I love travelling, and I love the Lonely Planet books. Part of the travel experience for me is going through a Lonely Planet book before (and during) my trip and highlighting things that sound interesting (and then bookmarking them on Yelp). Over the past five years, I've done quite a bit of travelling in Europe, Asia, and the US, and I've used the Lonely Planet guide books for each trip. In my collection, I have the Iceland, Sweden, Prague & the Czech Republic, Washington DC, San Francisco, and Myanmar (Burma) Lonely Planet books; the rest I borrowed from the library (no, I don't highlight library books!). Some books are better than others, and the one I found most useful was the Prague book. Most books also come with a map, and the Prague map was also excellent. One thing to note with the books is to use the information contained as a starting point to get ideas on what to see and do, but to confirm specific information, such as pricing and opening hours, on the business website or from a local source, as this type of information may have changed since the book was printed. [Yelp collections: Libraries and Bookstores] read more

I ordered two travel guides and when they came, I realized I already had a recent version of one of them. At Lonely Planet's direction, I returned the book I didn't need, without even opening it (and paid for the shipping). When I heard nothing back for about ten days, I checked into it and was told that since Lonely Planet had just switched its online shop to a new provider, I couldn't get a refund. So, they have the book, and can even re-sell it, but they have refused to give me a refund. I have requested a refund several times and they steadfastly refuse. read more

Lonely Planet doesn't let me download my previously purchased ebooks so thanks for nothing. Buy them from a book store, not online!

Please let me know how we can thank you for all the helpful information lonlyplanet provide. We have been using it for many many years and continue to benefit. Thank you for the great restaurant selection in every city. read more

My sons and I were just on a trip to China for Spring Break. My older son organized a lot of things for the trip. One of these things was coordinating with the travel guide DingYi: dingdriver@sina.com, xadingi@163.com, and you can find him on facebook- https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100019375338984. DingYi was fabulous! My son gave him our points of interest and DingYi delivered with a great attitude, knowledge about the area and tips about foods in the area. He was awesome! He did just what we wanted-driving to and from multiple points. We avoided various cabs and confusion with DingYi. If you're going to be in the area, I highly recommend him! He was a fun, knowledgable travel guide! read more

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. read more

Lonely Planet Travel Guides - Print Media Near Me - Oakland, California

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!! read more

My 100th 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! read more

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. read more

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. read more

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 http://www.DK.com ---- Eyewitness Travel Guide for Istanbul, London, Paris read more

The lonely planet book are great. The problem comes when you order them on the lonely planet online shop. It is indeed the second time that I place my order there and I lose my money, because the travel guide never arrive and the company fails in reimbursing you!!! It is really outrageous that such a company puts in place such a bad service! read more

I've just used Lonely Planet California and boy are these guides in decline.There is too much guff and summary sections at the start, which leads to repeated information later. Hotels are too expensive, LP used to be budget, this one didn't even cover the mid range. Very few hotels listed. Far too upscale in general. Specific things that I was interested in were not listed - no comment about whether onsite California hotels are worth the extra vs staying outside Disney. Did not mention that Universal studios tickets could be gained online at a significant discount. LP guidebooks were much better in their heyday which lasted until at least 2000/2005 but more recent years have shown a clear downhill trend and I get the sense that there is less direct firsthand research for each edition. read more

I bought a copy of Lonely Planet Guide to Turkey. (15th Edition). My interest was particularly in Eastern Turkey. In the shop I checked and was pleased to see they had a whole section on the area. When I got home I was shocked to find that they give no mention at all of Van; the biggest city in the region with many attractions including a 1,000 year old Armenian church on an island in the lake! Not to mention the local cats which have different coloured eyes and love swimming, etc. etc. Very disappointed..... Michael read more

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. read more

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" read more

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. read more

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 cafe/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. read more

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. read more

It's all fluff, confusing maps, horrible customer service and very unorganized. No longer the leader in travel guides.

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

Lonely Planet books USED to be good, I used to buy them all the time because I travel frequently. Now, they're terrible. They have totally changed the format, and the new one is too confusing. The pages used to be that good glossy paper, now they have that rough, cheap paper. Also, they used to have excellent maps. The streets were clearly shown in perfect detail with double lines, and every alley and passage was shown, as were all the sites, restaurants, bars, and hotels. Now, the maps are totally useless. All they have now are a colored background, and the streets are just little white lines, most of which are not even marked. It's a shame how the quality of these books has gone downhill. But that seems to be true of everything nowadays. read more

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. read more

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. read more

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! read more

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

Their pdf guides are unfortunately useless. It does not print! I spent 10 mins trying to get it to print. No help phone # - nothing. Never again! read more

We have just returned from a 30 day travel in Tibet, organised through Tibet Highlands. A lot of preparation went into this travel and we had a few last minute changes due to the earthquake. Without the help we received from Tenzin this trip would not have been possible. He handled everything well and efficiently. Detchen also was on hand when we needed her. Our guide, Dandul, was excellent and took good care of us. Not easy for him to deal with three ladies in their late sixties!! We saw many interesting things and had a once in a lifetime experience. We travelled from Tashigang to Sakye and most places in between! Thank you all at Tibetan Highlands and greetings from Spain and Holland! read more

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. read more

I have ordered online for years and always get the books within the week. The books are well indexed although the ebooks do not link the table of contents page numbers to the page of interest, so often there is considerable scrolling. BTW, the online store does accept paypal. read more

I have always used Lonely Planet guidebooks and found them to be accurate and in some places, because I travel as a lone woman, indispensible. Important details, necessary for safety, were usually covered. I just finished using the new Ecuador edition. I was extremely disappointed with the new format, wasting space on tour itineraries and expensive resturants and hotels. Lonely Planet needs to decide what audience they are concerned with. Sure, I occasionally like to splurge, but this book was all about splurging and only a little about budget, safe travel. In addition, the book came out only a few months before my trip and the prices were most often totally wrong. Finally, snarky comments about color decor, or supposed unfriendly slights by a hostal worker were totally a waste of space, when important details were so often overlooked. I will carry Lonely Planet on my next trip, but I will also carry another guidebook as an alternative. At least that way I will have more than two or three budget hotel suggestions, something extremely important the first night in a strange town. read more