Customer Reviews

Frommer's(r) Turkey, 2E

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Disclaimer: I don't pretend to be a Turkey expert. However, my experience during a 12-day trip Turkey is consistent with other guides much more than this one.

The author sometimes seems to be generalizing from experiences she had, to say that everyone will have the same experience (I didn't--and found other guides more reliable in terms of what to expect on a social & cultural level). Furthermore, many times I find myself wondering about the depth of research--asides like "(unless my guide was pulling my leg)," (p.101) are alarming and tend to indicate a lack of reliability and attention to detail (which extends to misspelled Turkish words--e.g. efendem for efendim). There was a sort of shallowness throughout that I can't pinpoint but which I found disappointing.

Even more startling are the omissions. Just for a sampling, the book gives no information on Edirne (Adrianople), Iznik (Nicea), or Kutahya; within Istanbul, it skips some of my favorite--not insignificant--mosques and churches (Rustem Pasa, Mehmet Sokullu Pasa, Sergius & Bacchus), the Bucoleon Palace ruins, and even the Theodosian Land Walls (which are mentioned in the introduction but the "see chapter 3" is a dead end). For even the most mildly curious about history/architecture, there is very little here. Even for those who only want to shop, the info on carpets conflicted with what I have read elsewhere (and saw with my own eyes--a fine carpet at 10 knots per inch? Shouldn't it be double that?--again, I'm not an expert, so correct me if you know otherwise) Anyway, there are much better guides out there. I won't pretend to have read them all, but for Istanbul the Eyewitness Guide was fantastic, and for the rest of Turkey, while Lonely Planet Turkey has many flaws, omissions are not one of them--it is encyclopedic (a term mysteriously used for this book by a reviewer on the flyleaf). The Blue Guide is also extremely helpful.

Better luck with the second edition.

I always use Frommers books for my vacations, but I have to tell you that this book is the biggest waste of money I have ever spent on Amazon or any other book store for that matter. The author obviously has not done her job here. Be careful, you just might wind up in Iraq if you follow her guides. This book is very vague and confusing throughout. You can not trust her hotel recommendations. How in the world can she justify putting Apricot hotel in Istanbul in this book. This guy is a crook. This hotel should be taken out of this book completely for it's opportunistic behavior. Have you ever heard the phrase BAIT AND SWITCH? BUYER BEWARE? Well, that should be the heading for all her recommendations if they are all like the Apricot hotel in Istanbul. My advise to the author, have a chat with the guy who wrote the Frommers Italy book, you can learn alot from him.

Our battered and dogeared copy of the Frommer's Turkey guide was an indispensible guide on our trip to Turkey. We are independent travelers who like to get out on our own, away from tours, and this guide was perfect for our needs. We used it to plan our trip, modifying Ms. Levine's suggested 2-week itinerary to match our needs. The guide also provided us with plenty of off the beaten path suggestions of where to stay and eat. We found the reviews of accommodations and restaurants particularly accurate in terms of quality, though would have liked to see a few more restaurant recommendations -- this is one area, I think, where Frommers guides in general feel a bit thin. The book also has lots of historical and cultural information and "surivival tips" that made for good reading (and re-reading) during long airport waits and on downtime -- I found myself reading this book more often than the novel I brought along. This guide also works well in conjunction with the Eyewitness or Insight guides (we have found this for other locations too), as the latter seem to provide better at-a-glance cultural information and have superior maps. Yes, prices were more than what were listed in the book, but this is not the author's fault. In any case, after a couple of days in Turkey we could get a sense of "budget," "moderate," and "expensive" prices and estimate these categories in the guidebook accordingly.

I am impressed by how much ground is covered in this guide. We appreciated the attention given to some places and experiences that we didn't find mentioned in other guidebooks to Turkey. Traveling distances and times seemed entirely accurate, and they helped us to budget our time efficiently.

As a yacht charter broker and trip planner specializing in Turkey, my clients often ask me to suggest a guidebook for Turkey. I have begun recommending The Frommer's Guide to Turkey because it is filled with fresh insights and practical information. I have had very positive comments from customers who have purchased it.

Ms. Levine's work is clearly the result of thorough, in-person research. She is a dedicated "good traveler," who has made the effort to understand the subtleties of the Turkish culture. Her discussions on a number of commonly asked questions, such as the merits of driving on your own in Turkey, rug shopping, and bargaining were right on target. She writes with wit and a sense of fun!

Overall, Frommer's Turkey Guide is superior to other guidebooks on the market, and I will continue recommending it to our customers.

Best wishes,

Patricia Goksel

Things have changed in Turkey. The currency has been modernized and preparation for membership in the EU changes other things as well. The book is still dealing with the old currency and you must convert everything. Hotel ratings, restaurants as always need to be checked against standards where they exist. It is not enough to say first class or three star. The historical venues and the directions, advice on what to see probably very valid. Need to get guide that includes the New Turkish Lira.

Frommers never dissapoints. I travel as much as possible with limited vacation time, and Frommers consistently provides good information for making the most with the time I have. My husband and I just got back from a 10 day trip to Turkey, and this Frommers guide was indispensible. We chose Frommers recommended hotels in all the areas we visited- Istanbul, Cappadocia, and Bodrum, and the hotels were exactly as Frommers described them, and were good recommendations. We also relied on their restaurant recommendations- while Turkey is filled with great food options everywhere you go, every meal counts when you only have 10 days. I especially like the price range they provide so its easy to select a few nice dinners and hotels, interspersed with budget options which are still good. Their ideas for tours and itineraries, such as a cruise down the Bosphorous and a Whirling Dervishes performance were among the highlights of our trip.

A few complaints. This book had inaccurate maps and poor directions. For example, it recommended a shop in Istanbul which it described as being near a certain entry of the Grand Bazaar. We nearly made ourselves crazy following their imprecise directions before finally giving up. Istanbul is massive and crowded, with very few street signs. I understand giving good directions in this book may be difficult, but if they're going to give recommendations of attractions, they need to do a better job helping people reach these places. Also, as anyone who's ever been to one could attest, trying to buy a carpet anywhere in Turkey is exasperating, to put it very mildly. While Frommers points out some of the problems with scammers, this guide offered very little by way of practical suggestions and genuninely helpful advice for negotiating a rug or finding a reputable dealer. That said, I will definatly still use Frommers on my next vacation.

I fear I didn't do quite enough looking before I bought this book, but we had good luck the year before with Frommer's Greece. Imagine my surprise when we arrive in Turkey on our OAT tour to the Eastern part of the country and find that NOTHING on that section of Turkey is covered in this book! I am not making this up....not a word on the fabulous Gazientep, the sights of Antakya, Mt. Nemrut, the Roman bridge built by Septimus Severus, Urfa, ---what a huge disappointment and absolutely made me want my money back. I would say even the areas we went to that were covered weren't up to the standards we had expected based on other of their books. The EAstern areas of Turkey were the most interesting and some of the best, most ancient ruins ---this oversight is too big to forgive.

It's unfortunate that the writer of the above review attacks this book without a basic awareness of the mission of the Frommer's guides. Frommer's doesn't pretend to provide encyclopedic information; Frommer's Turkey doesn't attempt to compete with the exhaustive nature of the Lonely Planet guides, the historic depth of the Rough Guide or the cultural perspective provided by the Insight Guide. It does however try to touch upon all of these characteristics, and in this, I think it succeeds. If the reader finds the book not to his/her liking, he/she should simply choose a travel guide more suited to his/her interests and travel style.

The reader's disappointment by what is described as a "restatement of the tour" in Topkapi Palace disregards the fact that the book targets independent travelers who do not participate in tours; perhaps his or her ire should instead be directed at his/her tour in that it failed to provide more in-depth information.

The reader also attacks the author for inconsistencies in admission fees rather than with the Museum Directorate, who is responsible for fluctuations in ticket prices. At the time the manuscript was submitted, all admission fees stated in the book were correct.

Furthermore, since the outstanding characteristic of Frommer's guides is to provide opinionated advice, it stands to reason that not all 15,000 readers of Frommer's Turkey (excluding those having read but not purchased the book) are going to identify with the voice of the writer. The author is certainly realistic that neither the Frommer's format nor her "tone" is going to be received by everyone in a positive manner. It is however unfortunate that those having had positive experiences with the guide haven't copied their letters of thanks to this widely diffuse forum.

I recently went to (mainly Western) Turkey on one of those 2 week coach tours in 2011.

This book really helped me "connect" with the historical significance of the places I went to.

The historical research contained within the book is worth its weight in gold. This book is not meant to be read from cover to cover. By that comment, I mean that there is a particular way to fully utilise this nugget of gold.
For my coach tours, this is the way I used the book. On my way to any of the historical "tourist" sites, I read the relevant portion during the journey itself. Being stuck on a bus for at least 2 hours gives one the motivation to do something like that. ;)
My tour guide also dished out the usual information and facts during the journey.
I found that I really enjoyed my Turkish vacation as the book and tour guide's historical tales gave me a better appreciation of the numerous Roman/Greek/Anatolian ruins which we visited in Turkey. Those piles of rubble really came alive with the historical facts and were not simply just a pile of rocks lying in the desert.

The author also has a zany sense of humor which I liked. For example, we visited the house where the Holy Virgin Mother Mary lived after the death of Jesus. The author mentioned that in their religious fervour, Christians and Muslims have no qualms about "elbowing" you out of the way whilst they partake in their own religious prayers. This is just one of the many hilarous comments made by the author which really made my tour bus ride more entertaining than usual. It also has the concrete facts, local myths and stories about the place. For e.g., it has the story about how the German Nun was informed about this place from a dream which she had.

The information is also very recent. I visited one of the museums in Turkey on my own with another fellow traveller who was armed with a lonely planet guide book. The entrance fee listed in the Frommer's guidebook turned out to be more accurate than the Lonely Planet one.

The main drawback about this book is the lack of pictures and photos. For that, I recommend the DK Travel guides, which I also brought along for the trip.

Another drawback (which this author also admits to) is the lack of information about Eastern Turkey. Most coach tours to Turkey usually only cover the Western portion. So this was not a major flaw in my book (pun intended).

Final conclusion: This product is highly recommended as a supplement for coach tours to Turkey. It can also serve as a travel journal with the required details for the various usual tourist sites one is likely to see on a standard coach tour to Turkey.

THIS BOOK IS INFORMATIVE AND A PLEASURE TO READ. IT IS MORE THAN JUST A GUIDE BOOK. IT SHOWS THE AUTHORS LOVE OF THE COUNTRY AND IT'S PEOPLE. AS FOR THE ERRORS IN PRICES....WELL I REMEMBER WHEN 39 CENTS BOUGHT A QUART OF MILK.TIMES CHANGE AND SO DO PLACES OF INTEREST. WHEN COUNTRIES SEE THE "UGLY AMERICAN"PRICES HAVE A WAY OF RISING. AS FOR SERVICE....GET A LIFE!!!