5 comments about The Complete Travel Detective Bible: The Consummate Insider Tells You What You Need to Know in an Increasingly Complex World!.

1. Chock full of information but for the frequent traveler, nothing ground breaking in it. A lot of the back chapters are geared towards niche demographic groups (seniors, gay/lesbian, etc.) and so you'll just flip through a lot of it. He lists a ton of different links for useful websites throughout the book but it would be helpful if they were compiled as an appendix in the back of the book.
   
   If you're an inexperienced traveler who is going to be doing a lot more travel in the future, this is a good book for you. For the rest, may be overkill/underkill.



2. There is so much travel information available these days that it's hard to recommend any source of travel information. Nonetheless, Peter Greenberg has been in the game for a long time. His writing is clear and his tips are a great starting point for further researches. His website at petergreenberg.com is an excellent source of additional, up-to-date information. He'll even respond to questions and comments.
   
   This is a very good overview of travel information for people who love to travel. And, he'll make you smile -- perhaps the best travel tip of all. :)



3. This isn't really so much a book that you would want to read in its entirety as a collection of data and opinions to scan through. Sections 1-2 are devoted to topics such as airports, frequent filer miles and baggage policies. A novice traveller might find something helpful here. But most travellers will find very little that they don't already know.
   
   Sections 3-5 are focused on various forms of "speciality travel" such as pet travel, biking and culinary travel. If you a have a particular interest in one of the forms of "speciality travel" covered than this might be of interest. But once again the info presented here seemed pretty basic and the sort of the stuff that could be easily found on the internet.
   
   In fact, a few web sites mentioned was the only aspect of the book that I found useful at all. Perhaps most of the credit here should go to Sarika Chawla who Greenberg says is his information researcher. On the other hand Greenberg has a rather grumpy style of writing and a tendency to go off on rants which I found unpleasant. I didn't enjoy reading it and there just wasn't enough useful information to make this worthy of of a recommendation.



4. I've been traveling for business and pleasure for 37 years, up to two weeks and half a dozen different cities per month. Most importantly, my travels have been on my dime, because I'm self-employed, and I've sought every time- and money-saving ploy I could come up with. But I learned a frightening amount of new information from this book.
   
   There is a good mixture of tips for buying tickets, getting the most from your hotel stays, and other procedural topics, as well as good information oriented towards specific destinations. This book is excellent for browsing, or for reading from cover-to-cover.
   
   If you think you know everything there is to know about travel: you don't. Peter Greenberg does, however, and you should take advantage of his expertise.



5. The Complete Travel Detective Bible: The Consummate Insider Tells You What You Need to Know in an Increasingly Complex World!

5 comments about Fodor's Walt Disney World® with Kids 2008: with Universal Orlando and SeaWorld (Special-Interest Titles).

1. This book was very helpful in planning out Disney trip. I wish it would have explained the rides a little more (which ones had loud noises for toddlers). Otherwise it helped us navigate the parks and plan our meals accordingly.



2. We've been on many trips to WDW, but after reading this book I wished I'd had it for the first one. Of all the WDW with Kids books I've read, this is the best. Lots of helpful hints and ideas on what to bring and what to see. Recommended highly!



3. There was nothing particularly unique about this book - no real noteworthy tips on where to go with little ones - what rides to avoid - height restrictions would have been great. I was looking for a book that was really geared toward taking a toddler or young child to disney and this book was just a little too generic.



4. This is a great book to read before you get to Disney. I especially appreciated the "scare factor" for the rides/attractions. We just got back from our vacation and we had a great time because I had lots of information to make it a wonderful experience for all of us.



5. This book was a great help in planning our trip to Disney in September. This book has great information on the resorts, parks, and restaurants. It also has some great secrets that everyone should know. It made our planning very easy.

5 comments about Smart Packing for Today's Traveler.

1. I had the opportunity to skim through this book. It is definitely worth a read. As a travelling athlete, I found valuable hints and advice within its pages.



2. this is a helpful book i can refer to in a snap. haven't begun to use all the info in it but look forward to continuing to keep in available to me right in the drawer where i keep all my other traveling essentials!!



3. As a fan and practitioner of the Smart Packing philosophy, I appreciated the updates in this 3rd edition. With the significant changes in the airline industry on luggage, security and just plain getting from here to there, it was very helpful to have updated information and resources. No matter how often you travel, there is always something to learn from an expert who makes successful travel her business. This book is my favorite gift for friends who travel. If you don't own it, or own an earlier edition, buy the 3rd edition for yourself!



4. I've gotten a number of packing-for-travel books in the past. This book is one of the best ones I have read, and I wish I would have gotten it sooner. I used a number of the packing suggestions for a business trip to San Antonio a couple of weeks ago. The advice and suggestions given in this book are true gems, and this book is definitely going to help me immensely for a longer trip I am taking in July.



5. The service was great. Received quickly and in great condition.
   Will use vendor again.

5 comments about City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi.

1. Dalrymple knows tons about the history of Delhi. The book is poignant but not a comedy as advertised. He weaves past and present by ambitiously visiting historic sites to wean the truth out of them while detailing present family life with an Indian landlady. There are also some sweet water color illustrations.



2. « City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi » William Dalrymple HarperCollins 1993
   
   « City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi » was my travel reading for my first trip to India in the summer of 2007, a trip which began and ended in Delhi. Having read other writers and other Dalrymple books on India before I set out, I read « City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi » first on my outward journey, and then reviewed it again as we made our way back to Delhi on the last stage of our tour. The book was an invaluable resource, supplementing the ill-informed and poorly spoken guides who were difficult to understand and unable to answer questions in any depth. Dalrymple's book helped me to tie the city and its sites and history together into some sort of coherent whole. I also found the pen-and-ink illustrations by Dalrymple's wife Olivia Fraser very illuminating. Although at first sight they struck me as much too calm and uncluttered to convey the true image of the places they posed, I later came to appreciate how they captured the inherent essence of their subject and spoke volumes in their simple way.
   
   As a journalist, Dalrymple has a knack for finding the right people to talk with - people with living memories of the time he writes about, who can bring to life the crumbling ruins they inhabit and instil us with visions of the beauty that once radiated in Delhi. It is certainly difficult to see today but reading the stories did help me to understand the sensibilities of some of the « Delhi-wallahs » we encountered in our travels.
   
   My one criticism of the book is that he reuses material that has appeared elsewhere, which broke the rhythm of my involvement with his story and made me feel uncomfortable. These passages were extensive, and not changed sufficiently to feel new in any way. I was surprised that his editors allowed this to pass, unless there were deadline difficulties.
   
   The overall impression that I was left with is that India today is still suffering from the reverberations of the devastation of partition, which brought incomprehensible tragedy and hardship and touched almost every family in India in one way or another. As we watch India vie for its place in the globalised technological marketplace, we will understand her better if we remember this recent back-story in her development.



3. I was born and brought up in Delhi, and lived there for 21 years of my life, after which I emigrated to the United States. This book made me feel that how oblivious many of us 'locals' are, of the many riches and insights that my home city has to offer.
   
   William Dalrymple peels the multilayered culture of the historical city of Delhi - seven times the capital of empires - ruined and rebuilt again. He spans from the Punjabi immigrants that've filled the newer parts of economically booming Delhi sice the partition of India in 1947; to the more historic but now decrepit old Delhi - where the legendary age old 'Persian' customs such as the 'Kabootar' (Pegion) fights, the 'Chor' (Thief) Bazaars and the mysterious 'Hakims' (Doctors practicing an old school of medicine) are unquestioned parts of the daily lives of many. Dalrymple also describes the curious and unique collision of history leading to the current day fate of the Indian Hijras (Eunuchs), who ring the door bells of apartments of Delhi's denizens, in the old city and the new, on any kind of festivity. He describes the fascinating history and architecture of the tomb of Himayun and Hazrat Nizam-ud-din, the charming old 'Quawaalis' (musical forums) still alive there, and many other monuments that I visited umpteen times as a kid, the 'Sadhus', an ancient culture intact with flavors... the list is endless. Somehow, I missed making the connections, and could see the beauty of the entire kaliedoscope when I read this book. I find my visits to Delhi so much more fascinating. One thing that the readers must be made aware though is the overt focus on history of Mughal (Persian) Delhi - which is for a reason - that all the pre-Mughal monuments were destroyed. The Delhi that exists is newer than the spirit of the city really is.
   
   Since I read this book I always try to find such books on the cities I've visited. A strong recommend for anyone visiting Delhi -- you can choose to be put off by the seeming boorishness of the existing 'New' Delhi, or scratch beneath the surface and discover magic!



4. I lived in Delhi for just under a year in the eighties, and if I had had this book then, it would have been a completely different experience for me. I walked by so much history in puraani delhi, and understood little of its significance. When I return to Delhi, this book will light my way into Mughal, British and Sufi Delhi.
   
   I agree with another reviewer that Dalrymple says relatively little about Hindu Delhi, but I think Delhi is one of the most historically cosmopolitan of cities in a subcontinent that is often painted as Hindu in broad strokes. I hope no reader takes as disrespect when I say that Hindu India gets plenty of attention; I am glad that Dalrymple focused on what cultural roads are less traveled. He does tell, and beautifully so, the story of the role of Delhi's ancestral settlement in the Mahabharata.
   
   What I loved most about the book was its portrayal of the vibrant Sufi community in India; the life of a Sufi dargah; the Qawwali singers. Learning about Sufi Delhi was a great and valuable revelation to me.



5. The first thing that is incredibly interesting about this book is the way it is approached. To call it a travel book, I feel, is diminishing the many other aspects & experiences this book is about.
   
   This book is kind of a diary of Dalrymple & wife's year in Delhi. And it is also a book of history scattered behind the sights, the people, & the culture. Dalrymple narrates compellingly, candidly, without biases & with plentiful humour. Stories abound - of the destitute but historically cultured 'old Delhi-wallahs' & the loutish Punjabi nouveau rich, of Anglo-Indians living in reminisce & poverty, of the Delhi eunuchs, of Dervishes that speak in parables, of partridge fights, of khalifas, of Balwinder Singh's buoyancy & lust, of Mr & Mrs Puri's idiosyncrasies.
   
   And while you're drifting from one of these interludes to the other, you're taken centuries back to the Kingdom of Shah Jehan, Aurangzeb's treachery & network of spies, of incest in Royal Harems, of Englishmen who smoked hookahs - some who became Indian in their ways beyond recognition, some who continued their English ways, of the partition, of Tughlak's barbaric ways, of the refined mannerisms of a mirza during the Mughal period, of the Red Fort & what lies beneath.
   
   Dalrymple is also an astute recorder of conversations. Some of the 'Indian English' that is spoken is in such sharp contrast to Dalrymple's speech, that you cannot help but get tickled. However, I do not think that Dalrymple's intention is mockery for there are plentiful other examples to the contrary.
   
   I definitely learned & relearned a lot from this book. I also developed a sense of Delhi's history & a empathy for it's present. And I smiled a lot.

5 comments about A Small Place.

1. Antigua, an awe-inspiring vacation spot for Europeans and North Americans, takes on a different aura when discussed by native Jamaica Kincaid. Ms. Kincaid describes how the Antiguans feel about the tourists who visit: ugly people. Ugly because they invaded, then brought slaves to work for them so they could become rich while ignoring the needs of those who made them wealthy. Ugly because of what they've done to the island and the people who live there. Jamaica talks about the corrupt government and the hand that North Americans, British, Syrians and Lebanese play in that corruption. She describes how England paved the roads the Queen of England would travel when she visited, but left everything else in poor condition. Ms. Kincaid also mentions the drug dealers that the government ignores and those who build ugly condos for the wealthy and rent business space to the government who should be building their own space.
   
   In a very few pages, Jamaica Kincaid says what a lot of former slaves would like to say but are perhaps too politically correct to utter. She does the job for us. Ms. Kincaid does not mince her words when it comes to what the British Empire did to the people of Antigua and the world for that matter. Frequently, I found myself wanting to stand up and cheer as I read her words of disgust and anger. While Ms. Kincaid is specifically speaking of Antigua, her words describe the slave trade and the destruction and poverty left in the wake of it no matter what country. It is well worth reading - more than once.
   
   Reviewed by alice Holman
   of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers



2. A major failing of this essay, which claims to be non-fiction, is Kincaid's sole reliance on her own memories of Antigua. As an eye-witness, Kincaid has the chance to provide a unique perspective on the issues of slavery, corruption, tourism, colonialism, and SIDS (small island developing states). Yet, she ruins this chance, in my opinion, with her complete disregard of any perspective other than her own.
   
   A Small Place presents a biased and incomplete account of many of the issues facing Antigua and other islands in the Caribbean. Some of Kincaid's criticisms are certainly valid; however, others have been blown completely out of proportion. If one really wishes to know the history of Antigua and to understand the lingering consequences of colonialism, I suggest looking elsewhere.
   
   What this book lacks in factual information, it does not make up for with a strong emotional appeal. Kincaid's story line is incomplete and unengaging. She repeatedly wanders from topic to topic and back again, giving no sense of what is most important or relevant. Additionally, whatever sympathy she may gain from the Western reader is repeatedly lost with her hateful generalizations.
   
   I am sorry that I have to write such a negative review of this book. I believe that it is important for people in the West to understand the plight of developing countries, especially SIDS. However, I do not believe that A Small Place is at all helpful in promoting this dialogue.
   
   It is important to understand the past. And I can sympathize with Kincaid's intense hatred of those who have and continue to oppress "her people". However, I think this text is short-sighted in its desire for change. After repeatedly criticizing tourists for their greed and laziness, does she really expect them to want to understand Antiguan society? I see the hatred and dualism expressed in A Small Place as a major obstacle in achieving a better tomorrow.



3. I had to read this book for a Multicultural Literature class at my Uni, and, far from being informative, all it did was fill with me a contempt of my own. I am not a racist by any means, but when confronted with such a bitter, snide voice as the one Kincaid displays, I find myself unconsciously getting defensive. When she says, "you are a tourist; you are ugly," I find myself saying, "Fine, I'll keep my money and let you trade with seashells and beads." Kincaid is a master of the self-fulfilling prophecy: she says Antiguans are so oppressed and so downtrodden and so angry, and rather than doing anything to help it, she's exacerbating it by using such a bitter, over-the-top voice.
   
   Other reviewers have stated that the vision of Antigua portrayed is a warped and extremely limited one, biased by Kincaid's apparent small mindedness, and I must confess that I'm glad to hear that. To think that the entire island is solely occupied by bitter people who imagine themselves to be ex-slaves would make me steer clear of the area any time I go on vacation.
   
   Because, yes, I am a tourist. And no, being a tourist does not automatically make anyone ugly, despite what Kincaid's bitter rant might say.



4. Published in 1988 Kincaid's "A Small Place" is an unflinchingly angry portrayal of post-colonial, post-slavery life on the island of Antigua. To put it simply: Kincaid is as mad as hell, and she's not going to take it anymore. If you're white and can shelve your defensiveness for a moment this book is actually really enjoyable, it's written in first person and directed at "you," the British colonizer and/or the fat white tourist. Kincaid's sense of humor is wonderfully dark, and there are a lot of moments of humor if you keep an open mind. Still, at the heart of the matter is the story of Antigua's decay, left to rot by the British colonizers, with a population that doesn't vote openly corrupt officials out of office. She openly points out the irony of the celebration of emancipation alongside the valorization of the Hotel Training School, which teaches the residents of the island to be servants. In the end Kincaid concludes that no one is to blame, that after slavery the masters are no longer evil and the slaves are no longer "noble," but that everyone is merely human. She problematizes the matter, but offers no solutions, which might irritate those concrete sequentials among us. Also, she refers to Columbus, and the explorers in general, so adored in American culture, as "human rubbish" on multiple occasions. You might not agree with Kincaid, but this is one topic someone should be angry about, and her unapologetic narrative is about as honest as you can get.



5. If you expect a well-reasoned and persuasive essay, look elsewhere. At best, this is the mindless rantings of somebody who's been through a lot and really needs to vent. The only thing she was able to persuade me by the end of the book was that I was an evil person.
   The book is divided into several chapters. The format is fairly simple: in every chapter, Jamaica Kincaid hates on a different group of people. In the first chapter, she rants about tourists. In the second chapter, she rants about British people. If she focused on one group of people, her argument might make sense, but when she focuses on them all it becomes clear that she just hates everybody. Because she writes the entire book in second person, every insult is directed straight at the reader. I left the book feeling extremely guilty, while at the same time not exactly sure what I had done wrong.

2 comments about Moon Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks (Moon Handbooks).

1. Using Amazon and local bookstores, I checked out all the recent Canadian Rockies guidebooks I could find before choosing this one. It has good explanations of geology, flora, and fauna found in this area. We took many of the suggestions for lodging, food and things to do, and was not disappointed with any. I'm not a hiker - I walk - so I can't judge the suggested hikes, with the exception of one, rated "easy" near Banff. Not easy. For un-hikers who want to "hike" I recommend Graeme Pole's "Walks and Easy Hikes in the Canadian Rockies". It rated the Banff walk as "harder" (that is the toughest of his ratings).



2. 2007's "Canadian Rockies" is the latest Moon handbook on the swath of wonderful parks that straddle the Canadian Rockies from Jasper through Banff to Waterton on the U.S. border. Packaged in a convenient size and packed with a variety of information, "Canadian Rockies is a superb guide for planning a vacation in a area full of opportunities.
   
   The guide covers Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Kootenay, and Waterton National Parks, along with the Kannaskis Country provincial parks just west of Calgary. Information is provided on a range of accomodations, restaurants, museums and tourist exhibits, and opportunities for recreation. The guide includes a nice selection of maps and photographs. Segments on local history provide context for each area. The guide includes information on access to the parks and cautionary warnings on interacting with the abundant wildlife.
   
   Depending on the season, the Rockies offer hiking, camping, boating, biking, golf, or skiing at a variety of venues. For example, each park narrative includes a representative sample of day hikes and longer hikes. This reviewer and his family are frequent visitors to the Canadian Rockies and found unsurpassed opportunities for hikes to spectacular terrain accessable in few other places in North America.
   
   This guide is very highly recommended to those planning a vacation in the Canadian Rockies.

4 comments about Fodor's Caribbean 2008 (Fodor's Gold Guides).

1. This book is very informative. The price was very good and it got to me fast!



2. It is difficult finding information on the small island of Dominica. This book covers it and has a lot of useful information, as well as general travel information.



3. Informative and fun, has the facts straight (the few that I can verify as an infrequent but enthusiastic visitor).



4. We were looking for a place to go on our honeymoon in the Caribbean, but could not decide on which island to choose. This guide provided a great table comparing all the islands based on hotels, restaurants, activities, etc. and then a detailed description of each island. Would definitely recomment as a great starting point in planning your Caribbean vacation.

5 comments about In Patagonia (Penguin Classics).

1. I had never heard of Bruce Chatwin before, but whilst shopping at a used book store, as I held IN PATAGONIA in my hand, my friend said: "Oh, Bruce Chatwin--he's a great writer."
   
   From the moment I picked this book up, I couldn't stop reading it. The short segments worked well for me, I liked the style. I learned so much about the country, its history, and all sorts of interesting characters. This book is a great read, and I went on to read his others.



2. We are preparing to visit South America, so this book is very apt. The author put together a new kind of travel story, weaving imagination with reality. It seems to us that a lot of South American native literature does the same thing. A fascinating insight into life in Patagonia, whether you read it as travel stories or fiction.



3. When I read that Bruce Chatwin had died at the age of 31, I personally grieved as if he had been someone I knew. It is rare to find a book of gentle surprises with wonderful sentences and description, a treat to read, a promise of things to come. But that was not to be. I mourned for what we all lost. There are other books by Chatwin but I like to wonder about all the things he would have written had he lived. Prior to his death he had been in China where he became ill with some tropical disease. He returned home to die, his book on China unwritten, perhaps unplanned. Here are a few of his books: The Songlines, On the Black Hill, The Viceroy of Ouidah. There are more.



4. Chatwin's story of his search to find the skin of a giant ground sloth and the people he meets along the way in Patagonia is a truly different type of travel literature. Rather than a simple travel diary, Chatwin introduces the reader to a number of the different personalities that inhabit this bleak, but beautiful landscape



5. Bruce Chatwin in 1974 was an unknown British journalist with no books to his name. Seeking the life of a nomad he flew to the southern part of South America and severed ties with his newspaper and former life with a single-sentence telegram: "Have gone to Patagonia." For the next 6 months he walked and hitchhiked around this remote region keeping a diary which became the basis for the book. According to the The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing (2002) it is one of three most important travel books of its era: "[its] laconic and elliptical style, in its ninety-seven short sections averaging little more than a couple of page each, seemed to finally bring modernist aesthetics to a fundamentally nineteenth-century genre..[it was] a landmark in contemporary travel writing." The narrative does follow a geographic route, but the included map does not show it, the reader has to piece together where on the map Chatwin is next. There is almost no narrative about actual travel, each of the mini chapters starts in a new place with Chatwin already arrived. The people he meets and stays with have no background or reason why he is there. Throughout is interweaved chapters on Patagonian history, often highly esoteric and in some cases true original research by Chatwin he solves some puzzle or mystery of history: Chapter 49 is as good an etymology on the word "patagonia" as will ever be found.
   
   Subsequent revelations showed some of it to be fiction; some of the people Chatwin wrote about later came forward and denied things happened, or who were characterized incorrectly. Chatwin never denied this but explained that his work did not so much change reality as augment it, sort of like how political cartoons can bring out a hidden truth.
   
   Chatwin, who died age 48 of AIDS (he was bi-sexual and one of the super-star AIDS victims in the 1980s), went on to write other well known books and is recognized as a skilled stylist. His travel writing is very literary and the book is credited with reviving interest in the genre as a legitimate form of literature. It is full of great poetic imagery, I just picked a page at random and found this quote: "She was waiting for me, a white face behind a dusty window. She smiled, her painted mouth unfurling as a red flag caught in a sudden breeze. Her hair was dyed dark-auburn. Her legs were a mesopotamia of varicose veins. She still had the tatter of an extraordinary beauty. She had been making pastry and the grey dough clung to her hands. Her blood-red nails were cracked and chipped."

5 comments about Bhutan (Country Guide).

1. Lonely Planet is unbelieveable! They continually pump out the HIGHEST quality guidebooks, and they've done it again with this edition covering Bhutan. I have spent a good portion of my life researching, and hording information on Bhutan, and have found Lonely Planet's guidebook to contain everything and more that the traveller could ever want...with two exceptions. I think that the lack of the U'cen script in the language chapter is a serious mistake. Lonely Planet has the capacity to print in the U'cen script as they did so in their Tibet edition. My other qualm is with the sparse coverage of the smaller and admittedly FAR less visited dzongkhags (districts) (i.e., Daga, Samdrup Jongkhar, Pema Gatshel, Zhemgang, Tsirang, etc.). Lonely Planet, resolve these issues and your book will be the best it could be.



2. I bought this guide before my first trip to Bhutan, and it helped me immensely in planning my tour. It contains detailed information about the country--history, culture, geography, and facts for travelers. And it gives accurate information about the trekking routes and cultural tours. As is typical for Lonely Planet publications, this one is interesting and well written, and I found the information to be relevant to my trip. It is not easy to travel to Bhutan (there are many government restrictions), and this book made everything easier. I had such a successful, fun trip that I've been back several times (www.jachungtravel.com), and I still refer to this edition of the guide. It's packed with good information, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to go to Bhutan.



3. Hello!

   I'd been searching for a book on Bhutan which could provide me with a little bit of everything about the country viz. the history, geography, people and the culture. I have searched for books on Bhutan in several book stores around. It was so hard to find one in English but I think this one will do.

   May be, finally......... I have found the book I'd been looking for.




4. In anticipation of a trip to Bhutan in 2008 I was looking for a travel guide and opted to buy Lonely Planet's. I read it cover to cover and found to contain very good information, advice, tips, descriptions, recommendations, etc. I travel extensively worldwide and Bhutan will be a novel adventure. It brings back memories of my trip to Tibet in 2000. I highly recommend this guide.



5. Full of good ideas, good list of tour groups (must go on a tour) especially locally owned. Good information on what to do, costs, etc.

5 comments about Lonely Planet Eastern Europe.

1. You won't find the whole information of those countries, but it has an excelent synthesis.
   
   I'm happy with my purchase.



2. 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.



3. 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.



4. In 2007, I was fortunate to visit nine of the countries covered by this book, and I used it in each new town. First off, the book prices are way underpriced. Not every hotel in those parts have websites, and relying on this book to give you a "rough idea" is a bad idea. Restaurant prices were also not even close. Second, nightlife descriptions tend to give you the same venues as any tourist brochure. Ask a local about a Lonely Planet highly-rated club in Zagreb and they'll laugh that it's a tourist haven. Although they note local contacts that are consulted for each region, you couldn't tell by some of the recommendations. And finally, the politically-charged "Country Profiles" are often factually wrong. Ukraine's Orange Revolution didn't "unite the country" to pour out into the squares, most of those people were paid to stand there and rally. This book is good to check out at the library or read at a bookstore for 20 minutes to get a rough idea, but is not very helpful if you plan to rely on its facts once you get out to central and eastern Europe.



5. While this book adequately covers the absolute major sights in Eastern Europe, if you're planning on going anywhere remotely other than the top five spots (Krakow, Prague, etc) LP Eastern Europe is pretty inadequate. With only about 7-8 pages to cover the entire nation of Montenegro, for example, LP occasionally only acknowledges that entire regions exist. Not mentioning Montenegro's second major airport (Tivat), for example, is a huge oversight. As with most LP regional guides, if you're planning on spending more than about 4 days in a given country, you might as well spring for the country guide.