Lonely Planet Travel Guides

While Lonely Planet guides have quite a bit of useful information, they are quite poorly organized. Whether using a print or digital version, prepare for looks of page flipping to find what you’re looking for. The digital versions, while obviously more convenient for travel than the bulky print versions, are particularly poorly set up. It would seem obvious that easy linking from point to point within the book would be a great benefit. But this has escaped the publisher. For example, a detailed table of contents with links would be great. Also, links between individual entries (lodging, food, etc.) and a map would be great. This is either absent or less than convenient. Lots of room for improvement here.

I will never understand the craze and hype around Lonely Planet. They usually write too much, pretend to tell you about «non-​touristy» place but still send you there, treat you like you’re a child, have extremely confusing maps and directions, and a lot of the time the information they provide is inaccurate (example: why tell me there is a must-​see museum of art in San Francisco when it’s closed for renovation for the next 2 – 3 years?)
I feel like their books may be amazing if you have never traveled before, have no clue HOW to travel, or think you can get help looking for pristine, unknown spts but end up suckered in doing touristy things nonetheless
If you are a seasoned traveler and do not (want to) fit the average stereotype of the confused, typical tourist who has no clue what to do, LP books are a waste of time. Honestly, it’s no surprise that 90% of all the people I’ve ever seen use LP books have been «ugly American» tourists that rarely travel outside their home country. I’ve met tourists from other parts of the world, and very few use LP as a guide.

LP books are generally an insightful and entertaining read, and will definitely get you around efficiently. I’d give the books alone 4 stars. Their online shopping system needs a little attention, though – reason for an overall 2 star review.
Do not order anything online through their website – the LP website uses RBS WorldPay for their payment processing, which has been hacked multiple times and consistently experiences credit card fraud. Until they change their online payment processor, buy any LP merchandise from regular brick-​and-​mortar stores. DO NOT ENTER CREDIT CARD INFORMATION ON THEIR WEBSITE.

Life and time change! i was upset abou tthe lack of info on the Thorntree and then they closed for awhile. I found out that they closed because of trolls. they changed security and processes.
Now, again, up to date thoughtful information about travel.

I love Lonely Planet travel guides. They give accurate information with out the hype.

When you don’t know where to start, check out Lonely Planet.
I’ve used the Lonely Planet Taiwan and Lonely Planet Europe on a Shoestring. The guide books are very detailed and include everything to get you on your way!

My 100^th Review!!!
LPs are the best travel books I’ve ever used. Very user friendly, tons of maps, a glossary, cultural tidbits, well organized and comprehensive. Once you get used to their format it’s hard to switch to a different guidebook b/​c you only see the lacks.
I’ve used them on trips to Europe, Southeast & East Asia, Costa Rica, India etc. etc. And NOW I get to use LP for our upcoming trip to Espana!
Maybe the best or most memorable part of using LP is all of the notes you end up writing in them. of contact info. for all of the interesting people you meet; notes of where you stayed, or tried to stay; sights you just had to see; restaurants you just had to try; and routes you ended up taking.
I’m looking forward to making those same notes with my girls.
Spain 2007! Whoot whoot!

Feh. The fact that LP books are made up of a gaggle of contract writers — I mean getting paid to blitz a city/​country and not people who really know about the area — means these are really use-​at-​your-​own-​risk. In my opinion, it sucks when you’re in another country and the cute café/​hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant/​off-​the-​beaten-​path spot turns out to be a Starbucks clone. I would rather use a guidebook that goes for quality over quantity, and get more of the personal touch. If I want anything and everything, I’ll look in a phone book.

A friend and I backpacked our way through Kenya with nothing more than some clothes, a Lonely Planet: Kenya guidebook, and a dream. It changed our lives. ‘Nuff said.

LP was definitely the leader in travel guides about 5 – 10 years ago. Now, with the abundance of real-​time information online, the guides are not as useful as they could be. Depending on the destination, LP may not be the best choice so do some research beforehand. I find the Moon Guides to be better for some destinations – especially in the US. The information for the Arizona book is outstanding. For Hawaii, go for the «Revealed» series, i.e. «Maui Revealed»

i love them the best!

My favorite guide books. Good for people who don’t want to do typical touristy things only. You can count on their restaurant recos to be good, unlike some other books. Minus one star for not updating their editions often enough.
Edit to add: Recently hit Ireland with a group of friends, I was the only LP carrying traveler. By the end of the trip I was in charge of choosing all our restaurants and people didn’t want to go shopping until consulting LP on our new town.

Wonderful guides and side notes/​tips were always useful to plan out-​of-​the main cities excursions. Great write-​ups and recommendations. Truly enjoyed the LP for Mexico and the Greek islands.

Their books are indispensable and their website has hooked me up with a variety of resources (from message boards to travel insurance to hotels). I tend to trust the travel organizations that LP endorses if only because it’s a big name publisher.

Hands down, Lonely Planet travel guides are the best. The guides cover anything and everything one needs to know about the region of their choice, I purchased my South Africa Lonely Planet guide yesterday and have already highlighted half the book! Definitely recommend Lonely Planet as a main source of practical information. It also makes for great reading on the 14 hour flight!

The East Africa and Egypt guides were essential in planning and taking our recent journey. We used them to find quiet, comfortable and inexpensive lodgings, all of which were excellent. While we were in country, they always pointed us to good food and with the included maps and tours, made cultural landmarks and highlights easy to understand. Well worth the weight to tote these along.
Update: Just used the NYC guide on a recent trip there. Even though I used to live in the area, I wanted some guidance on up to date hours, hot areas, etc. The guide knew that the statue of liberty doesn’t allow you to climb to the top anymore (saving my bf a day of disappointment), knew that little Italy is now nothing more than a tourist stop, and found us some better Italian food in another neighborhood. Highly recommended.

Lonely Planet has the best travel books! They are no-​nonsense, honest to goodness guides for travel anywhere in the world.

Hit or miss. Used LP China, Thailand, Bali, Middle East, Brazil, Costa Rica, Argentina, Peru.
Found some wrong directions in LP Turkey.
*Better usage from
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Eyewitness Travel Guide for Istanbul, London, Paris

There are some six hundred well-​written, extremely detailed guide books in the series, and while I obviously can’t comment on all of them, I found the editions for Morocco and Turkey were invaluable in planning extensive tours of both countries. Distances, directions, and approximate driving times between destinations were accurate to the kilometer and the minute, and hotel accommodations, restaurants, and shops were exactly as described. As a long-​time travel professional, I highly recommend these as being among the best reference books for planning independent journeys, especially to countries where tourist travel usually is confined to group motorcoach tours.