Lonely Planet Guides Suck

I just had to say it. Lonely Planet guides officially suck now. When I started traveling 15 years ago you had a choice: Let's Go, which was pretty much a party guide for recent university graduates going to Europe or the Lonely Planet, which certainly told one where to find the party, but were also a bit on the cerebral side, with really solid, well-researched information. One could literally sit down and read a Lonely Planet Guide about country 'X' and learn a lot.

But no more. The information is often unreliable and pretty much identical to every other guide book out there--everyone follows the same trail and ends up in the same guest houses/hostels/hotels. Look, I like the chance encounter of meeting someone in Malaysia whom I hung out with in Cambodia. But I don't want to see them in city after city.

Therefore, I've decided to eschew buying a LP for India. I'm going to wing it. Where ever I end up is where I end up.

They now sucketh.

If you are planning travel in the near future, do your best to see if you can find a Bradt Guide. They're a bit hard to find and their countries are limited. But they are stellar, quality, off the beaten track and extremely well researched, as they actually pay their researchers a living wage, unlike Lonely Planet which gives a young, know-little writer $10,000 for six months to research a whole country when they use to pay them three times that much.

No wonder a guy wrote an entire Lonely Planet via google, never setting foot in the country. I'll be using a Bradt guide for Central Asia this time around.

Sean Paul Kelley January 14, 2009 - 8:40am

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Ah, you're a quick study...

...the Lonely Planet is bollocks. You're on the right track. Happy Trails.

Celsius 233 January 14, 2009 - 9:44am

LP is more uneven than uniformly bad

i find that LP varies quite a bit from country to country. i thought the syria one was really good when i used it in 2005 (better than the rough guide i borrowed from my fellow travelers). each book has a different authors. it's the author not the publishing company that makes or breaks the guidebook.

in the old days there really weren't many publishers of guide books for the developing world, LP basically cornered the market for most countries. but that's far from true now. there's a train of thought that you should never bother carrying a LP because they are so ubiquitous with the rest of the backpacking subculture. it's always easy to borrow one from someone else.

and, FWIW, i thought odyssey was a good guide book for uzbekistan back in 2003. i've had good experiences with bradt in africa (they used to be pretty african-centered company, but now everyone is trying to copy the LP's success and is coming out with guides for everywhere)

oh, and i still think the LP thorn tree forum can be very useful. one benefit to having a company that so dominates the market is that their site draws users with a broad range of travel experience.

upyernoz January 14, 2009 - 10:22am

That's true, Noz and I do use the Thorn Tree frequently. Althoug

it's usefulness is more in the way of how to get visas, what land crossings/borders are best, etc. . .

The Odyssey book I too used on my second Uzbek trip. It was a good book and they are expanding their offerings as well. Nice to see as they are solid guides as well.

^{“Is not our first thought to go on the road? The road is our source, our vault of treasures, our wealth. Only on the road does the ‘traveller’ feel like himself, at home.”

Ryszard Kapuscinski}

Sean Paul Kelley January 14, 2009 - 9:10pm

Bradt rules, LP sucks!

I can only fall in with SP a hundred percent. Bradt rules, LP sucks! Something I established on dozens of trips in the Middle East and Latin America as well as working as a travel guide in southern Africa. Ditch your LPs and try to get your hand on a Bradt (the ones on Botswana, Zambia and Malawi used to be excellent) I told all our customers.

Hannes Artens January 14, 2009 - 11:25am

Lonelier Planet?

I've always found the LP guides uneven and you have to be very attuned to the personal likes of the author. On the other hand, they were often the only guides that covered places I've visited at the time. Bradt is providing welcome competition. Sometimes I'd like a little more guidance on highlights in them and I've found their organization is variable. Still, I'm glad that they are there and there is less partying focus in them--great for those of us who aren't 18 anymore.

David Lublin January 14, 2009 - 1:17pm

Why don't you write one?

That may be profitable. You could establish contacts as you travel, pay those guys a bit to help you when you are no longer there.

creativelcro January 14, 2009 - 1:29pm

Yep just do some. With a

Yep just do some. With a updated geopolitic twist it may be quite an interesting product

kschl January 14, 2009 - 7:12pm

I've done some writing for travel guides in the past and it is

awful, low paying and hard, hard work. I'm rather happier writing a travel memoir. ;-)

Sean Paul Kelley January 14, 2009 - 9:05pm

I imagine it's anathema

to a professional writer, but I was kinda impressed by the by wikitravel