Lonely Planet Seoul (City Guide) [Paperback]

Martin Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Series: City Guide | Publication Date: June 1, 2006

Experience Seoul, Asia’s most intriguing city. Tour the grand royal palaces. Sing yourself hoarse in a noraebang (karaoke room). Stuff yourself with hearty beef and vegetable bibimbap. Indulge in exquisite traditional tea shops. This authoritative, bestselling guidebook will take you to the heart of Korea’s captivating capital.

Eliminate The Guesswork – opinionated hotel reviews make the decisions easy.

Shop Your Socks Off – reviews and tips take you to the city’s best traditional markets, glitzy malls, boutiques and galleries.

Discover the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) – we take you on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the formidable and fascinating North–South border.

Feast Like A King – eating reviews serve up the city’s finest Korean fare, from spicy tofu and barbeque to Korean fusion and Hanjeongsik banquets.

Navigate through nameless streets with our clear and detailed maps – complete with hangeul (Korean script).

Editorial Reviews

Review

Lonely Planet guides are a must-pack” --Toronto Star, February 2006

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 218 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 5 edition (June 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1740598466
• ISBN-13: 978-1740598460
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,178,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Travel > Asia > South Korea > Seoul

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not useful at all, November 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Lonely Planet Seoul (Lonely Planet City Guides) (Paperback)

While I usually never go anywhere without an LP guide in my pack, this one really disappoints. Detailed descriptions and directions are totally lacking. I was able to find out more from my own exploring and using the Korea National Tourist info, than from this guide. If you go to Korea, buy the Insight Guide to Korea for a very informative introduction, and not to mention a great read.

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A threadbare and poorly written guide, May 30, 2001

By 

Tim Ciccone (Charlottesville, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Seoul (Lonely Planet City Guides) (Paperback)

I have been to Seoul several times, so my primary interest in using this book was to find places I haven't seen. For that, it was no help whatsoever. In the "places to see" section, it missed a number of interesting sights such as Tongmyo shrine, the Royal Tombs, and a number of others. It also gave threadbare descriptions of excursions outside Seoul. For example, I wanted to know how to get to nearby Kanghwa island. The book gives a few directions but then tells us to "ask how to get to such and such place." Why buy a guidebook with that advice? Even more infuriating, I noticed in the map section that it shows exactly how to get there, but the author failed to refer to his own map. I think this book needs to be fattened-up and re-edited.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning about Seoul, July 28, 2005

By 

C. Dugan (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Seoul (Paperback)

Being first time travelers to Korea, we wondered what it would be like. A friend recommended that we order this book. We found it very helpful in answering many of our questions. We also referred to the book on several occasions while in Seoul, confirming our memory of its contents, such as the custom in tipping for services and to remind us of the below ground shopping experiences available within the city. We would recommend the book to others. We also ordered the Korean Phrasebook which we did not use at all -- it was not necessary or helpful for our use.