Europe on a Shoestring (Lonely Planet Shoestring Guides) [Paperback]

Sarah Johnstone (Author), Aaron Anderson (Author), Sarah Andrews (Author), Ryan Ver Berkmoes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007

Party in Tallinn or pose in Cannes; hike the Curonian Spit; be seduced by the Aya Sofia in Istanbul or simply learn the art of the Spanish siesta. Your European Adventure starts here with the most detailed guide available, featuring more than 40 countries, 200 maps and insider tips to help you to go further, stay longer and pay less for the ultimate European grand tour.

Grand Turismo - Itineraries to aid your planning and splurge features to help you decide where to splash out, whether it be a night in an ice hotel or haute cuisine in Paris.

Be In The Know - with a detailed Directory and dedicated language chapter, plus look out for our author picks highlighting the best of the best.

Time Is Of The Essence - A Year in Europe helps you find out what's happening when, from the best music and sporting events to where to chase the northern lights.

Do The Right Thing - travel ethically and lightly with advice from our unique Responsible Travel section and make a positive difference along the way.

Editorial Reviews

Review

…Lonely Planet for honesty, history, irreverence and budget.' --Esquire

From the Publisher

Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1284 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 5th edition (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1741045916
• ISBN-13: 978-1741045918
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 1.9 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Travel > Specialty Travel > Budget Travel

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars 2007 Edition: More Complete, Great for Planning May 5, 2007

By Laszlo Wagner

Format:Paperback

So the latest edition of Lonely Planet's Europe guide is out.
Note that most of the earlier reviews posted here refer to the previous edition(s), and there have been improvements in this new one!
Most importantly, this book now covers ALL European countries, including little-visited Belarus and Ukraine. It has basic coverage of European Russia, too.

The prices and other practical details really seem to have been updated specifically for this book - unlike in certain earlier shoestring guides, which simply seem to have been compiled by picking info from the already published (few years old) individual country guides.
So the info in this one is pretty correct as of 2006 state of affairs - that's when it was researched. Be prepared for some changes, of course, especially in some of the still rapidly-changing Eastern European countries.

The contents include the usual practical details all LP guides provide: not just an overview of sights and history, but practical matters like accomodation and transport details, all with actual prices (remember, these do change!), as well as useful info on things like getting visas and crossing borders.
Coverage of individual countries definitely varies though.
You will still find that the most popular Western European countries are covered in pretty good detail, certainly enough for an "All-Europe-Trip", while coverage of Eastern European countries is much more brief, in case of less visited ones really sketchy - hence the 4 stars only.
For more obscure countries like Belarus or Ukraine, this guide only provides detailed info on the capital and at best one or two other towns/cities, or perhaps just a brief overview of the rest of the country.

So this book is great value if you are still in the planning stages of your trip, and simply want to have an overview of the entire continent, prices, visa matters and all, to help you decide where to go.
It will also be an adequate guide to take along if you are planning a whirlwind tour of the continent, concentrating on the more established tourist destinations, with only brief forays to less visited countries.
However if you are planning to spend any length of time in Eastern Europe, I definitely recommend getting LP's separate Eastern Europe guide - it covers it in maybe three times as much detail as this book.
If you have a specific interest in a few countries rather than the whole continent, get the individual country guides to those ones.
But if you have only a summer holiday to tour our continent, you will probably find this book has enough information for you.

Have a good trip!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bible March 31, 2007

By Brett G. Landau

Format:Paperback

Well for starters ive traveled for years now breaking the 40 country mark and this book may be the best ive ever used. i do carry others that are area specific(i.e. cities etc. NK Top 10) but over all when doing multi country trips. This book is a must, it will assist you in transportation from locations to the next. And from my experience rather up todate on places to stay, currency hot spots, food vendures. The book is a backpackers bible.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Encyclopedic April 29, 2007

By J.J. Hopscotch

Format:Paperback

I have lived in Europe and traveled just about everywhere over there. Even though I know it well I always carry guidebooks and maps when I travel. Normally I carry Michelin. I used this book for my 2006 EurailPass and Eurolines bus tour of 17 countries. "Europe on a Shoestring" is amazing. It covers more and in greater detail than any other "Europe" book. I have all of the well-known books from the well-known authors and publishers and none of them comes close.

Highlights:

Hostel DJH recommendation in Dresden.

Hotel G9 recommendation in Tallinn.

Excellent country and city maps.

The other big "Europe" books selectively cover some or most of western Europe but none do eastern Europe like this one.

If there is one book to pack this is the one.