Lonely Planet Canary Islands [Paperback]

Sally O'Brien (Author), Sarah Andrews (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lonely Planet Canary Islands | Publication Date: April 2004

This guide book covers all seven Canary Islands and provides information on how to hop from one to the other. It covers activities from surfing to cycling, provides details of the fiesta and ferias held in the region, and offers information on traditional crafts and indigenous architecture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

For sheer global reach and dogged research, attention must be paid to Lonely Planet…' --Los Angeles Times, February 2, 2003
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

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

What We Do
* We offer travelers 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 travelers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travelers; 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 alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; 3 edition (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 174059374X
• ISBN-13: 978-1740593748
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,141,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointingly mediocre, September 11, 2002

By 

Jaroslaw Aniszewski (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lonely Planet Canary Islands (Paperback)

I took this book on my recent trip to Canary Islands. Most of the information contained in the book can be easily found on internet (or even more). The content is an encyclopedic compilation of facts (probably rehashed from other publications) with very little personal experience. This is another hastily written and impersonal guide book. I expected something like the Ultimate Kauai and got less than could be found on Ecanarias web site. The most irritating, in my opinion, were multiple references to another book by one of the authors about hiking trails. If you want to hike - buy another book, uh. There is no even basic walk described. I laughed pretty hard when I read about poorly marked trails in the National Park on La Gomera. The reality is quite opposite. The trail-heads have excellent markings and even area maps. You wander how many years it has been since they visited last time. (the signs start show age here and there). There is nothing outstanding about this book. No personal touch like Ultimate Kaui Guide or sumptuous visual information like in DK Eye Witness series that steers you to the best sights (too bad none on Canary Islands is available yet). Explanation for this mediocre performance dawned on me when I realized what a prolific author Damien Simonis is. He "fathered or better bastardized" guide books covering about 15 - 20 areas (depending how you count) and these include whole countries like Italy, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, southern Spain and even all of Africa. Doing simple math tells you that he could not work on updating each more than 3 weeks a year. Probably many tourists would beat him in this aspect.
I enjoyed other Lonely Planet publication but this one is a real disappointment. There is plenty of free guides in English, even hiking maps and trails, once you get to islands. Save your money and skip it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This Guide Bites, December 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Lonely Planet Canary Islands (Paperback)

I lived in the Canary Islands for 10 years. I am returning this winter for the first time as a tourist, and purchased Lonely Planet's guide, because they are normally good. Using this guide, I cannot find a single decent place to stay, any good restaurants, and even the activities list is pathetic. I know you're probably thinking that I'm just jaded because I lived there and know the spots, but from a basics perspective, not ONE of the major hotels that I know are good are listed, the three hotels that I did recognize are dumps, and the restuarant selections are crappy tourist dives without any real authenticity. Unfortunately, I don't have a good guide to recommend yet, but whatever you do, don't get this one!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Canary Island Confusion, January 20, 2009

By 

Marjorie M. Hahn (Thousand Oaks, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lonely Planet Canary Islands (Regional Travel Guide) (Paperback)

I am so glad I returned the copy of this book before we left for the Canary Islands. We are seasoned travelers and this is one of the worst travel guides ever. The information is disjointed and incomplete, the text is user unfriendly, and the cross-references are pointless. Lonely Planet usually has excellent resources. This isn't one of them.