Customer Reviews

Ukraine (Lonely Planet Country Guide)

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

 

 

**NOTE: This review was written about the 1st edition (with the Swallow's Nest mansion on the front), not the second edition (with the painted eggs on front). I've glanced at the second edition, and it does seem to have improved with the involvement of former Kyiv Post editor Greg Bloom.**

This is probably the worst travel guide I've ever read. It completely misses the point of travel in Ukraine. It's constantly referring to the sub-standard quality of virtually everything and trashes all but three or four destinations. I can't tell you how many times I read descriptions of places I've visited an scoffed at how offhandedly they were dismissed.

People don't visit Ukraine for a relaxing week of 5-star hotels and Western European-style tourism. If not looking for family or engaging in business, people come to Ukraine for a decidedly different tourist experience. Yes, it's an experience that is a little rough around the edges. But it's also filled with cheap and convenient travel, incredibly hospitable and authentic people, and rich and diverse landscapes, including snowy birch forests and rocky sub-tropical beaches. All among an interesting mix of European and Soviet history. However, this book is content to write off entire regions of Ukraine.

The LP folks were recently back in Ukraine doing research for the new edition, but I'm not all that hopeful much of this can be salvaged. Go with the Bradt Guide, it's the best guide to Ukraine available.

It's nice to finally see Lonely Planet print a book just on Ukraine with some current and updated info for people traveling there. The only disappointment I had was that there is very little coverage of Eastern Ukraine, the Donbass Region to be exact. Granted most tourist types won't venture to areas like Lugansk. For those who do want to brave the adventure don't rely on this book for any info. east of Donetsk. Other than that I thought the book was pretty good. It's compact size makes it easier to carry compared to when Lonely Planet combined Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus in their previous printing.

The lonely planet series has generally been wonderful. Every time I bought one, they were not only a fun read but were chalk full of info on things to see and do. The Ukraine book, however, seems very disappointing in comparison. For one, the book is very small for such a big country. The author only visits a number of selected cities and totally ignores whole sections of the country, especially in the east which has 5 pages for the entire section. Even within those cities she does visit, however, the sightseeing oppurtunities (according to her) appear very sparse, the accomodations listed are very limited, and there is very little information about day trips or things to see outside the city. Finally, the entire book is very politicized. It looks like she wrote the book during the Orange Revolution, and got caught up in the strong nationalistic and anti-russian feelings that accompanied it. Unfortunately, this also shows through in her writing.

So in general, this book is not good enough to go to Ukraine. There aren't many options available right now, but something better than this is definetly needed.

I recently used this book on a 2 week trip to Ukraine, we spent most of our time in Eastern Ukraine and a few days in Kiev. The coverage of Eastern Ukraine is sparse, to say the least. Kharkov, for instance, is a huge city but there is very little coverage. The practical information that is presented is useful, however, I feel that it has a very negative connotation (watch out! this country is dangerous! kids will hate it!) and the author approaches it with more fear/caution than sense of adventure and exploration.

The historical/cultural information that is presented is interesting to read, and the author makes some great recommendations for future reading about Ukraine.

I'm glad that we had this book with us, but we found the Bradt guide much, much more detailed and useful for use while in Ukraine.

My wife was born and educated in Ukraine and spent many years there traveling all over the country, and we have made a number of recent trips to Ukraine. Her verdict on this Lonely Planet guidebook by Sarah Johnstone is: "A plus!" She kept looking up various interesting places that Miss Johnstone might have missed and she couldn't find any. They are all there. Miss Johnstone includes an amazing amount of information in a small, 8x5" paperback of 216 pages that will fit easily in a purse or bag. The book is very skillfully arranged into various headings and sections and cross references so if, for example, you're not interested in Ukraine's history you can easily skip over it. And it doesn't forget anyone: the traveler who wants adventure, the traveler who wants comfort, the student with a backpack, those who want offbeat non-touristy places, to those who are on a budget. Are you a vegetarian? Well, the author hasn't forgotten you either. There are many useful maps, all the latest Internet addresses, and a number of beautiful photographs.
I am truly impressed with Ms. Johnstone depth of knowledge and how accurate she is. I can only imagine how much work it took to put this together. I have seen all the guidebooks to Ukraine and all the guidebooks with chapters on Ukraine. This is the best. I would give it six stars if I could.

A friend of mine took this with him to Ukraine, and I got to leaf through it. It's horrible. The woman who wrote it obviously hated the experience of being there; from the poor infrastructure to the people. Glorious cities are disparaged with a couple of pages of sightseeing recommendations, bad information, and, well, at least the maps were reasonable, though they needed more Cyrillic in them. The Bradt guide (my choice) is better, though it had its own set of problems.

This is a great book to learn part of the history of the Ukraine, what to see while you are there, what to be cautious of, and how to get around. Very informative. I really liked the section in the back with Ukraine/English translations. This book will travel with me as a ready reference while I am in the Ukraine!! This is the first Lonely Planet book I've purchased and I'm sure there will be more!

This little book is packed with information. I would say this book is essential if you know nothing about Ukraine, and very useful if you know some Ukrainian or Russian. Despite the fact that almost everyone in Ukraine speaks Russian, and in some areas they speak only Russian, all the sample translations in this book are in Ukrainian. It would be useful to have both Ukrainian and Russian translations in the book.

Great Book 2 read before going to Ukraine! I have been to 68 countries and I always read a book before going to that country.
Also, make a "search 4 news" of that country & have it sent to you daily so you know the countries news before you go.

This travel guide arrived too late to be of any value.
Took over two weeks to Ship in the same County LA.
We had already left for the Ukraine, and purchase another guide. Very disappointed.
Jerome A. Kaliser