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Special Features : Regular Stores : Lonely Planet Store
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Firmly ensconced in the budget travel canon, Lonely Planet: Indiahas become as essential to sub-continental backpacker culture as the Himalayan hill stations, Arabian sea beaches and crafty rickshaw drivers it describes. Beyond the frank, thorough coverage of the country's highlights and pitfalls, indispensable maps and a snazzy full-colour guide to India's religions make this sturdy tome an endlessly useful one-stop reference. Though the emphasis is on "budget" travel, there are hotel and restaurant picks to accommodate you whether your budget is US$10 or US$500 a day. The book's only problem is that to some degree, it's a victim of its own success--it can be difficult to get off the beaten path when every English-speaking backpacker in South Asia is carrying the same guide. Fortunately, given India's (and the book's) seemingly endless charms, there's still enough to go around. --Andrew Nieland
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Lonely Planet--Egypt takes a practical approach to its readers and audience. It steers away from the hippie flavour of The Rough Guide (where the virtues of sleeping on a friendly native's roof are dwelled on at the expense of more mundane information) and adopts a tone that is sensible and thoughtful, though not timid.
The information is thorough and for the most part accurate. Particularly useful are the suggested highlights for every major city, which, though doomed to meet with dissent, generally provide a good foundation for planning an itinerary. The inclusion of good, colour photographs is also a benefit. There are some notable weaknesses. Maps are disjointed and difficult to relate to each other, and there are vital moments where the guide shies away from making specific recommendations or suggesting priorities. This can make choosing which of Cairo's mosques or Luxor's West Bank tombs to visit a slightly hit-and-miss affair, especially if your time is limited.
An early disclaimer wails (justifiably) that "Things change", and there are already some areas where the information is incorrect. However, if you're a tourist, rather than a traveller, with weeks rather than months to spend in Egypt (and you're ready to view a guide book as a guide, rather than as an authority), then this may well be the single best book with which to plan and enjoy your visit. --Richard Kelly
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Where Paris once led the way as the centre of Europe's bohemian lifestyle, Prague now comes out on top. The fourth edition of Lonely Planet: Prague manages to be both compact and comprehensive and is generally a good introduction to this city where European and North American wannabe poets now hang out.
Although the guide's structure follows the layout used by most books in the Lonely Planet series, there is more of a concentration on cultural issues than is often the case. As well as an illustrated colour guide to the city's memorable architecture, there are detailed sections on themes such as the history of the 1969 student rebellion against the Communists, the famous Karlos Most bridge, Franz Kafka and the vicissitudes of Prague's Jewish community. The sections on history and modern politics are perhaps a little weaker though, with no acknowledgement of the sizeable minority in the Czech Republic who have become disillusioned with Vaclav Havel.
The cultural side of the guide goes together with some hard-nosed advice on how to avoid scams in Prague's restaurants and foreign exchange bureaux. Only occasionally does the imperative of cost become a handicap, as when the authors make the inaccurate assertion that, when visiting Prague's "old-new synagogue", there is no need to rent the cheap yamulkahs as a bandanna will do. Still, this will be a very useful practical guide for anyone visiting Prague, with thorough accommodation and eating tips, colour photographs and some detailed and very well-researched maps. --Toby Green





















