Customer Reviews

Guide to Uganda (Bradt Guides)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've traveled to over 40 countries in the past 15 years and read between 1-3 travel guides before going to each country.
This is one of the best travel guides I've ever read. Very detailed, current, no superficiality. Strong on history, sights and culture. I really can't think of how this book could have been improved.
And read Abyssinian Chronicles before you go to Uganda. Wonderful character development and a Ugandan's perspective on history and culture in that country.

Philip Briggs has produced a masterpiece with his 4th edition of 'Uganda: the Bradt Travel Guide'. As a specialist tour operator who has visited Uganda before, I am familiar with other Uganda guidebooks and Bradt's latest edition is without a doubt, the best around. Everything the prospective visitor needs to know about Uganda is contained in this superb book. Briggs has done an exceptionally thorough job of updating the guide and I am confident that it will enable readers not only to see the best of the country, but also to understand it.

This is a very well written and comprehensive guide.
It provides excellent information on wildlife as well
as culture, history, and politics. The book is full of
details on these, and other, subjects, but is consistently
lively and interesting. It is also very well balanced, pointing
out both the delights and difficulties of travel in Uganda.
I am quite familiar with Uganda and with the various tour guides, and this is by far the best guide to the country
which I have yet seen.

The book is well organized and relatively recent. I don't know of any guides out that contain information gathered in 1999 and given that reality, this guide is very serviceable. Not as in depth as one would like but seems better than the VERY outdated alternatives.

I bought this guide before going to Uganda to work for 6 months as a volunteer nurse. I researched the country extensively, as I planned to travel while there and this book, was by far the best and most helpful. I took it everywhere and it became my "bible". The main criticism I have of Uganda travel guides, is they didn't prepare me about how very few Ugandans speak English. I went all over the country and only the Ugandans who can afford to pay school fees and go for their entire lives, speak enough English to communicate. Each village in Uganda has it's own unique language and there is no commonalities between the hundreds of languages. The doctors with whom I worked were only able to communicate with those from their specific village. If you stay in Kampala, many speak great English, but not really anywhere else. This was a big surprise to me. One more tip...credit cards are not accepted anywhere, because of fraud and I also recommend you trade back all your Ugandan shillings before you leave the country, as it's basically worthless anywhere else. Just a few tips no book included.

Once again, Philipp Bragg offered us an amazing guide about Uganda, actually much better than the Lonely Planet (and we are used to using the Lonely Planet!):
* Excellent background information on the country
* Very easy to use and to "navigate"
* Very detailled and aqcurate information

The highlights quoted were indeed the highlights of our trips. On top of that, the guide recommends quite a few place, more "off the beaten tracks" (like Butiaba, or the absolutely amazing Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary), which also were highlights in our trip.

Uganda is an amazing place, for the people, so gentle, the landscape, so beautiful, and the wildlife, so amazing.

Returned recently from a Uganda trip with a group of friends with different guidebooks and the Bradt absolutely beat all of them hands down. The information was more up-do-date, more useful, and more comprehensive than any of the other guidebooks out there. Highly recommended.

We have read this book front to back and though we don't leave for a few weeks we feel so much more informed about opportunities within and country and tips to be better prepared. Great resource!

I'll start by saying we've not travelled yet, but we've used books on other coutries over the years, and this one is well written, and seems well though out and presented. It has covered everything I've wanted to know before travelling very well.

I'll comment on the accuracy after November!
Merv.

When I travel to countries in Asia, I am a Lonely Planet junkie. I live in Uganda, though, and the ONLY guidebooks I use in East Africa are the Bradt Guides. I haven't actually seen the 6th edition, but I hope there is more detail about northern Uganda now that it is safe to travel there. This is the best guidebook out there for Uganda.