Rating: 
Summary: Good Guide
Review: This LP offering is much better than the crap they published on Oz. It provides useful recommendations on places to visit and gives detailed lists of tour operators and hostels. Like all LP books, it lacks depth because it covers such a huge place in a small book, but is a very good guide nonetheless.
Rating:
Summary: Lonely Planet New Zealand (9th edition)
Review: We just returned from a one month excursion through Nea Zealand with this guide book constantly at our side. We found it invaluable in our daily selection of things to do and places to stay and eat. During our travels we also noted this guide being used by many other travellers and particularly in the hands of the hikers and backpackers. It was the most prominent of guide books available in the book shops and information centers throughout the country. Should be required reading by anyone preparing an unescorted visit to New Zealand and even for anyone on an organized tour it would be most helpful.
Rating:
Summary: Honeymoon in New Zealand
Review: We loved New Zealand, and thought that this book was quite helpful. We had it constantly by our side. We recommend going there in Late April, it is easy to get around, and not very busy. Everyone is extremely helpful and this book helps you find good deals and places to see. We especially like how this book has, "top 10 things to do" by area. They were extremely helpful, I think that we did them all! Loved it!
Rating: 
Summary: Best to be read BEFORE going!
Review: When I went to New Zealand armed with my Lonely Planet guide and one small travel bag, I found that the book did not go into enough detail about the best places to go, especially in Christchurch and at the Milford Sound/Queenstown area. The book has lots of info but is quite heavy to carry around for 3 weeks. It would be helpful if the Lonely Planet separated the book into two-North Island and South Island for the traveler who is trying to travel carrying the least amount of weight. Next time I will copy the info and carry on a few pages rather than a two inch thick book. The country is NOT to be missed, a magical land!
Rating:
Summary: Dense with information
Review: When we were considering what to do during our month in New Zealand, travel agents were pleading with us to have everything lined up before "the Y2k rush." So, being the literal engineering types, we bought a couple of books -- the Lonely Planet NZ and the Frommers for Under $50/day -- and started poring through them.Quite frankly, our initial impression of the Lonely Planet book was too dense to be useful to us. The Frommer's guide was more helpful and the author, Elizabeth Hansen, was available to "consult" on the trip on an hourly basis. Because we'd be toting our 18-month old, we used her services and pre-booked the entire trip. Once there, we found the Lonely Planet book much more useful. The Lonely Planet guide excels at providing abundant information about towns, including attractions, restaurants and maps giving a rough layout. For example, one of the folks at a Visitor center clued us into Farewell Spit, an area we were going to forego because it was well off our chosen route. As it turned out, Tahuna Park, our campground in Nelson was pretty bad (right under an airport takeoff path; lots of people permanently living there; undermaintained kitchens), and we didn't relish the idea of spending three days there as originally planned. The side trip to Farewell Spit was long and we'd have to find some place relatively nearby to the Spit to make it a reasonable trip. This is where the Frommer's guide was very weak. It caters more to the B&B crowd, and there isn't that much north (or west) of Nelson. The Lonely Planet book, however, paid for itself by suggesting a lot of options, providing maps of the little towns, and listing restaurants where we might stop at for "snack time." If you do intend a trip to New Zealand, you'll definitely appreciate the Lonely Planet guide.
Rating:
Summary: Dense with information
Review: When we were considering what to do during our month in New Zealand, travel agents were pleading with us to have everything lined up before "the Y2k rush." So, being the literal engineering types, we bought a couple of books -- the Lonely Planet NZ and the Frommers for Under $50/day -- and started poring through them. Quite frankly, our initial impression of the Lonely Planet book was too dense to be useful to us. The Frommer's guide was more helpful and the author, Elizabeth Hansen, was available to "consult" on the trip on an hourly basis. Because we'd be toting our 18-month old, we used her services and pre-booked the entire trip. Once there, we found the Lonely Planet book much more useful. The Lonely Planet guide excels at providing abundant information about towns, including attractions, restaurants and maps giving a rough layout. For example, one of the folks at a Visitor center clued us into Farewell Spit, an area we were going to forego because it was well off our chosen route. As it turned out, Tahuna Park, our campground in Nelson was pretty bad (right under an airport takeoff path; lots of people permanently living there; undermaintained kitchens), and we didn't relish the idea of spending three days there as originally planned. The side trip to Farewell Spit was long and we'd have to find some place relatively nearby to the Spit to make it a reasonable trip. This is where the Frommer's guide was very weak. It caters more to the B&B crowd, and there isn't that much north (or west) of Nelson. The Lonely Planet book, however, paid for itself by suggesting a lot of options, providing maps of the little towns, and listing restaurants where we might stop at for "snack time." If you do intend a trip to New Zealand, you'll definitely appreciate the Lonely Planet guide.
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