Customer Reviews

USA (Lonely Planet USA)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I took several Lonely Planet guide books with me on a 6-week drive across the US, and I'm very glad I did. The *regional* volumes (Lonely Planet Southwest, Lonely Planet Deep South, and Lonely Planet California & Nevada in particular) pointed me to some interesting little spots that I never would have found on my own or with a more traditional guidebook -- small-town festivals, outstanding small museums, breathtaking spots in national parks that the tour buses don't visit, fun alterative driving routes through the mountains.

I also brought along this book, thinking it would be useful for the areas not covered in my other books. It wasn't. The entries for each city are so short that all it really offers is a brief history, the major tourist attractions and a couple of (often outdated) hotel/restaurant recommendatations.

I highly recommend the regional Lonely Planet guidebooks for US travel, but don't bother buying this one.

I just wanted to point out that most of these poor reviews are based on the first edition. The new one is obviously more up to date and is more polished than the last edition.

We bought this book as a resource for a cross country trip. I browsed this book before purchasing, and the maps and national park info really sold me. I even looked up my area ( which is a tourist beach town ) to see what they had to say. I was not impressed, but I chalked that up to the fact that we live in a remote tourist area.

I have several major issues with this book, which are explained in the introduction ( If only I had read it before I bothered to pack this worthless book ).

The writers have not traveled to all of the towns, cities or regions in the book. You will find some actual travel advice for places they have visited. But even that is worthless, since they point you towards "trendy" spots that have long past gone out of favor.

The reference information is so dated that it is worthless. Prices and basic information is incorrect, and I have the revised edition. I would make advanced reservations based on advice in this book. Odds are they have never seen the place or even been to the town. ( they mention this fact in the introduction, I should have started at page one.).

The book lacks practical travel tips you really need in some regions of the US.

As somebody who has a good knowledge of U.S. Geography (and History), I will not condemn this book too much. However, I will not rate it high. Its "updated information" is more or less superficial. Except for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, there is no grounded addition or remarkable improvement over the last edition. I was disappointed to observe that most other updatable facts and figures remained unchanged. Anyone who already has the previous edition shouldn't consider buying this one. Donate the dough to charity; or do something else with it. 'September 11' is the only big deal here!

I'm surprised to read all the bad reviews the Lonely Planet US guide book gets at Amazon. My only explanation (after reading, using and enjoying this guide book for the last 2 years) is the tremendous lack of sense of humour americans have about themselves! The Book is FULL of valuable information the conscientious, adventureous traveller wishing to explore, experiment, and know, will certainly appreciate! Lonely Planet provides valuable tips for off the track interesting places, museums, restaurants, cafes, neigborhoods, as well as an infinite number of interesting anecdotes about the places their culture and history. Nationalistic americans who don't seem to find a single flaw in their behaviour will find it tedious or even hurtful, but I'm sure many americans can take a good laugh about themselves and appreciate the humour but specially the tips and fun this book provides. Lonely Planet can be blunt saying things, and every single of their guide books is this way, no matter if the country is European, South American, African, etc! Europeans are more used to laughing at their own idiosyncracies than americans are, and there lies the big difference of how you will take the book. Simply, enjoy it while you can; there is no better travelling guide book than lonely planet, guaranteed! Highly recommended!

Don't be a lonely backpacker skip this book and talk to other backpackers instead as you travel. You will get much better and more accurate information from people who have just been there....

This book doesn't include everything it should and has been drastically thickened with a lot of [info] backpackers don't need to know and more importantly do not want to carry the weight of those pages around.

Who cares about restaurants, hotels and other places backpackers are unlikely to go. More supermarket listings would be more helpful and pointing out when what is listed is a 7 Eleven, Spar, Quix type place and not actually a supermarket would also be good as these places aren't budget friendly.

The information on the actual towns, cities and national parks listed is ever increasing which is good but the number of places is fast declining especially the limited Canadian ones it has (a lot more pages used to be devoted to Canada).
If it's just background information you want to plan your trip you may be better off getting a version from a few year ago. ..For an overview of the USA and Canada this should concentrate on having as many places as possible not just the main ones. The whole differentiation of backpackers from tourists is that we see places package tours don't go. Who is going to carry around 50 or so Lonely Planet books and for the money spent on the books you will spend more than your entire trip.

While this book is good to find the location of hostels that's about it. Prices of course go up the day after the book is published. ...you're better off to go by word of mouth from other backpackers to find quality hostels. ...

Buy this book if you know nothing about where you are going and read it on the train/bus before getting there but don't have it out when you arrive or you'll be hassled by homeless people and be a target for thieves. You should always look like you know exactly where you are going when you arrive somewhere, it's way safer that way.