Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Budapest

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

 

 

We did a thorough comparison of the Budapest Guide and the Budapest section of Lonely Planet's Hungary Guide. The extra information provided in the Budapest book was (for the most part) simply more detail about the material already reported in the nationwide guide. It was more conversational, more spread out, yet with no genuine added content. Reviews of eateries and lodgings were no more in-depth and only slightly greater in number. Take a pass on this one. Lonely Planet's Hungary Guide is roughly just as useful in Budapest, and has the added advantage of telling you about so much in this fascinating country that's outside the standard tourist line.

The restaurant descriptions seemed very vague and generally unhelpful. I think that the maps could be organized better, so that they would be easier to use.

The description of the Metro did not adequately describe the different types of tickets and where and when they are valid. I found out at the end of our trip that tickets are cheaper (admittedly, only a bit) when bought from a ticket window rather than a ticket machine. And by the time I left, even after searching two guidebooks, I still wasn't always sure which type of ticket I needed for a given journey.

It seems like the Lonely Planet travel books are really hit and miss. Some are really great while others, like this Budapest guide, seem like little work was put into them. The sections titled Facts About Budapest, Places to Stay, Places to Eat, and Entertainment are pretty good (though still not as detailed as they might be), but I was disappointed with what I consider the most important section, Things to See and Do. For a city as big as Budapest it seemed like scant few pages were devoted to this subject. I also wish more photos were included, because it's hard to know whether something is worth going to see if you have no idea what it looks like beforehand.

This book has good general resources for the Metro, and general services, but I found the descriptions of sites to see a bit lacking. The placement of the maps next to the corresponding sites of interest or sections of the cities would have made touring much easier. Flipping to the back constantly was nerving. Also, I found the walking tours hard to follow, and would have preferred some pictures as a reference (descriptions of sites are lacking). If you are a visual person like I am this book is not for you.

I travel extensively and, after long experience, I find the Lonely Planet guides the best, so I now buy them automatically and am never disappointed. Still, they do vary in quality. The Budapest guide, however, is among the best.

I appreciate how well this guide is written. The introduction, which sets the tone for the book, is literate and is good writing, as writing. The history chapter, not too long, but also not too superficial for this type of book, gave me an insight into Hungary that I found invaluable in enjoying my five-day visit to Budapest. Although the edition is several years old (I think a new one is about to come out), it was amazingly up-to-date and accurate. I followed several of the walking tours in the guide, and they were all well thought out and enjoyable, with a great deal of relevant information about the sights I saw.

In short, this is about as good as a general travel guide gets.