Customer Reviews

The Rough Guide to Korea 1 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

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I'm a big fan of Rough Guides books, but I have been sorely disappointed with this one. There is a distinct lack of in-depth cultural and historical asides that I grew to love in the other Rough Guides books. As well, there have been many times where I had difficulty finding my way to destinations in the book due to incomplete or unclear directions. I find that I rarely use the book because it's let me down so much.

I've lived in Korea for years and am now returning. It's a hard place to write a guidebook on since it lacks the grand sights of China or the festivals and rich traditions of Japan. Yet this writer accurately describes this country that can be tough for non-Korean speakers to get around.

The Rough Guide to Korea is a terrible guide book. Do yourself a favor, navigate away from this page and go get yourself a Lonely Planet. The main problem is a lack of detailed information, the sort of stuff that doesn't seem critical when planning your trip from abroad, but which becomes abundantly clear when on the ground in Korea. This includes things such as a complete map of the Seoul metro (several stops near the ends are omitted), a detailed map of any neighborhood or thorough analysis of which sights are worthwhile and which are a complete waste of time. Nothing ruins a trip more efficiently than a guidebook which makes you believe you have all of the requisite information for a task only to leave you lost. It's not all bad, the cultural and historical information is well written and interesting, but not standout - this same information is portrayed equally well in any other guidebook. If you had a better experience than I, please refute me and write your own review. My advice however, is STAY AWAY.