Lonely Planet Central Europe (LONELY PLANET CENTRAL EUROPE)

Rating:
Summary: Lots of Countries, Little Information
Review: I have been a faithful consumer of Lonely Planet products for the last five years. However, this collection does little more than offer superficial information on every country in Central Europe. If you want to go anywhere besides the capitals and most well-known tourist "traps", forget it. I was particularly dissapointed with the book's treatment of Germany and Switzerland. Very vague, very minimal. If you want to visit any of the countries in Central Europe, buy the Lonely Planet Guide to that country or look for a different publisher. Sorry guys, this one doesn't go in my travel bag.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of Countries, Little Information
Review: I have been a faithful consumer of Lonely Planet products for the last five years. However, this collection does little more than offer superficial information on every country in Central Europe. If you want to go anywhere besides the capitals and most well-known tourist "traps", forget it. I was particularly dissapointed with the book's treatment of Germany and Switzerland. Very vague, very minimal. If you want to visit any of the countries in Central Europe, buy the Lonely Planet Guide to that country or look for a different publisher. Sorry guys, this one doesn't go in my travel bag.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre Guide, but there really isn't anything else
Review: There aren't too many guides out there specific to Central Europe. The book was helpful for general reference but, lacked any good detail for traveling. The maps were somewhat helpful, but always seemed to be just limited enough so it didn't show where you wanted to go. The book is great for the tourist that doesn't want to get away from touristy places. If you want to go local this book is not helpful. And what is it about travel books? When are they going to make a travel book that you can seperate out the sections you want? If you don't want to carry around some 10 lb brick of a book and only the sections you need. I know the technology is out there.

Rating:
Summary: the fantastic planet
Review: This book is fantastic. I was amazed at how thorough a book could be. These authors also have a great sense of humor. Lonely is an oxymoron. This book is very comforting. I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: the bare minimum
Review: This book was a real disaapointment. Very poor maps and slack descriptions, with lots of outdated information; made my trip more difficult than it should have been. Thankfully, most people in the countries I visited (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, and Hungary) proved very helpful.