist countries westwards from Russia, including the Baltic states, Central Europe, the Balkans, Ukraine, and even obscure, very rarely visited Belarus and Moldova.
It already has a separate country chapter for Montenegro, which only became independent in the summer of 2006!
Inside, you will find all the details that can be expected from this series: in addition to the usual background info on history and culture as well as listings of recommended sights and activities, LP does provide useful practical details like prices and contact details of accomodation options as well as fares and journey times for public transport. These seemed pretty accurate to me, though are bound to change within the lifespan of this book.
The detail provided about each country described of course can't compete with single-country guides, but is probably sufficient for most people planning to visit several countries in one trip. As a rule, there are enough places described to fill at least 2 weeks in each country. In comparision to LP's Europe on a Shoestring which covers the whole continent but goes into more detail about the more visited Western European countries, this one has about 3 times more info on Eastern European ones.
I would highly recommend this book for both those who are still in the planning stages and need info to decide which countries in the region to visit, and for actual use on the road to those planning to visit several countries on one trip.
Of course, if you only want to concentrate on 2-3 countries only, you may find individual country guides more detailed - though right now quite possibly less up to date! LP and Rough Guides both publish such guides to the more popular countries in this region, while Bradt covers even the more obscure ones like Albania, Belarus, Bosnia, Macedonia, Serbia or Slovakia as separate titles.
For the region as a whole, this book is the one to get for sure though!
Good on average, but lacking in some respects.......2005-08-25
The guide is up to LP's usual standard, which is good, with good information regarding the backgrounds of countries, cities and regions. Also, almost every town mentioned has maps and plenty of accomodation and restaurant suggestions.
However, it is incomplete or simply incorrect in some areas:
- the costs of accomodations and places to eat are noted in euro's, and, as the exchange rates have changed since the time of writing, there are quite significant increases in costs (in euro's). This can be a setback when counting on this financially
- some maps are somewhat incorrect; I came across this twice when walking from a train station to the centre of town (real distance was much greater than the distance mentioned on the map)
- when buying train tickets in Eastern Europe, the procedure for seat reservations differs from country to country. This wasn't mentioned for instance in the case of Bulgaria: there you have to buy a train ticket AND pay for a supplement for a seat reservation (regular tickets only buy transport, no seating)
- train connections were displayed differently when comparing one country to another; in some information would be in the city chapters, in others it would be in the country directory. Also, the amount of information displayed varies greatly.
- Often people will travel to Istanbul as well as lots of countries mentioned in this guide, or maybe Greece as well (I went from Istanbul through Northern Greece to Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Austria and Slovakia), and nothing in those countries is covered. Perhaps omitting Greece is logical, but at least a couple of pages on Istanbul (geographically in Europe) would benifit the traveller.
And, my big disagreement with practically any LP guide is that makes judgments about destinations, instead of merely describing what is there. These judgments may fall into the liking of the mainstream traveller, but are not a success for everyone.
To wrap it up: this guide is great value if you're travelling to or through Eastern Europe, but especially in the transport area: ask around and don't rely solely on this guide.
Book Description
What is all the fuss about Prague? Well, with its film-star good looks and dark and mysterious soul, who wouldn't be seduced? Smoky jazz cellars and laid-back music festivals; glitzy shops and cool cocktail bars; history, culture, style. You think this city can't live up to its own press? Think again. Discover Bohemia's capital with our smart and stylish guide. EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY - extended Food & Drink chapter with detailed coverage of Czech beer and breweries. EXPLORE the tangled network of cobbled lanes with our inspirational walking tours. FIND YOUR FUN over a Pilsner at your local pivnice or in your glad rags at the opera with our detailed entertainment listings. SLEEP TIGHT - expanded coverage of the best places to lay your head.
Customer Reviews:
Carried it with me.......2007-08-11
I lived in Prague for a month and relied on this book if only for the maps. Of course, it was also quite helpful when it came to recommending English book stores! I've learned not to trust LP's judgment on food, but otherwise they're a handy source.
Good Enough.......2007-06-11
Better than most books on Prague. In British dialect - so not always easy to understand.
You can count on it.......2007-05-07
The Lonely Planet series was recommended to me, and the guide to Prague was the first one I purchased. The recommendation was right on, the guide's reputation is well deserved. Everything I needed to know is included, the places and restaurants were exactly as described, and the maps and walking tours were easy to follow.
Well done.......2006-06-09
Lonely Planet Prague provided a great synopsis of the historical sites, with descriptions often better than those provided by our formal tour guides. The detailed information regarding transportation, costs, and hours were right on. Without the book we would have missed some off-the-beaten-path activities. Our only complaint was that some key restaurants were not included but this is the only area which I believe needs to be improved.
Important info left out!.......2006-05-09
I love Lonely Planet Guides and have used them for many trips in the past, but this book was certainly not complete. One example is the lack of info on marionette shows. It's one of the most popular things to do in Prague and this book only mentions marionettes once, in a short paragraph about the history of theater in Prague. No mention on the places to see a show or what to see. Also, I have never had a travel guide that didn't mention ANYTHING about the train station in the city!! This book did not even have one piece of info on the train stations or how to find them, how to travel from other cities to Prague or how to get to other places from Prague. We had planned to go to Vienna from Prague and had no idea where the train station was, how to get to it, or how to find a train schedule. Thankfully our hotel was able to fill us in on this info. I would NOT recommend using this book as your tour guide for Prague, it isn't thorough by any means.
Book Description
Stroll the white sand beaches of the Baltic coast, hike the trails of the spectacular Tatra Mountains and explore historic city centers from Karkow to Warsaw. Whether you're here for urban pleasures or in pursuit of nature, this inspiring guide will help you connect with Poland in all its guises.
• GET AROUND with detailed maps and itineraries from the Great Masurian Lakes in the north to the Alpine national parks in the south
• REST EASY in country cottages and Soviet workers' hotels - reviews to suit every taste and budget
• FIND ADVENTURE - we show you where to hike, ski, raft, ride, sail and much more
• HIT THE TOWN - our listings cover cozy cellar bars and cafes, traditional restaurants and Polish 'milk bars'
• TALK THE TALK - our practical language guide helps you chat to the locals - na zdrowie!
Customer Reviews:
Polish roots.......2007-05-13
My wife's maternal grandparents hail from Poland, so when planing a Eurpoean vacation for this summer, Poland it was. As independent travelers, we have always favored Lonely Planet travel books in the past. Once again Lonely Planet delivered the goods. Detailed descriptions of things to see & do, places to stay, and various methods of transportation. Additional internet rescources for finding more hotels than the ones reviewed. I would recommend this series of travel books to all from young backpackers to mature (myself) travelers.
Great for everything except shopping!.......2006-11-07
Lonely Planet has been known for covering EVERYTHING in it's books. Thie one really does have a big flaw. Sites are quite OK and hotels are good too - though sometimes choices may be strange. However shopping is done dreadfully - at least in Warsaw. If your happy with the souvenirs you bought using this book, then you are quite lucky. Many shops with fine hand craft, genuine Polish hand-made are unlisted. Also shops with Jewish memorabilia, getting more popular after turbulent history tend to be missing. And when you come to normal shopping its a complete disaster! You wanna hang out in a mall or buy clothes a lot cheaper then in western Europe? Sure... Tourists and Ex-pats do it. But for sure NOT using Lonely Planet. The ever popular Arkadia Mall (biggest in this part of Europe), a place where English, German, French, Spanish and other languages are often heard as often as Polish is missing. So is the not much smaller and also popular with expats Galeria Mokotów. And what mall do tehy list? The dull out-skirt Sadyba Best Mall with a few stores, the usual fast-food joints and a few crappy stores. And it's lonely planets best tip on shopping? Come on! Almost no one goes there, except primary school trips (it's only attraction is the IMAX cinema).
I am puzzled by teh Warsaw shopping chapter. You can't come to the city and not here of Arkadia or Galeria Mokotów. If you see them, you can't recommend the crappy Sadyba Best Mall. So either someone didn't reaserch shopping at all (and just went to SBM) or Lonely Planets standards are dropping and the choice was made in some different dark ways. I just hope the ownership was not an issue. SBM is the only American mall. Arkadia is European, Galeria Mokotów - Jewish and most others French... What other thing could have provoked such a choice?
A comprehensive guide to Poland.......2006-11-06
As a Pole living abroad (but frequently visiting) I have the dual perspective of "a local" but also that of a tourist. This book is easily the best source of background information on all sites and places in modern Poland, from the well-known tourist attractions to the small villages off the beaten track. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of historical, ethnographic and cultural information about many of those places.
Thanks to this book I managed to discover some interesting places in Poland that I should have known about, if not visited before. Once I got there, I found that relying on the information in the book (especially on "how to get there" or "where to stay") proved more reliable than the information available to the visitor "on the ground". My short trip to the Jura National Park, north of Cracow, was a perfect example of a trip I would not have done if it was not for this guidebook.
Thoroughly recommended to anybody planning to spend an extensive holiday in Poland, or for repeat trips; if your travel is limited to the main cities like Warsaw, Cracow or Gdansk you may find other guidebooks, specific to those locations, sufficient.
Without this book Poland wouldn't have been so much fun!.......2005-07-23
I'd wonder how much time and frustration it would take finding out all this in depth information about the country and it's attractions myself. Especially since we didn't know much about Poland in the first place. It was a true blessing having this book around, especially since many Poles at places you need it most often don't speak English or German. Only price information should need some adjustment (which might have something to do with EU membership related inflation?). I used the print which was updated in Jan 2005, but some prices already doubled!
Very good Poland travel book.......2004-11-12
I recently went to Poland for the first time and found this book to be an absoutely wonderful guide to Warsaw, Krakow, and the Auschwitz concentration camps. All too often guide books that cover an entire country lack the kind of detail a traveler needs, but this book did not suffer that problem at all. The section on Warsaw was actually better organized and contained more detailed factual information than the DK book dedicated solely to that city. This was the only book I needed to help me get around Krakow and Auschwitz as well. I can't speak for the hotel and restaurant recommendations in the book because I never used any of them, but as far as information about historical sites and points of interest this is an outstanding book.
Update: In planning for my second trip to Poland, I recently purchased the Rough Guide to Poland, and I have to say it is even better than the Lonely Planet book because it includes quite a lot more detail. If you only buy one book, get the Rough Guide. But if you buy two, the Lonely Planet book is also very good.
Book Description
60 Maps
Customer Reviews:
If you're buying 1 Baltics travel book, don't buy this one.......2007-07-27
I generally love Lonely Planet books, so was a bit disappointed with this one. It's good as a quick reference guide, but nothing much more. It doesn't have very much background or history about some of the area's most important places. If you're going to buy only one book before traveling to the Baltics, choose the Rough Guide instead - we ended up using it almost exclusively towards then end of our trip. Also, the hotels/accommodations selection in this edition is very poor.
Excellence .......2007-03-10
The book I purchased was delivered to my house in great condition. It was if I had just bought the book at a book store.
First Time Traveler to Lithuania September 2005.......2005-09-26
I found the Lonely Planet Estonia Latvia & Lithuania book very helpful on my first trip to Lithuania. Six women traveling, we felt very safe, the maps were well written and made our daily planning easy. Time distances on the bus were accurate. Information on customs made us feel more at ease. We looked for relatives because my grandmother left Lithuania 100 years ago and found them. A bus trip to the city she was from, visiting the Tourist Information Center(as was listed in the book), an English speaking person in the office and we asked for a phone book which listed two phone numbers with my grandmother's last name. Wow, thank you Lonely Planet.
Useful, but needs some work.......2004-09-27
As usual, Lonely Planet guides give the most detailed information on the "nuts and bolts" of travel (bus and train instructions, locations and practicalities.) We found this particularly useful in a region where we did not share a common language with the people.
However, tourism to the Baltic region boomed in 2004 with these countries' entry into the EU, making the book's hotel listings completely inadequate. I don't fault the authors/editors for not anticipating the boom, but rather comment that, for example, with only 3000 hotel rooms in Vilnius a guidebook now needs to list a lot more hotles so visitors can hope to get one of those now-coveted rooms!
The other drawback of this book is common to most other Lonely Planet titles: the information on cities, buildings, monuments, etc., is very dry (lacks color) and is overly terse. For such information, I have come to enjoy Rough Guides which usually include enjoyable walking tours of the major tourist areas.
Comprehensive and Concise.......2004-05-04
The authors managed to stuff everything you need to know in a relatively small book. I have been in the Baltics three times and know Latvia quite well, but this book will enrich my next trip (the relatives and locals can only do so much).
I recommed it.
Book Description
More cosmopolitan than Prague, more exciting than Warsaw and more beautiful than both, Budapest is one of Europe's most romantic cities.
From Turkish-era therman baths to pumping late-night clubs, from enchanting fin-de-siecle streetscapes to chic wine bars and restaurants - Best of Budapest will you to the finest the city has to offer.
--FULL COLOR FOLD-OUT MAPS make navigation easy.
--DON'T MISS A THING with our recommended highlights and coverage of all your sightseeing options.
--GO BEYOND GOULASH - insider tips for exploring Budapest's modern and varied cuisine scene.
--DETAILED WALKING TOURS take you off the beaten track to the city's hidden corners.
--STAY IN STYLE - only the best-value hostels, the most charming guesthouses and deluxe hotels worth every point of their five stars.
Customer Reviews:
helpful and portable.......2007-10-14
I hve always been a of Lonely planet, and this book is no exception. The size is easy to carry around and it is filled with great information. The only down side is that there is little information on public transportation and the maps are only okay. Over all, the good wins and I found this book to be very useful. While walking down the street one day we even ran into the musicians pictured on the cover!
Very useful.......2007-09-16
A great guide to the city for a first-timer. The walking tours were very useful in my exploration, and the recommendations were usually on point. The only problem was the restaurant recommendations, where many were full of tourists, all using the LP guide. But that's a minor problem for a useful, comprehensive guide to the city. I spent four days there and had a blast.
Very helpful.......2007-08-15
This book was small enough to carry around the whole time which is a big plus compared to those other bulky books. The map in the back wasn't detachable but it still really helped me in getting around. It very good in recommending what to see, how to walk around the city, and how long it would take to do all the things. I highly recommend this book.
Great Pocket Guide.......2007-05-12
This slim volume contains pretty much all you need for a short trip to Budapest. There are plenty of maps, albeit very small. The highlights section is nice as well as the photographs and suggestions for walking tours. A great little carry along.
Excellent Literate Guide.......2006-07-20
I travel extensively and, after long experience, I find the Lonely Planet guides the best, so I now buy them automatically and am never disappointed. Still, they do vary in quality. The Budapest guide, however, is among the best.
I appreciate how well this guide is written. The introduction, which sets the tone for the book, is literate and is good writing, as writing. The history chapter, not too long, but also not too superficial for this type of book, gave me an insight into Hungary that I found invaluable in enjoying my five-day visit to Budapest. Although the edition is several years old (I think a new one is about to come out), it was amazingly up-to-date and accurate. I followed several of the walking tours in the guide, and they were all well thought out and enjoyable, with a great deal of relevant information about the sights I saw.
In short, this is about as good as a general travel guide gets.
Book Description
78 Maps
Customer Reviews:
Useful information and well organized.......2007-06-26
Lonely Planet books are always fairly well organized and this edition of Hungary is no exception. The information is current and doesn't neglect any corner of this very interesting and beautiful country. The book contains information to satisfy a wide range of interests; everything from those interested in winery tours to those looking for a relaxing beach vacation at Europe's largest lake, Lake Balaton. Likewise, the book nicely balances the needs of those who travel by rail, bus or by their own rented car, as we did. One small complaint, not the author's fault, is Lonely Planet's editorial decision to omit good photos, other than the few esoteric token photos near the center of the book. I suppose there is an editorial struggle between pretty pictures versus content, but it can be frustrating if tackling a country such as Hungary where you have no apriori knowledge of the various landscapes in different regions of the country. A picture is in fact worth a thousand words, but Lonely Planet simply does not see it that way. Perhaps pick up the DK guide for photos to inspire and guide your trip planning for Hungary.
Excellent book with up-to-date and accurate informations.......2007-06-07
I have visited Budapest and more than five towns around it last summer, and have used this book extensively as my only guide to the country.
It was of great help, in it you can find everything you will need to get the full experience of the country, including historical informations, sites to visit, maps, well choosed recommendations of restaurants and bars, informations about accommodation, transport and people.
I can recommend this book to everyone who wants to visit and learn about Hungary.
Accomodation info already out of date.......2005-09-07
Although this edition was only published 2 years ago, the accomodation sections in various towns is already quite out of date . I suppose the accomodation situation changes quite rapidly in Hungary, even the 2005 edition of LP Eastern Europe has much more up to date accomodation info for Hungary, altough as a whole it has less info on Hungary of course.
Great Resource on Hungary.......2004-11-11
I lived in Hungary for a while, and this is a great resource for traveling around the country. The author captures the Hungarian spirit and quirkiness quite well, and the reviews of the restaurants, hotels, and attractions are usually accurate.
I do caution people that the information isn't as accurate if you're traveling to any of the minor cities. I lived in Szombathely, and many of the hotels and restaurants don't exist any more, and the attractions are rather... er, not quite as they are portrayed.
Also be aware that the train schedules change every January, so even if the guide says a certain leaves from Keleti or Deli, this may not be the case. Verify everything before you can make travel arrangements.
Concise (Cultural/Historical/Educational) Complete Guide.......2003-12-27
While the internet is virtually an (almost) unlimted source for information about any country, it is also an overload of too much information ... that is when you need a guide to help you sort it all out. Lonely Planet does *just* *this* for anyone who is interested in visiting and touring Hungary. I have been to Hungary three times in the past five years and was delighted to discover this wonderful book. While my primary purpose was to visit relatives, the opportunity to visit historical sites and experience the culture is always foremost in my mind. Since most vacations are limited to 2, 3 or 4 weeks - you need to know where to find what interests you and make the most of your European vacation. This is the primary purpose of this book.
Lonely Planet tells you about restaurants, hotels (and their prices), entertainment, folklore events, art galleries, museums, castles, and churches, too -- giving a very good description of *nearly* everything of historical or cultural interest in the major cities and towns of Hungary. There are some very nice photographs,too. I was most impressed by their including information about transportation, buses, the metro and the trains. You are given an indespensible synopsis and outline of "what you need to know" of how to get "where you want to go." Budapest is described in vivid detail - the charm of this old world capital is evident - anyone unfamiliar with its treasures is enticied to visit. I have visited, Szekesfehervar, Veszprem, Sarvar, Szombathely, Gyor, Sumeg, Koszeg, Csesznek, Zirc, Mor, and at Lake Balaton: Siofok, Keszthely, Tihany & Badacsony -- all described beautifully for what they offer the tourist. Of note, there are highlighted boxes which give special information, hard to find elsewhere, for instance, "Herend Porcelain" is featured, giving a brief history of this art and a description of some patterns. "The Victoria pattern of butterflies and wild flwoers of the Bakony was designed for Queen Victora after she admired a display of Herend pieces at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851." (page 228)
Another major plus to this guide, is it gives an accurate, scholarly and well researched brief history of Hungary in about 10 pages. I have read recently published history books about Hungary - Lonely Planet got it right! So if you are looking for a concise, cultural, historical, educational complete guide to visiting Hungary - buy this book. My highest accolades to this guide! Erika Borsos (erikab93)
Customer Reviews:
Better than no guidebook at all.......2007-03-09
I chose this guidebook because I was still unsure about where I wanted to go in the area. As has been said before, the chapter on Slovenia is great. I found the chapter and maps on Serbia and Montenegro to not be very helpful. The maps would be much more useful if they had street names in both Roman and Cyrillic alphabets (where applicable).
Decent, but not a standalone.......2006-12-08
I used this book during a trip through Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania, and Montenegro in June 2006.
I'm not sure if there's another book that covers all of these countries so I have no basis for comparison. But while this book provided a skeleton for my trip, it could have been much better. I only give it two stars because it got me through the trip and I didn't die.
Pro:
Good overview of countries (even if it lacked depth).
Good basic info, good food section.
Cons:
Maps were unreliable even in major cities like Belgrade. Not only were the streets wrong on occasion but their icons were off quite frequently, which led to hours of walking around in circles--always fun!
Not enough detail in general. In particular, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, and transport options all need lots of expansion.
Language section was not sufficient at all. Eight pages total to cover four languages. If this is your only language guide and if you don't speak Russian, get ready for lots of hand signals and gestures.
Transport portions were often wrong and some sections directly contradicted others. Some may be because the text is dated but you can travel from Bosnia through Serbia to Kosovo by overnight bus. You can also take an overnight train from Montenegro to Belgrade.
Nearly 100 pages (of 422) are devoted to Croatia. First, this section wouldn't be sufficient for a full Croatia trip and (most importantly) it leaves little room to cover the other six countries + Kosovo. They should cut it and add more content elsewhere.
Information on safety, crime, corruption was spotty. Some places were surprisingly friendly--Kosovo in particular--while others were quite hairy--Albania and parts of Macedonia.
Bottom line: It's certainly lighter than taking 7 books but don't expect lots of depth. And it needs an update.
Too little of everything.......2006-06-22
I agree with the previous reviewe, this book is too superficial and not really necessary for anyone. Those travelling to Croatia and Slovenia will be much better of with Lonely Planet: Croatia or Lonely Planet: Slovenia. Those going to Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia or Albania will find that this book does not provide much information about any of those countries.
Given the fact that there already are a number of guides to Croatia and Slovenia, their inclusion in this guide could be questioned. Taking a little bit more time and publishing individual guidebooks on the rest of the countries covered in this book would have been a far better option instead of a short summary that won't be beneficial to anyone.
Bradt has published extensive guides on each country in the Balkans, as well as city guides to Ljubljana, Dubrovnik and Belgrade. You might find the Lonely Planet guide to Croatia better than Bradt's Croatia guide, but otherwise any traveller to South Eastern Europe or the Adriatic coast should stick to Bradt for more extensive coverage.
Superficial coverage.......2006-03-23
A pretty typical Lonely Planet Guide, with good practical information on travel through the region.
The problem with the book is that it barely skims the surface of most of the destinations it covers. (If it isn't clear from the title, "Western Balkans" translates to the nations that used to be part of Yugoslavia, and Albania.) If you plan to spend a lot of time in Croatia and or Slovenia, LP's individual country guides for these too countries offer far more depth and detail. For the other countries (Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Albania) you're probably better off with the Bradt guides. (Or buy both.) LP only touches on a handful of major cities in each country. Given the low page count, the writers/editors could have easily expanded the coverage by just expanding the book!
Book Description
Ponder whether Bucharest is the 'Paris of the East' at its own Triumphal Arch, p.76.
Roam deserted stretches of sand where the Danube meets the Black Sea, p.308.
Find out why the keys to 'Dracula's castle' are held by a New York architect, p.139.
Enjoy a tipple at the winery where Russia's President Putin celebrated his 50th birthday, p.329.
Two authors; 16 months in-country research; three car accidents; eight road trips slowed by jaywalking goats
Fully updated information on Moldovan wineries and Transylvanian castles
The only guidebook to cover Moldova and its autonomous regions of Transdniestr and Gagauzia
Content updated daily: visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the minute reviews, updates and traveller suggestions
Customer Reviews:
Parts of this book are fiction----did the author even visit the place?.......2007-09-13
I bought this book for my recent trip to Romania. I should have passed on it and used the internet--the information would have been more useful. I especially found the information on the area around Bania Mare to be not only wrong--but useless. Sadly, I based a large part of my trip on the book. I also found the information on Brasov to be insufficient and in some cases just plain bad. I will say that the section on Bucharest was well done.
Nicely Written.......2007-08-06
I am enjoying reading this as a reference book for my first time trip to Romania coming up in three days. Since I haven't been able to buy Romanian currency in advance, I would have liked to have been given more information on currency exchange as well as more translated phrases such as "how much does this cost?" referring to the taxi scams mentioned as well as markets and shops. I would also have appreciated information on women traveling alone and the appropriateness of being alone in restaurants and night clubs.
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- Lonely Planet East Africa
- Lonely Planet Egypt
- Lonely Planet France
- Lonely Planet Germany
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