guide books

I just returned from travelling through Turkey with a Turkish friend who lives in Germany, and despite his familiarity with the country and cities, we both heavily relied upon the LP guide for information on lodging, historical sites, off-the-beaten-track towns, and other fun and interesting places to visit. It is a fabulous book, and the only one worth paying for to use for such a trip. All other travellers I encountered (who weren't on pre-planned tours or paying $200/night at the Hilton) were using the LP guide, whether from North America, Australia, or Europe. Great information, very comprehensive, aimed at budget travellers! Enjoy!

Just a very useful guide, with basically everything the visitor to Turkey will need, a useful historical overview, travel tips, tourist sites, and suggested itineraries. Turkey is a great travel destination, with so much to see and so many different regions that it is difficult for one travel guide to do it all justice. This guide does a pretty good job. Those wanting a bit more on Istanbul would do well to check out the Eyewitness Guide or John Freely's book, especially for more historical depth and more detailed coverage of restaurants and hotels. But this Lonely Planet guide crams in an impressive amount of useful information. The chapters on the Adriatic coast sites (Ephesus, Kusadasi, etc.) are brief but comprehensive. The only suggestions I would have for the next edition of this guide would be a better section on buying carpets - there are four pages here, but frankly they aren't that helpful, and most visitors to Turkey could use some do's and don'ts on the subject. Also, many of the country maps are too small-gauge to be useful, dark and difficult to read. The maps should be greatly expanded, both in size and number, and made brighter and easier to read. But overall, the Lonely Planet guide is thorough and will likely be more than enough for most travelers.

I find it strange how most of the criticisms of this book (and other LP's) center around LP's alleged inability to capture Turkish culture as accurately as people would like. I've got a crazy idea for these critics -- YOU CAN'T EXPERIENCE CULTURE FROM A BOOK!!!

This book, and most LPs, are good at doing one thing: orienting you. That means giving you the basic facts to get to a country, get situated (sleep and eat safely), and figure out where to travel (itinerary planning, and their maps are the best). The rest is up to the traveler. As such, I take LP's cultural experiences and observations with several grains of salt. In other words, I use it as a 'guide', not as a mandate.

My wife and I just got back from 3 weeks in Turkey, and had a fantastic time. LP helped us plot our course before the trip and figure out places to stay along the way. Once in Turkey, we relied more on a friend of ours who owns a travel agency in Istanbul, but LP helped with some hotel recommendations and restaurants when we were too lazy to explore or had limited time in a place.

In terms of social mores, we used our own judgement, with a little help from LP, and never had a single problem anywhere in the country. Yes, she covered up when we went to mosques (out of respect); on Istiklal Caddessi in Istanbul we could dress more Western and get away with it. These kinds of things are best learned from experience and from the people, not from a book. Put another way, the book can tell you absolutely what not to do; as for what to do...that's the fun of traveling, isn't it?

All in all, even if we had had a horrendous experience in Turkey (not possible, in my opinion -- I am a Turkophile through and through), I wouldn't presume to blame LP. I have used them for India, all the countries in Europe, Morocco, and South Africa, and they have never steered me wrong -- they're great at helping you with your first steps in a new country; after that, the journey is up to you.