Turkey 14 (Lonely Planet Travel Guide)

Another great Lonely Planet guide. Very helpful to decide when to go and which places to visit even if you are taking a tour. Indispensable if you are making your own travel arrangements.

Just got back from a 10-day trip to Turkey. Like all Lonely Planet guides, found it very comprehensive and useful for our itinerary that included Istanbul, Cappadocia, and Alacati/Ephesus. It's a good frame of reference for restaurants, bars, hotels, etc. Like all travel guides, however, I think Lonely Planet guides are a good frame and it's always nice to supplement with local blogs, other travelers, local Turks, etc.

It was a fantastic companion for our trip to Turkey

I have a number of issues with this book: 1. Instead of giving recommendations as to where to go, this book describes a hundred little towns without giving any significant details. For example, when trying to decide what town to visit on the Western Coast I can read through fifty short descriptions of tiny villages that all sound exactly the same paired with 3-4 hotel and restaurant options for each one and sometimes no sights listed at all. The book fails to recommend one town over another (perhaps one is more convenient as a home base, perhaps one has more quality sights). I'd rather the book suggest fewer locations with more detail and actually described the pros and cons of staying in each town. I can look up village locations and accommodations pretty easily on my own, but I buy guide books to help guide me to the best spots. This book gives almost no recommendations. For example, Cappadocia seems to be a cluster of small towns. Is there an ideal town to stay in that will allow me to visit the others as day trips? Is a rental car a worthwhile investment? All this book tells me is that the towns exist, they have a few sights (1-3) and a few hotels/restaurants (1-3). As far as strategy for maximizing my time and seeing the most sights, this book has nothing to offer. 2. The book does a horrible job of describing what there is to do in each location. For example, when describing Goreme in Cappadocia the book wastes almost the entire "Sights" section describing the Goreme Open-Air Museum in excruciating detail (follow the path, turn right). This is only ONE sight. Then it shortly lists three other churches and a park for a total of five sights. Yet it lists twelve different places to sleep. And Goreme is the town in Cappadocia with the most sights listed which means the others are even more sparse. I did a simple search on Tripadvisor and found a dozen other highly rated things to do. 3. The most frustrating thing about this book is that it is not consistent about how it lists prices. Sometimes prices are listed in Turkish Lira, other times they are listed in Euro. This makes it difficult to compare different accommodations because the reader has to constantly convert prices to judge which place is the better deal. This book fails because it lacks the insider tips and helpful opinions that make other travel guides successful. I want a recommendation, not a grocery list of names. So far the internet has been far more helpful in providing me with what I need. I will still bring this book along but it will not be my primary source for planning my trip.

If you don't use Lonely Planet travel guides start. The info is always correct no matter which guide you use. They've never been wrong!!!

Very good. Possibly the best lonely planet I've encountered. The writers are entertaining and good at pointing out things a place does have to offer, rather than what it doesn't (unlike some lonely planets). My only criticism is that it lacks cheaper accommodation options particularly in a lot of smaller or out of the way towns. Mid range hotels are generally plentiful and easy to find, whereas the budget spots are often less so. This was a little annoying, as it was one of the main reasons I bought the book.

Lonely Planet is always a good travel book.

Have not revised and as a result there are many errors and old photographs.