Lonely Planet British Columbia (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) [Paperback]

Graham Neale (Author), Ryan Ver Berkmoes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2004

Comprehensive coverage opens up the unspoilt wilderness areas and showcases quaint towns. Isights from local writers reveal the real British Columbia. Features great skiing and hiking coverage, plus accommodation, dining and entertainement listings for all travellers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Best for curious and independent-minded travelers' --Wall Street Journal
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; 2nd edition (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 174104023X
• ISBN-13: 978-1741040234
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,347,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars poor effort, July 5, 2004

By 

Stephanie Carter (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet British Columbia (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) (Paperback)

The basics in this book are okay, but it looks like Lonely Planet hasn't used the original author and instead this edition has been updated by people with dubious qualifications and no link at all to Canada. This shouldn't translate to a poor guidebook, but in this case it does. The research was obviously done very quickly and some in some regions not at all. When I compared some sections to the previous edition, it looks like the prices had simply been raised a few dollars. In one case, a restaurant had been closed since 2001 (just as the first edition came out), yet the listing was identical, except for the prices. Even if the writers didn't visit, I'd at least expect them to call and check to see if it was still operating - I suppose changing the price makes it SEEM like the job is done. As this was in Whistler, a major tourist area, I would have expected them to have at least visited the town. They didn't - this restaurant alone was a giveaway, as was the lack of correct info center location (changed three years ago).

It was the same throughout, the writers have simply failed to up date the book. I guess they don't need to do a thorough job as naive travelers continue to buy Lonely Planet books regardless of the content.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ordinary, even for backpacking readers, May 21, 2002

By 

Craig Taylor (British Columbia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet British Columbia (Paperback)

I've been a fan of Lonely Planet books since using them to backpack through Asia in the 1980s, but it seems to me they are in the middle of an identity crisis. Case in point is the British Columbia book, which I've added to my collection of guides to my home province. It retains the "Backpacker" feel but includes multiple listings of upmarket hotels and restaurants with scant regard to actually desrcibing individual places, which is why I buy a guide book in the first place. The result is a watered down version of what was once a great series, with the great descriptive and personalized writing replaced by page after page of listings that any reader could find in a phone book. For example, in the Vancouver chapter, instead of critical apprasial of the places to stay that appeal to budget travelers, literally dozens of places in all price ranges are listed, with little more than an address and price given for each. There's a privately run hostel in Vancouver that is nothing short of digusting and has been closed down and reopened under new names on two occassions. And yet the author lists this place along with the excellent choices that do exist as if all are of the same quality. I doubt whether the author has ever visited any of these places, but even if she has, some kind of description is what is missing. In a similar vein, out near the Vancouver airport, an RV park lies right under the flight path. Again there's no mention of this very basic information, just a phone number, address, and price. Finally, prices are almost always wrong. Prices haven't risen that dramatically over the last two years and as this is the first edition of the book my guess is that they've transfered information straight from the Lonely Planet book that covers all of Canada.

Further afield, in recent travels, I noted the same lack of perception in the writing about other areas of the province. It's obviously useful for young budget travelers to know which bars have cheap drinks, but I still expect more, such as some good solid descriptions of what there is to see in each town and coverage of all the great outdoors opportunities. These things
are sorely lacking.

On the plus side, the introduction chapter is very strong, with detailed coverage of history, geology, and wildlife. History might not be that exciting, but the author has obviously done her homework in this department. The maps are also much improved from the old days and even the smallest town has a map.

In conclusion, the fact that the author is not from Canada does not worry me, but she needn't have even visited to put this book together. Even if you're a young backpacker from overseas desperate to fit in by traveling with a Lonely Planet guide, I'd skip this book and buy the Lonely Planet Canada book.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars very poor indeed, July 15, 2006

By 

Nikwax (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet British Columbia (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) (Paperback)

I recently took this book on a trip to British Columbia. No idea why I bought it (except that I thought Lonely Planet put out decent guides), but this book was of far less value than the freebee tourist bureau handouts that one finds along the way. I'm absolutely certain that the authors did not visit any of the locations, as they provide no insights at all into the destinations, and their recommendations seemed outdated and sketchy at best. Bottom line is, I left it at a hotel because I didn't think it was worth the weight or effort to carry it around.