BootsnAll Travel Community

I could really use someone's help. Me and one of my girlfriends are going to Europe next year for two months and I don't have the money to buy a lot of travel books. In fact, I can only afford one, maybe two. I was wondering which one you think is better for someone new to Europe, who really wants to avoid all the tourist traps and wants to pay very little money-Let's Go Europe or Lonely Planet's Europe on a Shoestring. Also, would the information change that much if I was to but the 2000 version instead of the 2001 (we're going in May/June of 2001). Thanks, ezrena

I think Let's Go is slightly better on the practical info - where to stay and eat etc, but shorter on what to see and general info.
It's very important to get the latest edition. The research for 2000 editions was done in 1999, so it would be 2-years old in 2001. These books are like phone directories: Some info is already out-of-date when they go to press. If you can, go to a bookshop and take a look, and choose what you like. You can't be wrong with either one.
I must say that you have long-distance planning: You really don't need to start 15 months in advance.
BTW: What's your general plan? what parts of Europe you intend to see?

Me and my friend aren't planning anything right now-just looking to try to figure out how much $$ it would cost and what places we want to go to- I want to go to Scotland to visit my family, Poland, Amsterdam. My friend wants to go to Italy and Bosnia to see her family. So, right now, we have countries that are pretty far from each other, it would be a shame not to see the countries in between since we have so much time. That's where the travel books comes in-figuring out where to go that isn't a complete tourist trap or money grabber. I'd be buying one 2000 addition for planning purposes and one 2001 version to take with me when we go.

good luck with the books. I would recommend doing most of your planning online beforehand. Obviously that is where the current info is. The books are good for those unexpected places in between.

Try the bootsnall insiders (ask them questions about what to do) pages and some of the guides for some ideas that are truly off the beaten path.

All the best....

Lonely planet is the way forward. I found that Lets go was aimed at (no offense) the american market in a big way - backpaking, but with a bit of money to splash.

Lonely planet starts at the cheapest possible, then works its way up. Its eastern europe guide was invaluable - couldn't have done without it.

Also you can spot someone holding a LP from a distance, and be sure that
A) they're probably someone you can have a good chat with.
B) they're Australian.

In fact scratch B), australians are everywhere!

Gotta agree with Dodgybarnet, Lets Go is very yankocentric-fair enough given that its written by yanks I suppose. I've found LP to be on the ball in Africa, Asia, Australia, NZ and India.
If in doubt, pick up the LP and Lets Go guide books to your own country or an area you know well and whichever guide you think is most accurate is the one to buy.
Dodgybarnet, you have a very cool handle. I laughed.

Let's Go if you have money; Lp is you don't.
Lp is more interested in the culture aspects, LG is into rich American b'packers.

I've had nothing but problems with Lonely Planet, first of all the info is already outdated and secondly people clutching their LPs are some sort of cult unto their own that think they, and they alone are true travellers because they have found the secret of LP (it's the world's newest religion).

Try contacting tourist boards, I find the info is usually much more comprehensive than any quide book. Also, there's a newly revamped line out called "Footprint", I'm not sure if they do Europe, but they seem a lot better than anything else out there.

i am a traveller from Malta and i do not go anywhere without a lonely planet guidebook. that is usually more than enough but if i wanted to take another guide book i would still not choose let's go, i'd go for a rough guide

Let's Go is generally poorly researched and my experience is that 50% of it is just plain wrong. Moreover, since it is a bigger seller, you are going to run into lots-o-yanks (I are one ;-) )and all the baggage that conveys.

Lonely Planet is much better, especially for seeking out a more ecclectic and spiritual intention in travel as satori (which it ought to be). And there is a plethora of info on the web to fill in the gaps from between editions.

If this is your first journey, however, I cannot stress enought that you ought NOT to skimp on research beforehand. Your public library ought to have tonnes of guides that you can check out and read through. Look especially at Rick Steves' "Europe Through the Back Door" and his country guides. A month of traveling is like a semester at university. Read everything, talk to people who have been where you intend to go, have a plan and itinery, but be prepared to chuck it out for a backup one if you find you aren't thrilled to be where you are (similarly, if you aren't thrilled with where you are, you might not be thrilled with WHO you are. You can change that, and you can let yourself be changed by the experiences you allow yourself to have).

Read Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge" and then see the film (produced by and starring Bill Murray). It changed the way I looked at things, and I would hope it could help you, too.

jsg@bluemarble.net

I prefer lonelyplanet, but the best stuff to do it's to use the guide(in Italy we have green guides by touring club, they're great but very serious: they talk a lot about history, and for every single monument they tell everything) to have an idea of must see's and so. A lot of the "tourist traps"are worth of seeing, just don't waste your time in real tourist traps, like souvenir shops , touristic restaurant in front of the monuments, people wanting to sell pictures of you with pigeons in venice...
After you have an idea about the main things of the towns you're going to see, to know abouth other interesting and not touristic stuff, just ask the people there.
Before your travel you can have alook on the net, or ask the insiders(I'm an insider for Italy and France), when you are travelling, go to the tourist office and take all the leaflets, and go to see stuff you like, and ask the " indigenous". All the people working in cheap hotels(and some in expensive ones too)has plenty of info about great stuff to see and do in their hometowm.

ABout an old guide, I don't think 1 or 2 year would change a lot: phone numbers can change, opening hours, bars and shop address too, but the main stuff does not change a lot. And for stuff like where to go in the envening avery guide would be too old, just ask people near your age you meet around.

For Italy I would not use let's go, I'm italian, and I got one of them. reading it it's like a book of funny jokes. Americans have so strange ideas about Italy and Italians. And they say they check any address avery year, but there are plenty of addresses that changed YEARS ago, and they did not changed them in the book.

I prefer lonelyplanet, but the best stuff to do it's to use the guide(in Italy we have green guides by touring club, they're great but very serious: they talk a lot about history, and for every single monument they tell everything) to have an idea of must see's and so. A lot of the "tourist traps"are worth of seeing, just don't waste your time in real tourist traps, like souvenir shops , touristic restaurant in front of the monuments, people wanting to sell pictures of you with pigeons in venice...
After you have an idea about the main things of the towns you're going to see, to know abouth other interesting and not touristic stuff, just ask the people there.
Before your travel you can have alook on the net, or ask the insiders(I'm an insider for Italy and France), when you are travelling, go to the tourist office and take all the leaflets, and go to see stuff you like, and ask the " indigenous". All the people working in cheap hotels(and some in expensive ones too)has plenty of info about great stuff to see and do in their hometowm.

ABout an old guide, I don't think 1 or 2 year would change a lot: phone numbers can change, opening hours, bars and shop address too, but the main stuff does not change a lot. And for stuff like where to go in the envening avery guide would be too old, just ask people near your age you meet around.

For Italy I would not use let's go, I'm italian, and I got one of them. reading it it's like a book of funny jokes. Americans have so strange ideas about Italy and Italians. And they say they check any address avery year, but there are plenty of addresses that changed YEARS ago, and they did not changed them in the book.

To choose the guide the more suitable for you, just go to hte libray / book store, and read a guide about a place where you have been travelling and you know quite well. If you agree with what they says, that's a book for you.

(maybe don't read the one for your city, they seem soooo dumb!)
well, that's all for now.
Ciao
Luna

I also prefer lonely planet, but i found that the Rick Steve's Back-door guide is better than both of them...it gives you cheap alternatives and as a bonus, his research is excellent and right on target; there's stuff in that book you would absolutely never find otherwise (Like have you ever heard of Gimmelwald, Switzerland? No, most people haven't either). The Rick Steves guide is also growing a following though, and soon i think those out-of-the-way places might not be so remote...

i am defintely in the Lonely Planet camp. i work in a bookstore and i've heard more complaints about Let's Go than any other guides. my reasons are mainly due to their different research methods. Lonely Planet tends to have one person writing specifically for a region, therefore it's comparable to BootsnAll's Insider; whereas Let's Go sends out fresh blood to scour different regions on a limited budged and a limited time schedule, this supposedly to replicate the budget student traveler, however, it only limits the ability of the guinea pig traveler to gather accurate information. this accounts for why information on their guides are occasionally wrong, even when they state that it is updated yearly. Lonely Planet correspondents sometimes are available online to tell you about updates.

i just wanted to add another guide into the discussion if i may. there's also the Rough Guide which also claims to be for the budget traveler. has anyone ever used these guides before? how do they compare?

Lonely Planet all the way, baby!

Bringing my LP guides is as essential as bringing my passport. I find that whenever I buy a couple of guidebooks, the LP one is the only one I actually ever use once I'm travelling around. I tend to only use other guidebooks (Frommer's, for instance) for supplemental information.

One of my favorite things about the LP guides are the MAPS. I'm a very visual person, and maps help me orient myself much better than written directions. Other guides don't even come close to providing the kinds of maps that LP guides do. At most they offer maps to the major cities, but that doesn't help me when I'm going off the beaten track.

One of the worst guidebook lines are the Insight Guides. All pictures and fluff, no meaty, practical information.

Personally I've found that it depends on what country the guide is for as to which is better. I really haven't cared for the Lonely Planet guides for the countries I've lived in. In my opinion, the LP guides are aimed more at tourist-backpackers than at long-termers or those on a low budget. In comparing the LP and Lets Go guides for Ireland, I noticed that the info on hostels and such was much better in Lets Go than in Lonely Planet and LP was better for B&Bs and more expensive things, which makes a lot of sense since Lets Go is written by Uni students and the 4 authors of the LP guide were all over 40.

Also, I prefer a simple overview, not every detail of every place there is. I'll make my own impressions of the places, I don't need some writer prejudicing it beforehand. I found Let's Go to be briefer and better organized, putting all the really useful info for a shoestring traveller up front (LP makes you search for it). Lets Go also offered better views on what hostels were like to stay at, while LP basically gave an address and bed prices (doubt the writers ever stayed at a hostel).

BUT, the best way is still to ask around. That will get you the most accurate information and the best little known tips that you learn through experience. The Blue Guides and Rough guides are also quite good for budget travellers.

Frankly, the info doesn't change that much from one year to the next, but if you use an older version keep in mind that the prices quoted may have changed. I good place to go would be a used bookstore to pick up a 2000 version cheap. Also, for your beforehand research, try your public library instead of buying a guide, they have tons. Then, whichever one you decide you like, buy that one when you get to Europe, you'll find lots of them in the used bookshops there and you won't have to lug it onto the plane with you. OR, you could just photocopy those sections you want from the library's copy and not have to carry around the ENORMOUS Europe guide (it really is huge).

Have a great trip! And don't plan too much. It's nice to have some idea of what you want to see and good places to stay, but overplanning will just ruin it and leave you feeling disappointed when things don't go as planned. The best times are the spontaneous things that fall in your lap along the way.

They both have their strengths and weaknesses. I prefer the Let's Go guides for individual countries. Lonely Planet seems to be aimed at an older, more upmarket audience; they tend to list one or two hostels in every city and the rest is all hotels and B&Bs. Also, Let's Go is stronger on transportation info -- how many buses or trains a day, how much the tickets will cost, how long it will take to get there. On the other hand, LP has pretty pictures and better descriptions of places.

Let's Go: Europe is much weaker than the country guides -- not enough information about places other than major cities, and too much random paranoia. (Loved the warning about thieves who chloroform entire compartments on night trains -- how often does that happen??) I suppose I'd try Europe on a Shoestring if I were in the market for an all-Europe guide -- I gather it's aimed at a genuine low-budget audience, unlike the country guides.

I used Lonely Planet for backpacking in hostels all over Ireland and France. I loved those books - the maps were wonderful.

I was able to use my LP book to correct some info in other people's guidebooks, and to help them find the right places to go. I also used their website and eKno service (man, that service saved my life!) while I was away.

20 years ago, for those of us old enough to remember, LP was quite different from today. Maybe because the authors were much younger then. They weren't well known and nobody by a backpacking traveler would use them. If you look at an old Africa on a Shoestring for instance, you'll find very little upscale lodging, etc. Now that LP has become more upscale (they know how to follow the money too) you see more hotels and resorts included. Let's Go and LP didn't cover the same countries then either. I still prefer LP, but then I'm old now too.

stev