17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect for those few travellers headed to Greenland, November 18, 2005
This review is from: Greenland & The Arctic (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) (Paperback)
Apart from Antarctica, this is the most obscure place covered by LP. Half of the book (about 165pp) is specifically about Greenland in the customary LP format, and the remainder is about other Arctic regions. (One tidbit: It is impossible to fly to Nuuk, the capitol, without changing planes in another Greenlandic town.)
This guide covers a casserole of places that cannot conceivably be visited on a single itinerary, because so few Arctic air routes cross national borders. For example, charter flights between Canada (Iqaluit) and Greenland were terminated after the book went to press, so now it's impossible to fly from North America to Greenland without going through Europe.
Alaskan coverage is only Fairbanks and points north; Yukon is Dawson and north. The Inuvik region and nearly all of Nunavut are covered. Places like Whitehorse, Yellowknife, and Anchorage are too far south to be covered in this volume, which is unfortunate because it's impossible to reach northern Alaska without passing through either Anchorage or Whitehorse.
Also covered are Arctic Russia, northern Norway (town of Mo and north), and northern Finland (Rovaniemi and north). The end result is a book that's fun to read but of doubtful utility except for those few Greenland-bound travellers.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good Greenland guide - Crappy Arctic guide..., May 31, 2007
This review is from: Greenland & The Arctic (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) (Paperback)
For those who want a good read and a good guide to fascinating Greenland, then this book will do it (though I think the previous edition of LP's guide to Greenland had a bit more coverage - especially the more off-the-beaten-track settlements). But anything beyond Greenland, LP seems to really lose interests in the rest of the Arctic world. It seems as if they just threw in a few sections just to say that they've covered it... It should really be titled "Greenland and an Introduction to the rest of the Arctic". All they give you are some sloppy details of a few selected regions under their "suggested itineraries" sections for other Arctic regions.
Living in Northern Canada myself (Yukon by the way...not Vancouver), I know that there are tons to offer for any Arctic fan. But this LP guide has missed out so much...to mention a few:
1) Yukon - there's more to this territory than just Dawson and Dempster Hwy...such as Old Crow, Vuntut & Ivvavik Parks, and simply the rest of Yukon itself. BTW, Whitehorse, which is the hub of the Yukon, sits at about the same latitude as Qaqortoq in Greenland. It's sub-Arctic...but close enough...
2) NWT - Yellowknife, the areas around Great Bear Lake such as Deline and Tulita, etc... same thing, its all sub-Arctic environments similar to Inuvik's...what's the problem?
3) Nunavut - there's a lot more places than just Baffin Island or Resolute...how about Kitikmeot and Kivalliq regions? Every region of NU is worth a visit.
4) Nunavik (Northern Quebec) - how could they forget this beautiful Arctic region of Quebec? Colourful villages, beautiful landscapes, rich Inuit culture ...even the LP guides to Quebec/Canada mention very little on this region. Better do your planning online... though slightly southerly regarding its latitude and location, this place has nothing but Arctic landscapes and climate.
5) Northern Labrador - another beautiful Inuit region of Labrador completely forgotten on this so-called "Arctic" guide...
6) Scandinavia - Northern Norway is very beautiful, but this guide only gives you a vague idea of this fascinating region. Buy the individual guides instead (Norway, Sweden, Finland...but don't bother with the "Scandinavian Europe" unless you only plan to see only a few places from each country)
7) Arctic Russia - I know its a difficult place to go to, but there are fascinating untouched areas out there in Siberia. But this book covers very little of this vast region...especially the Far East - Chukotka. Even LP's "Russia" guide is next to useless to this region if you're really interested into visiting these areas. Once again, do your homework online...
8) Alaska - get the "Alaska" guide instead...
I was quite disappointed with this LP publication. I hope their next edition will be a heck of a lot better. Otherwise, its a waste of time and money. It's really just a Greenland guide ...but for the rest of the Arctic, don't count on it...
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent travel guide, May 19, 2011
This review is from: Greenland & The Arctic (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) (Paperback)
This is the only good travel guide I have found for travel to Greenland and the Arctic.
It is really good and delivery was handled as good as nybody could possibly ask for.
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