Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Korea (Country Travel Guide)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've used Lonely Planets for years. I like some more than others, and there's a few issues I have with the series, but they've always been a useful general guide to my travels.

However this book is a new low and I can't recommend people away from it enough. Literally every single time I tried to follow the advice the book gave, the information ended up being incorrect or outdated or amazingly vague.

A quick example is the Sa Rang Chae guest house in Gyeongju - it didn't give an address, and the phone number didn't work, but the description and location on the map indicated a general area to look. When I got to this general area, the guesthouse was nowhere to be found. I later learned that the guesthouse had moved locations four years ago, and had been e-mailing and mailing LP for several editions, trying to get them to update their information. Similarly, the restaurants and cafes they recommended for that city were nowhere to be found - it was worse than useless.

Their maps are terrible, particularly in Seoul. They generally don't list street names on the map. They also tend to skip a large number of smaller streets - but without names, it's hard to guess if the street was skipped or not. So trying to use an LP map involves an awful lot of guesswork. Korean people were often very kind helping confused tourists such as myself, but they also couldn't understand the maps, because even if the street had names on it, there was no Hangul, only Roman characters.

Addresses were very rarely given. So finding their recommendations boiled down to trying to use a small map with no street names. If using this book, make sure to confirm every single destination with a google search.

The KNTO releases very excellent free travel books, they can either be ordered, viewed on the web (unfortunately it requires Active-X), or picked up at the information booth in the Seoul/Incheon airport - google tour2korea and go to "e-books." That and wikitravel (which is sparse and often vague, but at least generally accurate) is definitely a better option than Lonely Planet. Don't waste any money on this.

I always buy Lonely Planet guidebooks for the destinations I go to. They are informative, organised, well laid out, list a number of activities which most visitors to the Land of the Morning Calm would be hard pressed to complete. The latest edition of the Korea guide book is no exception, and is a great introduction to this amazingly deceptive country. South Korea is full of contradictions, sprawling metropolises juxtaposed with ancient Buddhist and Confucian temples. The book helps visitors explore those contradictions. Those planning on living in the country (ESL teachers) may find it lacking after they have exhausted all the sights and activities, but for visitors staying a few months or less, and travelling around Korea (not just sticking to Seoul) will find it plenty sufficient.

I reviewed the last edition, and cross referenced the new with old, and it has been thoroughly updated, accomodations, prices, eateries, and so on. No doubt this was aided by the fact that this was one of the first travel guidebook editions to come out in Lonely Planet's new format. A previous reviewer commented on the lack of personality (for lack of a better word) in this edition of the book, and I would have to say I agree with that assessment. The older edition is a little more personable. But hey, this one still does the job, and gets you from A to B. However, note that at the time of review (mid October 2005), the guidebook has been out for well over a year, and thus is already out of date. Realistically, it was out of date that day it rolled off the printing presses, things can change quite rapidly in Korea!

My own personal recommendation for Korea highlights is that visitors should try and do a tour of the DMZ, and make sure it includes Panmunjom - it's a surreal experience, and proves the Cold War is not quite over yet. Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul is definitely worth a visit, and make sure you visit the museum next door. Another must see is the Buddhist temple complex Bulguksa at Gyeongju.

Took this freshly minted book with me to Korea in June. It services all the main sights well, but there's a general lack of humor and real gritty insight throughout. For example, the Seoul chapter is a perfunctory list of sights, then a list of accomodation, then eating places, etc. etc. Much listing is to be found.

Very different from the main part of the book are the informative chapters on culture and history. These chapters, particularly the one about the North, are fascinating and very well done. Read the history sections for great context.

All in all, this will get you through korea. But once there, utilize tourist information and any locals willing to give you a hand. And hold on to those subway tickets!!!

I always purchase Lonely Planet (LP) books when I travel, and they have never steered me wrong. But, this LP Korea edition doesn't seem to follow the standard format to which I have become accustomed. To start with, the table of contents is almost non-existent. The table of contents in many LP books can be up to 10 pages. In this book, the table of contents is half a page. It is very difficult to find the section you are looking for.

Secondly, this book breaks up the useful facts for the visitor into two sections. For example, the sections regarding health, money, food, embassies and visas are in a chapter called "Directory" at the end of the book. In most if not all other LP books that I have read, these items appear at the beginning of the book, before they start discussing the individual locations. I wish that LP would maintain some consistency.

Lastly, the index is incomplete. They do a good job of listing all the place names in the index, but many key words which you might be searching for are not present. For example, neither "electricity" nor "weather" are listed in the index. For electricity, I just gave up looking in the book, and found the answers on line.

In summary, I believe that this book contains all the information one needs to travel in Korea, but the information can be very difficult to find within the book.

I travel to Korea on business trips lasting 2-3 weeks, and the many sightseeing days mixed into those frequent trips has allowed me to evaluate this and several other Korea guides. This Lonely Planet's guide covers Korea efficiently, in 400 pages, by including details you'll need, and leaving out details on obscure cities rarely visited, and omitting rambling historical notes found in guides such as Moon Handbooks' South Korea (~850 pages!). For example, Lonely Planet covers Busan's Geumgang Fortress in less than half the text used by Moon Handbooks; however, the latter fails to provide adequate directions on getting there, and forgets to warn of the maddening crowds found on holidays, and weekends - important info included in Lonely Planet Korea. Faced with the challenge of Busan's tens of thousands of restaurants, Moon Handbooks chooses to review NONE and only suggests city areas to look for them, while Lonely Planet Korea gives us helpful reviews of specific restaurants. If like me you plan on spending more than a few days in Seoul, you'll find it useful to combine Lonely Planet Korea with Lonely Planet Seoul, because the latter includes far more detail for your Seoul visit. Be sure to visit the tourist information centers (found in major airports) upon your arrival and get the free city maps. I suggest you withdraw extra Won from the ATM's in Seoul (or Busan's Gimhae airport) because you'll find ATM's that accept international cards very difficult to find in cities outside Seoul. Don't buy Moon Handbooks' South Korea unless you're planning a Korea trip length of over a month and need details on obscure cities, and want pages of historical info on every city.

I saw this latest edition of the Lonely Planet Korea at a tourist store inside Helsinki airport.
Last minute I decided not to purchase it and was relieved that I didn't.

Having bought the previous editions of both Lonely Planet Korea and Lonely Planet Seoul, I had not been impressed with either and had hoped that the latest edition would be an improvement..
Having learned my lesson from previous experiences, incl. mistakenly buying the following books above, I wasn't planning to make another bad investment on a book that I had been ill-informed by.

When I arrived in Korea, I check the Amazon reviews and followed the advice of a previous reviewer: use the resources provided by the local tourist offices esp. the main office. Not only are they more up-to-date (last published in November 2008), printed in color, well-bounded and much more comprehensive, they are also free!

[Note: I previously wrote the main office's website address but it didn't appear, probably due to Amazon's terms and conditions..]
So search "Tourist Information Center (TIC) Korea" online to access the main office's website which is available in several languages incl. German, French, Spanish and even Turkish. Helpful information incl. how to use Korean public transportation (the practical T-money card) with several diagrams and maps.

Free printed versions of tourist ebooks and digitalized tourist guides are available on their website. They can also be ordered and delivered within a month or collected at the main office (TIC).

Note: I don't work for TIC. I was a tourist.

Lonely Planet's guides are getting worse to worst, especially for Asia. I wish they would stop employing solely former English teachers as writers, since alot of them dont know the local language very well or at all. Hello LP, ever thought of asking a Korean American/Australian/Canadian to write for your Korea guide? There are people in the world who are truly bilingual, binational. . . . and would be able to 'guide' better than a foreigner guiding other foreigners.
I bought the Seoul book because unfortunately there weren't many options out there for English speakers, but actually the Tourist offices in Seoul has better information and it's free.
The maps in the book are confusing; when you are on the streets looking for places there are street names but on the map there are not. It would help to if LP would include the places' names in Korean 'Han Gue' since LP's phonetic are not 100% anyway, and if you want to ask a Korean for help then it's better to have it written in Korean. The language section could use a couple more phrases like like 'not to spicy please.' The Seoul book is out of date, lots of places went out of bussiness. I also bought LP's Korea book and it has more up-to date info. Since all the writers in both guides are males, information for women travellers is pitiful. The layout is confusing and not easy to find, I had buy post-it tabs for different sections otherwise it would take more time find it again. THis is not a concised guide, there are two many overlaps, like there are two sections on food, but in the food glossary doesn't have some of the names of food mentioned elsewhere that takes up a whole paragraph.So buy this guide if English is the only language you can read.

I just spent a week in Seoul and I used this book along with the Moon handbook. I didn't purchase any of the Seoul focused books because they hadn't been updated recently. While some aspects of this book were good there were a few drawbacks. The good parts -- there were two good walks which allowed you to see parts of Seoul, the average tourist may not. The only non-Koreans we passed on these walks had the same guide book.

The downside is that much of the information was not current. Prices have changed for sights, for base taxi fare, etc., etc. Also, this book did not focus on the very clean, quick, and useful subway system.

While it was better overaall than the Moon book (less encyclopedic) -- I'd still rely on the KNTO, local websites, and a good concierge.

I've used lonely planet for many years and have traveled in 25+ countries. Its my travel book by choice since its preplanning logistics are wonderful compared to other travel guide books out there. However, this is by far the worst lonely planet book I've ever encountered. I've been severely disappointed by the quality of the information given. i was in South korea for 2 weeks with a couple of days traveling alone outside of Seoul. My korean friend in seoul was shocked by the quality of information given in the Lonely Planet. Many locations given in HANGUL were spelled incorrectly (atrocious!). Times of tourist sites were given incorrectly. (Lets say I had many ill planned days due to this fact.) The one hostel I tried from the lonely planet was horrible (saranchae in gyeoung ju). In addition I found inconsistencies within the book itself regarding names of train stations and their translations. The list goes on. The only thing I found useful was using the book to plan simple travel logistics such as knowing if there was a bus from one city to another. I found the government tourism office by far more helpful - providing free 24hr. translation, tourist offices in abundance with awesome maps and advice in english. If you're planning a trip to south korea utilize the official tourism office and website as well as trip advisor (and your hotel/hostel when you arrive!). That is all you need and if you must get this book - borrow it from the library. Do not buy it. I'm SURE lonley planet will come out with an improved better edition later.

I have been using Lonely Planet books in all my travels but I am not very satisfied with this one for the first time. It was not a detailed book and I had hard time in finding places such as restaurants because if the name of place is not written in Korean alphabet it is useless! Maps were useless as well but thanks God, information offices in all cities had detailed maps.