The Lonely Planet guides are excellent for any locale..but this edition (covering Italy, Spain, Greece, France, Portugal and even Morocco) is a must-read for the quintessential backpacker jumping on a plane for Europa. These guides excel at recommending lodging of many price ranges (from youth hostels to 5-star hotels) and meal choices of the same range (excellent recommendation for outdoor markets.."buy a loaf of bread, a block of cheese and a bottle of wine here"..which is a plus as many guides catering to this area focus on only older travels with large budgets..or persons seeking to spend only a dollar a day or some insanity..it's always good to have the most information possible..and it's included here. Entertainments ideas from free plaza and park visiting to museums, discotechqes, architecture, boat rides etc. etc. are included..good for young and old. It even lists culture-sensitve information such as appropriate dress for visiting churches and monasteries as well as travel-safe tips for women. Book your Eurorail pass and get going.

Lonely Planet has great books and this one certainly was. It's very thorough and tells alot about things that interest travellers. They are up to date and tell you the pros and cons of the different countries. I liked it alot and I know that other people will too.

Good book,(*****) Save me hundred of dollars in tour guides, hotels and places that even a regular tourist never knew that existed.Is a shame that they don't print a new edition, I'm triying to buy another as spare, for my futures trips to that wonderful area, lot of history and culture. you can trust Tom Brosnahan with your eyes closed, belived, you never be lost if you carry this book. Jose J. Valle. Cosmopolis,Washington,U.S.A

Please be aware that this is and ATLAS, not a guidebook. Don't make the same mistake I did. It's a beautiful atlas, though!

While being a good general guide it is not, as others seem to believe, for those of you interested in getting "off the beaten path". You will end up visiting the same sites as the rest of the thousands that have purchased this book and others like it. Also, keep in mind that this book has not been updated in three years and is not to be relied upon heavily. I do believe the Lonely Planet series is quite helpful, but remember that you are the true judge of what you see and experience.

This guide is packed with a ton of great info. This book is indespensible for those traveling off the beaten path in the Yucatan, from the colonial cities to Mayan pyramids hidden in the jungle. With out this book I would have missed what became some of the highlights of my trip!

I also recommend: "A Tourist in the Yucatan" a thriller/adventure set in the Yucatan. This is a must read for anyone who has been to the Yucatan or is planning a trip there.

My husband and I used this book on both of our trips to Mexico and found it fabulous. Detailed maps of the major cities. It helped us get through Cancun, Chetumal and Merida which are difficult on your own - driving or walking. This book gave hotels and restaurants for all travel budgets and if ever in Merida, I recommend the Hotel Trinidad Galleria. Quite a sight! Also detailed the ruins and gave some background. This book gave good tips for traveling to other countries too. Highly recommended for Mexico traveling.

My father and I traveled to Nicaragua and Honduras in January 2000. This guide was helpful as a security blanket for information on the different cities and towns we visited, but we couldn't rely much on the lodging, restaurant, and/or transit information due to it being outdated and that natural disasters had changed some of the roads/cities since the book was written.

The information on daytrips was great - we ended up seeing a couple of towns within an easy journey of Teguchigalpa, Honduras and Managua thanks to the LP guide. Especially like the organization of the LP books, which really helped outline an itinerary that made sense prior to our departure. With the "Getting there & away" section about each destination, it was easy to figure out how to modify that itinerary as needed "on the fly."

Previously, I'd used LP for travels in Bolivia and been very impressed with the detail and level of information for La Paz (the capital). We found the level of detail a little lacking in the Central America guide probably because Nicaragua/Honduras were only two small sections of the book. So I guess I'd recommend this book for an overview, but would suggest finding a guide with more current, updated detailed information and/or an increased focus on the country/cities you're visiting.

I travelled around Central America last summer with this book and the Rough Guide's for Guatemala, I had access to and photocopied parts of the Rough Guide to C.A. (for when I left Guate.) and I read a good part of a few other guides while shacked up in a coffee shop in Antigua, waiting out a rain storm.

I think the Rough Guide is best for Central America because the writing is better, it's more thorough, there are more goofy descriptions of little architectual wonders (like the burned out train shed near zone 4 bus station.) The lonely planets maps are inferior. (Especially for MAnagua and Guatemala City.) It is dangerously outdated, in that it fails to adequately descibe that the Darien gap is in effect a war zone now, and that if you are an American and you are caught there, you almost certainly will be killed. I met several gringos who were all excited from reading about a "jungle rought" described within it's pages -- the route from Puerto Cortes to Puerto Barrios. I've done it; you take a bus, you take a truck, you stop at a shack, you take another truck, another bus, it breaks down, you wait for another bus... you're there. Not that exciting. There is no reason to go to Puerto Cortes, unless you want to hang out with prostitutes and sailors, and watch cargo ships being loaded, and maybe get mugged. And it's the latin capital for SIDA. (But actually, I had a great time...) Anyway, the book makes it sound more fun thatn it is. So get the Rough Guide, and plan on borrowing this one from someone there. (All the tourists seem to have it...)

I have just returned to Norway after a year backpacking around in Latin America (of course accompanied by the Lonely Planet books). I do not claim to be an expert, but I know what I look for in a travel guide!

This edition of the LP Central America did not disappoint me. I used it, going from Panama to Guatemala by bus(!). It is up to date on the information, and as with all the other LP books it is easy to find your way around with it. It includes maps over the big cities, good information about the hotels, restaurants, places worth visiting, and time schedules for bus, train etc. You have to take into account that this is a guide that is meant to cover the whole Central America so naturally it is not as detailed as the guides for each country separate. It is good as an overall guide if you plan to go to more than one or two countries, as you would try to cut down on the baggage to carry around.

As for the prices for hotels and food, the book is fairly accurate.. It is hard to keep up with all the changes, especially in the Latin American economy, where the inflation is "somewhat" higher than in the rest of the world. So, for prices - if you are on a backpacker-budget, do your own research, or at least be prepared for changes! (We usually multiplied the prices in the book with 1,5 and that gave us a good indicator of what to expect).

You will find that if you are walking around with the LP book under your arm, many of the local people will approach you and ask you if you need help. Say yes - even if you don't need help! It is a great opportunity to get in contact with the local people!

This book is a must on your travel!

I just returned from traveling all over Turkey and this little phrase book was incredibly helpful. It fit in my pocket, and though most Turks speak english, it helps you find more difficult words or phrases. It helped in explaining that my husband is vegan, providing us with the words to say " I do not even eat meat juices." and when we suspected that we had a baby on the way we went to a pharmacy and the book told us how to say "I think I am pregnant." It was very helpful.

This book is excellent for many reasons but three are paramount: (1) it includes an EXCELLENT explanation of the grammar, without which I would never have been able to go beyond memorization to actual comprehension & interaction; (2) it includes Turkish phrases that you will really use, relevant to actual situations you will encounter in Turkey (including conversation on topics like politics and social issues!); (3) the dictionary in the back is truly comprehensive.

If you're travelling to Turkey, you need this book--outside of Istanbul, and off the beaten path, few people speak workable English, and efforts to speak Turkish are not only warmly welcomed, but help tremendously in getting through the day.

There was only one thing I found problematic with this book. The book I was using was NOT the one with the incorrect pronunciation (at least, I don't think so), but I just found the pronunciation (the phonetic rendition of each phrase) really hard to read & use, and I didn't think it produced an accurate rendition of Turkish sounds (if I just read the phonetic phrase, no one would have understood me).

My strong recommendation to other prospective travellers: also get the "Berlitz Turkish Phrasebook" with its audiotape, and listen to the tape about a thousand times--then you won't need the pronunciation guide--you'll know how to pronounce the Turkish words, and more important still, you'll be able to hear & understand quickly-spoken Turkish. You will, however, still need this Lonely Planet phrasebook for your actual travel in Turkey, because the Berlitz one has some fatal flaws (read my review of that book for more details).

Two suggestions for the authors: 1) If you create an audiotape to go with your book, people wouldn't have to buy the silly Berlitz audiotape to learn how to listen & speak! 2) There was one section in the Berlitz book that I really thought was useful: a diagram of a car and labels for all its parts. The same might be good for a bicycle too. Just a thought.

In sum, this phrasebook is a necessity for the traveller, and since they apparently read these reviews, I would like to thank the authors for helping to make my trip to Turkey one of the best of my life.

I would just like to reply one of the reader who is from Austin Texax, had a comment on this book.
i am a Turkish student in America and I have read your comments about the book. However, the comment about the "How are you?" phrase is wrong. The second one is the correct one.
There is also another point i would like to refer to. There is an "i" in turkish without a dot. In some places if you pronounce "i" without dot it may mean something else; for example a common sentence "I'm bored" written as "SIKILDIM"; however if you pronounce with "i" it refers as a slang.
In addition, I totally agree that the writer should take in consideration that the pronounciation differences should held carefully.
Enjoy your holiday in Turkey

The cover of this guide is a good ice breaker for your trip. Just comment why in the world would they choose it and immediately you will have people to talk to, no matter where in Turkey you are. But don't judge a book by its cover. Lonely Planet is usually the best guide around and this is a good example of that. I spent 3 weeks in Turkey and not once did I feel I needed info not available in the guide. Maps are abundant and contrary to other reviewers, I find that there is enough history for those interested in traveling to learn (it is a travel guide after all, not a history book) [overall I would guess there are say 30 pages of history in the book].

Why 4 stars and not 5? I felt the writers were too enthusiastic about everything, and that made it hard on the traveler to decide what was worth visiting and what wasn't. Let's face it, every location is not the most attractive town in Turkey, yet the authors claim that for way too many towns. So take their praise with a grain of salt and you will be fine. Also, the amount of hours bus trips take are not all that precise. (+-20% in my experience).

We just returned from a marvelous vacation in Turkey and found that Tom Brosnahan's Lonely Planet Travel Guide was far and away our most helpful resource in preparing for, and traveling in this fascinating country. It is very clearly written, and takes into consideration the different types of travelers who go to Turkey. The maps, tips on making connections between cities, discussions of social customs, recommendations for places to eat and stay, all were most helpful. We are looking forward to a return trip to Turkey, and we will be taking along the soon-to-be- published 6th edition of the Lonely Planet Guide. It is sure to be indispensable.

I just returned from travelling through Turkey with a Turkish friend who lives in Germany, and despite his familiarity with the country and cities, we both heavily relied upon the LP guide for information on lodging, historical sites, off-the-beaten-track towns, and other fun and interesting places to visit. It is a fabulous book, and the only one worth paying for to use for such a trip. All other travellers I encountered (who weren't on pre-planned tours or paying $200/night at the Hilton) were using the LP guide, whether from North America, Australia, or Europe. Great information, very comprehensive, aimed at budget travellers! Enjoy!

If you are interested in seeing Istanbul beyond its tourist districts, buying Tom Brosnahan's book is a mistake. Although LP Istanbul covers Sultanahmet and its attractions in depth, the rest of the city is largely left out, and what is included is organized in a format that defies logic. If you are visiting Istanbul on a package tour you might find the book useful, but if your aim is to explore the nooks and crannies of the city I would suggest Eyewitness Guides' Istanbul. It's full of pictures and more expensive than LP Istanbul, but it is by far the most comprehensive guide to the city that I have read.

Tom's book is good, he gives good pieces of advice galore, but I must say that those pictures of 'Turkish women' are quite exotic for me, too.

I am Turkish and I see women wearing that scarf quite rarely. In this case the book is misleading. Most Turkish women dress in 'Western' clothes, and the 'turban' has been prohibited at universities and all state buildings since the beginning of this century.

I ask Tom to put more realistic pictures next time, those women are maybe exotic for foreigners, but they are exotic for most Turkish women, too. It would not be fair if I put pictures of the Amish to my New York guide as an example of "American women".

We found this book to be very useful before and during our first trip to Istanbul. It was a wonderful resource for hotels, museums, restaurants and other typical "touristy" stuff as well as cultural differences that we may encounter... maps were helpful as well.

I just got back from a month in Mexico. The book was probably quite impressive back in the early 90's. However, many of the hotels and restaurants listed in the book have gotten so much business that they have lost what good attributes they originally had. Also, many of the prices quoted in the book were way off. The book prices were frequently one-half what the concierge or waiter quoted. The peso has not changed enough for a 5 dollar hotel room to become 12 or 15. Perhaps that is the risk one finds with any guidebook.

Museum hours were consistently incorrect, especially for Mondays, weekends and evenings.

This book might keep you out of trouble, but it is not the guide for a budget traveler.

I have just returned to Norway after backpacking around in Latin America for a year (of course accompanied by the Lonely Planet book). I do not claim to be an expert, but I do know what I am looking for in a travel guide.

The Mexico guide is a good, complete guide. Filled with information, history and beautiful pictures about almost every corner of this gorgeous country. Reading the whole book gives you a good update on your history and geography knowledge! (Something to do if you are trekking around by bus like I did!)

I have always been satisfied with the LP guides. The information given is good, just what you need to get around. The only negative with this book (and the reason I give it 4 and not 5 stars) is that it was completely outdated on prices etc. Another thing (that goes for most of the travel guides) is that many of the hotels that are listed in the book has gotten so much (too much?) business so that the service is down to a minimum. This we found especially in Isla Mujeres where the price was the double of what the book said, and really lousy customer service, if any.

Lonely planet guides are absolutely invaluable for the independant adventurous budget-minded traveler, and LP Mexico is no exception. Included are informative sections on pre-departure info, cultural tips, etc. I travelled extensively throughout Mexico with the 5th edition last year, and it really got me to explore some of the remote places I otherwise wouldn't have found- such as the silver towns of Guanajuato, Zacatecas and Taxco. Plus, out of the way beaches, hard-to-find ruins, centotes, you name it. They're covered. Don't borrow you'r friend's old dog-eared copy of the 3rd of 4th edition. Spend the money on the latest edition, because price info is almost always out of date within months after printing, and an older edition is usually hopelessly out of date. I found myself disregarding their accommodations recommendations, because once a place finds its way into the LP Guide, their visitor traffic usually increases exponentially, the staff gets surly, and prices go up. If you're just going to Cancun, Mazatlan, etc, skip this book, but if you're not afraid to venture out into the 'real mexico', grab it.

I like Lonely Planet guides and find them very useful for other places. I also will concede that writing a guide of New England is really two books, a guide to Boston and a guide to everything else. I was psyched when I first got the book, but quickly became disappointed. I live in Boston and thought there were some big omissions locally. I found the guide to everything else to be lacking in major areas. I suppose if one is new to the area or only staying a week, this guide might be useful. For a reference for a New Englander, try something else.

Having never travelled the New England region before, Lonely Planet's guide to New England was invaluable. In terms of content and detail, it covered towns, sites and other regional attractions that other guide books missed altogether. My only criticism is that the guide is a couple of years old now and whilst most information relating to things like opening and closing times was still accurate, reported prices had of course risen!

i thought the RI content was awesome. as far as travel books go, this is a good one. it's way better then frommers.