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| Turkey (Country Guide) | 
 enlarge | Author: Verity Campbell
Publisher: Lonely Planet
Category: Book
List Price: $25.99
Buy New: $16.14
You Save: $9.85 (38%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (38 reviews)
Sales Rank: 35033
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 10th
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 724
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 1741045568
Dewey Decimal Number: 915.61044
EAN: 9781741045567
ASIN: 1741045568
Publication Date: April 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 This book covered all areas of my interest June 6, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
From pensions to informative summaries on the ruins this book covered all basis. The guide was accurate in their description of places and allowed us to travel around freely without assistance even though we had only about 20 words of Turkey under our belt. It came back well worn and happy.
Lonely Planet Turkey--great preparation for your trip November 3, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book provides a well rounded view of the country, from its history and culture to the best places to stay, eat and shop. It's easy to read and navigate and a great help in planning a trip.
 Good, but not as good as other Lonely Planet October 6, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
As a disclaimer, I am a huge fan of the Lonely Planet travel guides. I like to travel, and have lately traveled to quite a few countries following recommendations from Lonely Planet. Just before going to Turkey, I was in Greece "with Lonely Planet".
Compared to other Lonely Planets, this book on Turkey is weak and the part about Istanbul in particular has been a disappointment.
My comments apply to the 9th edition published in April 2005. I have sent very specific comments to Lonely Planet, and I do certainly hope that future editions will improve on the weaknesses of the 9th edition.
The bottom line is that if you are looking for a travel guide to Turkey, you might still want to consider getting the Lonely Planet, but I recommend you shop around and also look closely at other alternatives.
 Inaccurate and out-of-date October 3, 2006
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
This guide is seriously out of date. This applies not only to prices, and relative prices, but also to critical information about what is available and how to find it. Having used it (Sept., 2006), my advice is not to rely on it without checking independently that what it says is available and how to get there is correct. Otherwise you may find that you have been expensely (in time or in money) misled. Since you should check with other sources, you might as well simply forget this guide, which is one of the worst I have ever used. Its recommendations about what is worth seeing and the state of hotels, while often useful, can also be wildly wrong.
 Reliability is 50-50 April 4, 2006
33 out of 35 found this review helpful
My wife and I just returned from a two-week trip to the Aegean coast of Turkey. While we were certainly better off with the LP than without it, we found the sections on the Aegean coast to be unreliable.
What I need from a guide book like LP is solid information on places to stay & eat and realistic assessments of cities. This is not the case. The LP consistently praises cities that have few if any redeeming qualities. Their recommendations for pensions are hit or miss. Here are a couple of examples.
In the first, LP's overly optimistic assessment of a city wasted our time. We spent two nights each in Ku?adasi and Bodrum. In both cases the towns were described as laid back, low key and charming during the off season. While the Bodrum entry does say that it is a bit nicer than Ku?adasi, we were left with the general impression that the two towns were similar. (Note that criticism of Ku?adasi should be under the entry for Ku?adasi not Bodrum.) The two could not be more different. Ku?adasi is a bloated, dirty place whose urban core is made of that lovely concrete and re-bar construction. The streets have few signs. Driving is, therefore, difficult. There is simply no real reason to stay in Ku?adasi. One can reach sites from either Selcuk or Bodrum. Both of these cities are far nicer than Ku?adasi. The highlight of our visit was the kindness of our proprietors and our departure from the city. Bodrum, by contrast, was a nice sea-side town filled with white houses and good restaurants. The city is walkable and drivable. It was a truly enjoyable place to stay. LP's editors should criticize a town where it is warranted and not pretend that all Turkish towns are equally nice.
In the second instance, we were left wondering if the editor had bothered to visit the Bergama pension that was recommended. For most of the day the lobby was inhabited by "friends of the establishment" who appeared decidedly strung-out. For the rest of the day, they rattled up and down the stairs flipping on lights. Unwashed louts, loud noises, bright hall lights and glass room doors do not make for a pleasant sleep. (Hint: the map for Bergama is wrong. If your pension is not where it is supposed to be, choose another pension.) This is in contrast to the lovely place, Homeros' Pension, in Selcuk that was also recommended.
In short, with the LP you will sometimes have good recommendations and other times you will not. Do not trust the city descriptions. You could end up spending part of your vacation in a dump. If you are relying on it for good places to sleep you may or may not get what you wanted. Shop around.
But, this, for me, defeats the purpose. Reliability in a guide book allows me to get more out of my time in another culture. I do not want to spend a bunch of time inspecting rooms at pensions; I want to drop my stuff bedside and head out to see the country.
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