Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Berlin

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has all the information you need, to prepare you for a wonderful vacation in Berlin. It's the kind of book that you curl up with near the fire on a cold snowy winter day and read about the trip you'll take during the summer. But--------- there are better guides for those individuals who have travelled in Europe before and who just want the nuts and bolts and will allow the city to visit them. I personally recommend either DK (Dorling Kindersley) Eyewitness Guide to Berlin or the slightly older Knopf 'City Guide' published last in 1998. However with Berlin changing so rapidly, you'll probably do better with the DK guide. It has more photos which aren't essential, but are a nice added feature but more importantly it breaks the city up in a better way to help you get the most out of your time. I think it's much better.

The body text links you to a map, but the maps only have numbers on them without any legend telling you what each number represents. How are we supposed to know where to find the described venues?

The iBookstore version is much easier to use, especially with maps.

It is a very complete guide, with all kinds of information, the maps could be bigger and folded.

We used this guide for two weeks in Berlin, then passed it on to relatives who were staying on there. It is as well organized,easy to use and worthwhile as a guide could be. Virtually every
restaurant recommendation we took from it turned out be superb. In one case, Cafe Jacques, we were asked by the restaurant waitstaff and other diners how we found this excellent, but
somewhat hidden Kreuzberg neighborhood eatery. The book made everything easy to find and quick to get to. I would give it five stars.

My husband and I had never been to Berlin and were planning to visit for 3 days only. Berlin Encounter by Lonely Planet was the best travel guide ever. It was right on the dot for everything: places to see, where to eat, and how to manage your time. I recommended HIGHLY!

this book would be better if it have more detailed maps.
poor information about public transport

So I reordered it! I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of information and the quality; this isn't a simple, make-money-quick effort but an attempt to give a very thorough idea of what you will see in Berlin and what its significance is, and it does go off the beaten track to explore parts of Berlin that other guidebooks don't seem to. I'm really enjoying the details about architecture, though it covers all sorts of things and isn't really written just for travelers in their 20s, like many similar books are. A more detailed map that can be flipped through rather than unfolded (how much do you want to shout "Ich bin ein tourist! Come and rob me!") would be welcome, but I'm looking forward to reading another book in the same series, and I'd definitely recommend it.

Just came back from 10 days in Berlin. I found this guide excellent except for the section on places to sleep. There are millions of reasonably-priced places to sleep and more space should have been devoted to this. Additionally, the guide needed more on places to eat, though the problem here may be that Berlin isn't the best city to go for good eats. But the main reason to travel to Berlin is to take in the history and culture and the arts and to see the city, and this guide is excellent in this respect. Public transportation in Berlin is excellent, so the key to having a good experience is simply to look through this guide for what interests you and then plan your days.

this guide is very helpful, with lots of great things to see, and usually from the description i could tell if it was something i wanted to see or skip, although there were some sites that I wondered why they were included, because they were not so interesting after i got there and i would not have made the special effort to go there if i had really known what it was. i found food and restaurants less helpful, because i usually ate in whatever area i was, not making special plans to go to a different area of the city to eat when travel is such a hassel. the maps at the back of the book are invaluable, although the outstretching areas are not included, and are often not included on guide maps either. the book also mentions that certain measurements and conversions are listed in the cover, but they are not. definately make plans with this book of what you want to see before getting there, because there are a lot of amazing sites, but some things are more interesting to different people

I've visited 44 countries, mostly on a budget, and Lonely Planet is THE only book I would consider using. It's throrough, comprehensive and concise. It's especially geared for the budget/adventure traveler, though it would also prove useful to anyone on a tour or cruise. Lonely Planet is packed with maps, useful phrases, history lessons, tips on culture & conduct, addresses and descriptions of museums, hotels, restaurants - everything you need. Though Lonely Planet leans towards those of us who travel in hostels and budget hotels, it also gives a good description of hotels and restaurants for those who wish to travel in a more luxurious manner. There are other good travel books out there - Eyewitness Guides, etc - that have a lot of beautiful photos - but unless you're traveling with a steamer trunk, these are of little use because they lack the information you'll need while on the road. Look at the others for inspiration before you go, if you'd like, but pack your Lonely Planet. I'd never travel without it.