Western Australia (Lonely Planet Perth & Western Australia) [Paperback]

Susie Ashworth (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lonely Planet Perth & Western Australia | Publication Date: July 2004

Features expert coverage of WA's unique history and natural environment. Includes a traveller's guide to the wines and wineries of the state's southwest. Covers easy, short excursions from Perth, as well as detailed information on the long, long drive north to the tropics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

For sheer global reach and dogged research, attention must be paid to Lonely Planet…' --Los Angeles Times, February 2, 2003
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; 4 edition (July 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1740594592
• ISBN-13: 978-1740594592
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,109,640 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars immense desolation, February 19, 2005

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Western Australia (Lonely Planet Perth & Western Australia) (Paperback)

As an expatriate Sandgroper, this narrative was quite entrancing. The authors have clearly spent much time traipsing through the vast areas of Western Australia. Arguably, they have seen more of it than many of its locals, who tend to be congegated in the Perth metropolitan area. Thus, somewhat ironically, a ready audience for this book might be people in Perth that wish to get out and see more of Australia's largest state.

Overseas visitors should be cautioned about the book. Even though it does give the size of WA, the sheer immensity and dearth of people may still be surprising. Twice the size of Alaska, and with scarcely 2 million people. Well over half of which are in Perth. The book strives to convey the feeling of desolation once you leave Perth, and you should do well to keep that in mind.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not upto Scratch, April 11, 2009

By 

Roshan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Perth & Western Australia (Regional Travel Guide) (Paperback)

I am a 'foreigner' who has spent a lot of time in Perth and Western Australia. Initially I had a copy of rough guide Australia, but thought it was not detailed enough on Western Australia (purely because of quantity not quality).

This book is simply not upto scratch. My final straw using this book was going to a restaurant in Northam, recommended by this book, which had been shut for several years! If Rough Guide does not cover something, it is because there is no need for it to be covered!

My advice would be to purchase Rough Guide Australia. It covers everything in the depth it needs to be covered.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Room for Improvement, January 8, 2008

By 

M. Natraj (Oslo, Norway) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Perth & Western Australia (Regional Travel Guide) (Paperback)

In general, Western Australia still seems to be off the usual tourist path for most outside visitors to Australia, so there wasn't much selection when it came to finding an appropriate guidebook. For the most part, guides seemed to be too broad (covering all of Australia), or too specific (focusing just on Perth). Despite being an absolutely enormous place on its own, few choices seemed to address the state of WA.

We picked this book up out of desperation, but for the most part, it did a decent enough job. In typical Lonely Planet style, there were lots of budget options for food/accommodation and plenty of details on tours and logistics. Most of the information appeared to be accurate, and a few tips proved quite helpful.

My biggest qualm with book is that its layout centers around towns, and in such vast and spread-out areas, a town-by-town approach isn't the most useful. Many of the smaller towns have few attractions or amenities, and nearly all of the must-see destinations (national parks, wineries, caves, capes, coasts, etc) lie in between these small towns.

Finally, despite the extensive use of flowery adjectives, the descriptions of individual sights often remain vague. For some of the national parks especially, the description seems to be just a list of key points copied from a park map or guide, sometimes with no description whatsoever.

In the end, it did prove to be a useful aid to our tour of the southwest and south coast of WA, but we definitely needed to augment it with some of the literature and information from the local tourism agencies. It was certainly better than nothing, but hopefully further research will lead to some improvements in later editions.

One possible alternative is West Coast Australia (Footprint West Coast Australia), which seems to have better descriptions of some of the southwest parks but covers only the western edge of the state.