[Yogesh Sarkar]

I have been hearing praises of the Lonely Planet India for a long time and I recently purchased a copy of it (12th Edition), having gone through a few sections, I think it is time to write a short review.

For starters Lonely Planet India has wealth of historical, cultural, political and travel information about India and the fact that it covers almost all of the major tourist destinations in India, almost makes it (more on that later) a perfect companion for foreign as well as Indian tourists.

Best thing about Lonely Planet India is the fact that for every touristy place, it lists quite a few hotels and restaurants and also provides indicative prices for them. Tourist information provided for majority of the places is almost as good as it gets unless you are planning to purchase a city/region specific guide book.

However, there are quite few large chinks in its armor, even with this large travel book in hand, you will still need a good map and would need to have a rough idea of where the place is located and how to get there. Because the maps provided inside are quite basic and there is seldom any information provided on how to reach a particular place i.e. for Manali there is nothing in the Lonely Planet, which even hints to how you will be able to reach it, say from a place like Delhi or Chandigarh.

Another thing that particularly annoyed me was the way it is has been printed; it seems they just kept on typing pages after pages, separating one touristy place from another by using just a slightly larger and bold font. This makes navigation a bit iffy, not something you would like if you need to refer to a particular place while on the move.

But overall it is a decent buy if you are planning to cover quite a few places in India and wouldn’t like to buy travel guides for each region. For those making road trips, it is a good reference travel guide which you can use while trying to know about a particular place you have never been to or need to find a new destination for your upcoming holiday, however you will still need to research online on how to get there and probably buy a map for that particular place as well.

[anupmathur]

i.e. for Manali there is nothing in the Lonely Planet, which even hints to how you will be able to reach it, say from a place like Delhi or Chandigarh.

I still do not have the 12th edition! No plans to buy it, either!

Fair enough review, though it is not correct to say there is no info on Del to Manali. The problem is it comes in a slightly scattered manner, where the Mandi & Kullu sections list all the bus routes and air connections!!

Anyway, having used LP as a gospel in the old days, what I have considered their USP is the fact that their descriptions of each place, particularly Hotels etc.. were far more accurate than Tourism department brochures!
Since they do not run any hotels or taxi services, their views have always been pretty much unbiased.

Maps leave a lot to be desired, but don't forget the LP series of travel guides is aimed at the foreign tourist more than the Indian. More specifically the budget and backpacker crowd, most of who do not need detailed inter-city maps.
Maps today have become a speciality item in their own right, whether there is need for one or not!

And as for the price of an LP, India guide: "Ouch", is all I can say!
How much did you get yours for, YS?

[Yogesh Sarkar]

In that case I overlooked it as I was just reading the bit about Manali, as for the hotel and restaurant bit, I completely agree. The list of hotels and restaurants listed for Manali are more than the other travel information about it!

I got a pretty good deal, Rs. 271 inclusive of shipping

[anupmathur]

I got a pretty good deal, Rs. 271 inclusive of shipping

Is this from the Thieves Warehouse?!!

[darth_lucifer]

Original one costs 1100-1200 bucks.

Own a LP USA and LP bhutan.Costs the same although LP Bhutan is very much smaller.

Best thing is the style of writing is consistent.So once you get used to it you can find out abt place you want to visit quickly.

Ofcourse it misses out on nitty gritty details like anup sir pointed out but nothing can be perfect.Overall a good thing to have

Planning to buy a LP Nepal for upcoming trip

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Nope, if it was then I wouldn’t have asked for home delivery .

I had a Rs. 500 gift voucher from Indiaplaza and came across the 11th edition of the Lonely Planet selling at their site for Rs. 746 + shipping, so ordered it. A day later the 12th edition arrived at my place and the same thing happened with the fellow who commented on my blog post. I guess the seller was out of the 11th edition and hence was delivering 12th edition . They have now put up out of stock message at the 11th edition and 12th edition is retailing for Rs. 898 + shipping (Rs. 25).

[sandeep.barve]

YS what do you think about the National Geographic travel guide.. also saw another travel guide of Essel (of Essel World fame!). . is that any good.. the paper quality was not that great but it was 100 rupees cheaper

[booobooo]

Over A Period Of Time...LP Has Started Concentrating Only On Places And Not Much On How To Get. The Same problem I Have Seen With FP And Frommer Is Pathetic.

[hitanshu]

Oh its pretty fantastic. It tells you what to do in a place, and is extremely competent at that. Its intended for people to use public transportation or hire taxis/rickshaws as appropriate and it does a FANTASTIC job of describing a place in detail. You can just close your eyes and blindly land up at a place and go to LP recommended areas.

I love and live by LP Anyday superior to internet - except in the maps bit. They are bad with maps for maybe issues of size, and that they sell a atlas as well

[anupmathur]

^^ +1 to that!

(Is that how you do it?)

As I said before, LP was Gospel for me for many years ........