Customer Reviews

Europe on a Shoestring (Lonely Planet Shoestring Guides)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

Europe on a Shoe String is a great guide for ALL of Europe if you are traveling on a budget. It has great hostel and cheap hotel recommendations which I have used to make reservations. It covers every city from London to Moscow. The only bad thing I would note about this book is that is covers so many places, that it is brief on some cities (but obviously, it can't have everything). Overall, the best guide for traveling Europe without spending a fortune!

...but if you really must see all of Europe in one vast, hurried trip, this book is for you. Using the sights-by-day, Eurail-pass-by-night method, this book got me from Sweden to Romania. It was invaluable for getting my bearings as soon as I walked out of a train station in a new country, and gave me a good idea of how to get around using public transportation and walking tours.

If you're planning to spend any significant amount of time in a country, you're much better off with an in-depth country guide. But for people planning to zip through countries, this guide does a decent job of highlighting the major attractions in the major cities, and is much more convenient than lugging a dozen country-specific guides around.

For backpackers, the book is a bit heavy. The binding is sturdy enough to allow for tearing out countries you don't plan to visit or have already finished. (Not that I'm condoning destroying books...) Unsurprisingly, western countries like France and Italy get far more attention (and pages) than the eastern European countries, but these still get fairly specific and very helpful descriptions.

The abbreviated language guide in the back is useful, if you can hold an entire conversation using only greetings, numbers, and days of the week. Often criticized, the maps in LP guides are small and inadequately labeled, but they still give you more than enough information to find the local tourist info, where you can usually get a real map for free.

Ironically, because such a large portion of budget travelers rely on Lonely Planet, any "off the beaten track" tips noted in little sidebars are guaranteed to be over-visited by the time you get there. When we found a small hole-in-wall cafe in Istanbul proudly displaying a replicated Lonely Planet logo on its illuminated sign, I wondered whether LP's influence reaches a bit too far...

Overall, this is a great guidebook for backpackers and budget travelers, if supplemented with a recent Thomas Cook rail timetable and local information from hostels and tourist info centers.

- Mary Ann Miller, author of CH is for Chocolate: Individually Wrapped Tastes of Switzerland

My Kid (just 20) is best friends with a French Family who was stationed in town for a while. He had the opportunity to go to Europe and live with his best friends family as they traveled throughout Europe. This book and the Rick Steve's Book were very good guides as to what to wear; what to take; where to stay when family is not available; insight stuff that even the locals didn't know. Well worth the money.

I used this book for my interrail trip in 2004. Since I lost the book on my way back, I repurchased it. It's a very useful guide including hotel numbers, mini maps of cities and information about popular places. You don't need nothing else for your trip. In addition, it's a very delightful book to read even for the countries and cities you don't visit. A must have!

I'm going on an interrail trip next summer and this book contains everything you need to know about the European countries. The book is divided into chapters, a chapter for every country. You will find facts about the country, some history, a little about the culture, places you should visit, where you can eat, sleep and how to get there, if you need a visa or not and what kind of money you will need and much more. This book is really what you need if you are planning a trip around Europe.

This guide made planning my Europe trip very simple. The contact information is up-to-date and the descriptions of hostels, restaurants and attractions are spot-on. I would not leave for any backpacking trip without a Lonely Planet guidebook in hand.

Has everything I need in one book, I plan on taking it to Europe with me! Maps, food, prices, sightseeing... and all on a "backpackers" budget.