Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Korea (4th ed)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you're going to South Korea, I suggest you buy the Moon Handbooks guidebook. I took both it and the Lonely Planet book to Korea and I didn't use the Lonely Planet book. The Moon guidebook has more information and history on the sites, plus they have more places in it. I found a description of almost every place I visited even if it was just a small memorial off the side of the road. The Lonely Planet book does have more about places to stay and eat, but I found the Moon Handbook to be sufficient in this area, so I left the Lonely Planet book at home.

I lived in Korea for a year and found the former edition of the book alternately frustating and helpful. At least the new edition doesn't feature as many comments about there being nothing for tourists to do. The book needs more written in Korean. The romanizations are confusing because most of Korea uses a different system. So you will see different words at the bus station when you're looking for the English translation of where you're going. Additionally, the Korean alphabet is not hard. A typical foreigner can learn it in one night in a bar from a patient teacher. (I've seen this happen!) So there is no excuse for not including resturant and hotel names in Korean. Finally, fun things to do like singing rooms, coffee houses, good bars...all the stuff I wanted to find aren't mentioned very often. Different cities are famous for different kinds of food and the area specialties aren't mentioned for several places that really should have them. I agree with the former reviewers that the Moon guide book is better and the phrasebook by lonely planet is excellent.

Granted, no travel book can be 100% complete , but I find myself quite dissapointed at what this Lonely Planet misses: there is no word of Iksan - a beautiful city with the most exotic collection of odd trees on the uni-campus, not to mention the center of Won Buddhism! Nor of the hundreds of ancient Buddhas at HwaSun(south of KwangJu). Nor even the famed Maisan Temple. And what of Mokpo? No! Its not just an ugly port - there is also the imfamous not-to-be missed Mokpo Boys High School. These are just a few examples. Also, much info is outdated; such as suggested cafes and restaurants that no longer exist. For the short term visitor to Korea, this is still probably the best bet - lets just hope for an updated version soon....

I just come back from Korea for 2-3 days.
This LP book is really disappointed me.
It lack of information, inaccurate data and undetailed map.
Ok I know that i published about 2-3 years ago, the data
might inaccurate but it almost inaccurate, also the bus route???
If you follow the book guide on the way to Tongdosa you will probably get lost! Thats unacceptable.
It is nothing more than a good introduction to Korea to read at home.

Try Moon Guide or something else

here is my tips
1 Need map? just go to Korea, find Tourism Information kiosk
and you will find everything you want, good illustrate map
valueable advise and everything you want to know about Korea!
2 Use International cashcard (PLUS CIRCUS) will save you from deadly banknote exchange rate, but dont expect an international ATM in country side. (you can find a lot of them in subway Seoul) keep money, not credit!
3 Dont use a network ATM (like Han-net, Easy-money) It will charge you! Use bank ATM (CHB KB)
4 Dont bring this LP with you, burden!

You have to wonder when a guidebook starts off practically every section about a new city with: "Not many people come to (fill in city's name) but if you get stuck here then try this... I find Lonely Planet Korea to be very negative about the country and the cities within it (with the exception of Seoul). It gave very little practical information. I haven't seen the new edition, but I bought the previous one and was truly disappointed by it.

A much better, more comprehensive, and upbeat guide is the Moon Handbook by Robert Nilsen. I see he's just come out with a new edition too. He seems to know a lot more about Korea than the Lonely Planet writers and offers a better view for the traveler who is going to be in Korea for a few months or more. If you are going for a week, maybe Lonely Planet is o.k., but for anything longer disregard it and use the internet or the aforementioned travel guide.

Before I begin my review, I would like to preface by stating that I was born in Seoul and raised there until I was 7. It has been six years since my last visit. The book overall is informative. It's probably the best short reading book for a tourist, which is unfortunate. I found some of the information to be incorrect, such as pronunciations of words and cultural observations. The book also gave me an impression that the recommendations made were given by an unsophisticated traveler. Again, it's easy reading and a good summary.

This book, like the other Lonely Planet series are generally quite informative and quite handy. The first thing that you will find lack in this book is the name of the places in Hangul. With most of the names in Korea are written in Hangul (except in big cities), this is obviously a big oversight from the author. The part of the book listing the different expression to use in the restaurant is not that helpful either because they're too general and will bring some funny look when you show that to the restaurant owner. If you like hiking, then you will get a lot of information for where to go, but if you're more like the cultural-acitivity type of a person, then the book may not be the best bet. Beware of the maps, some of them are just totally wrong! and some of the information for transports are completely outdated. The accomodation info is good though, cheap and in general pretty nice places.

If you are a first time visitor to Korea, this book provides an excellent overview of sights to see, places to stay, and restaurants to eat. It is great for planning your trip to Korea. When you do get to Korea, there are plenty of places to get more detailed information. That is especially true in big cities and tourist attractions. Korea is incredibly resourceful in that area.

If you are going to remote area of Korea, then this may not be the book for you; then again there probably aren't any tourist books that are detailed about all of Korea. Transportation information especially local bus routes can change quite frequently. You need to find out detail information after you get to Korea. Korean people are usually very friendly to foreigners.

One thing I do find lacking with this tour book is that it lists all tourist attractions in seemingly random order. Some that are not really worth a visit are covered in details yet some considered not to be missed by local koreans are covered in very little detail. This can be frustrating to short term visitors. But again, do go to a tourist center once you arrive in Korea. I also feel the nightlife section should be expanded. A visit to Korea without experiencing the nightlife is only 50% complete.

The book is good in giving you info on what to see and how to get around. A lot that is related to Korean culture and its people is not right or a bit off base. The info on the bus system is a bit off including prices and how it works. On the other hand, it does give plenty of info on what to see and is good on describing how you can get from place to place. Overall it gives you a lot of helpful info, but it certainly is not the "bible" on korea by any means.

After multitudes of trips around South Korea, my first copy of this book was so trashed from being packed and unpacked into my backpack that I had to order a new one. This book will get used, especially if you are spending a long period of time in-country for traveling or for work.

I've generally gotten to know my way around in my three years in Korea, but I still take my LP wherever I go-- it has provided some real gems from restaurants to tours to shopping.

My only pique with the book is that some of the maps are more general than useful for locating specific sites-- especially back-alley places in locations like Kyungju and Cheju-do. I usually make a point to get a local tourist map [these can usually be gotten cheaply--a few thousand won at most] for comparison.

This book is definitely worth the investment of a twenty-dollar bill or so.