Lonely Planet Sydney (Lonely Planet. Sydney, 6th Ed)

Rating:
Summary: Lonely Planet falls flat on a great city
Review: Having never been to Sydney before, we stopped into a Dymock's to pick up a copy of what we thought would be the premier guidebook for Sydney, boy were we wrong! Lonely Planet should do Australia right as they are located there, but they miss the boat in this edition.

The maps were the most useful part of this book.

The index was horrible. It is split up into 4 separate indexes - which if you miss the first page and the small type at the top telling you so, you can't find anything in the index. For example - looking for the zoo - not knowing the name of it - look under "zoo" - but nothing is there. Because there are 4 "z " entries in the book. Until you find the right page of "z" only to then have you see "Taranga Zoo".

More than this, It lacks detail on almost every area. Just one example, Jenolan Caves. It tells you guided tours exist bit nothing more about them. Like which one to see if you only can see one or two or mention that fact that there are many stairs in the caves, etc. etc. So many other places are covered in the same manner. In fact they even say in the book that they don't know if something is fun or not - example: Sydney Jet - we took this tour and one like it in New Zealand.... NZ was much better of course, but our son had not been. The author comment was, " who knows if you'll actually manage to see anything in all that excitement, but it sounds like fun. " Obviously, she has not done the tour.

If you don't know your way around the area, you will find yourself constantly flipping around the book looking for information.

This book gave very few insider tips or really any useful information on the many places to eat. Since most people stay around Darling Harbor - they only chose to put in 9 places in that area!

The photos were very hokey and the good ones were very small Black & White which never shows anything well. The rest of it looked like a marketing advertisement for Sydney Tourism.

On top of all this - it was incredibly out of date for a 2004 edition. Many places had closed or prices were dramatically higher than listed. We looked for a major department store listed in the book, only to find it had changed to a MYERS years and years ago! Come on, LP!

Basically, Lonely Planet has not changed their take on guidebooks over the years and this one does not do justice to a great city.

Rating:
Summary: Go for it
Review: Invaluable, this is the kind of book you'd want even if you lived in Sydney. It explains the different character of Sydney's neighborhoods and gives concise intelligent explanations of how Sydney has become the muti-faceted city it is. I've only been to Sydney twice, but with the help of this guide I'm beginning to get it. The maps are pretty good, but some lack detail. Hotel and restaurant sections are comprehensive, and in my experience extremely accurate.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent overview of the beautiful city
Review: This is an excellent guidebook for Yanks and others who want to learn more about the Harbour City. With 4 million people, Sydney is almost too big to cover in a single volume, but the editors of this fine book do their best. The descriptions of hotels and restaurants are usefully broken down by neighborhood - and Sydney is even more diverse than most cities; the reader who is planning a trip will want to decide where he or she is going to stay before making any other decisions. The maps are superb. The city has changed almost beyond recognition in recent years, and an up-to-date guidebook is a must for the serious traveller. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent overview of the beautiful city
Review: This is an excellent guidebook for Yanks and others who want to learn more about the Harbour City. With 4 million people, Sydney is almost too big to cover in a single volume, but the editors of this fine book do their best. The descriptions of hotels and restaurants are usefully broken down by neighborhood - and Sydney is even more diverse than most cities; the reader who is planning a trip will want to decide where he or she is going to stay before making any other decisions. The maps are superb. The city has changed almost beyond recognition in recent years, and an up-to-date guidebook is a must for the serious traveller. Highly recommended.