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Lonely Planet Guides
10 December, 2007 - 15:07 
LHRstarG
LHRstarG
Does anyone agree that they're not as good as they used to be? Or is it just that I'm now more discerning?
Seems that nowadays they are mass-produced by people who want to get the job done (and paid), and bear a strong resemblance to the (out of date) previous edition..?
think this topic has
think this topic has already been covered- yes, they suck
The Thorn Tree forum on
The Thorn Tree forum on their website has also gone downhill since they sold it off. It takes forever to log in on dial-up so I can't see me spending much time there in future.
Lonely Planets
I bought my first guide book in 1986-ish (LP on a Shoestring Eastern Europe - or something like that). I generally like them for what they offer, which suits me down to the ground as a backpacker.
Some are excellent; some are terrible; some of those written by many people have excellent chapters in them; some don't. I do think they are still the best in the market. There are a few others that I rate highly: the Footprints North Pakistan fars outstrips the LP Pakistan guide; I loved the Moon Publication on Tibet (now discontinued) but a guide book is a guide book and you get from it what you want.
Some things I don't like about LP as it has developed:
1. Their maps are often still not very good.
2. Guide books could be very much thinned down by not including 'Top Range' Accommodation, amongst other things - this has taken them a long way from their roots but the world and the traveller has changed a lot since 1972 (often for the worse, in my opinion). I think there is a large gap in the market if anyone is willing to go out there and write purely for a budget-conscious backpacker market.
3. Some of their authors are still asked to return and write again when what they offer is poor.
4. The large guides, such as 'Africa', written by several authors sometimes have conflicting information.
5. It is obvious that certain information is not updated and stays in the guide - you only notice this when you have travelled a fair bit / gone back to a region/area/country a few times over a period of time. It is impossible to cover everything but to support the first person who wrote here I have definitely becoming more discerning over the years ... just comes with experience, I think.
JB
What?
Where does it say it was 'sold'? It looks the same as it always did. And just about everysite on the net would take forever on dialup nowadays.
The thorntree forum has been
The thorntree forum has been licensed out to some UK group and the format has changed radically.
Real Forum Chat
Hi All
Just thought I would add a comment so we can get back to discussing travel rather than being bombarded with adverts in the 'In the Forum' Section.
My comment -
Just wondered what kind of guides people use. I have over 60 and have traditionally gone for 1 Lonely Planet, 1 Rough Guide for everywhere I go to.
Have just got 4 Bradt guides for a trip to Eastern Europe in March and they look more 'off the beaten track' than the other two.
I generally prefer rough guide for the maps but lonely planet for hotel information
Bradt Guides
My own experience with Bradt guides has not been great. Crappy maps, out of date information on restaurants and hotels. The Rwanda guide was absolute rubbish. I have never used the Easterm European guides. For that, I rely on the Rough Guide, which i feel is the best in the business.
Rwanda guide (Bradt)
A lot of the hotels have closed down or been demolished.
Had trouble getting bearings in Kigali using map in guide. Then worked out it's upside down. North is at the bootom of page. Most unusual.
Bradt
The trip i will be doing in march is the first with bradt guides. will give them a go. they seem to cover many countries that the other guides dont - including ukraine where i will be going.
wanderlust magazine readers voted them number one for the past two years running so they cant be that bad in general