Western Europe

by Loretta Chilcoat and Lonely Planet

Whether you dream of lazing on golden Mediterranean beaches, exploring centuries-old Bavarian streets or nursing a pint in a snug Irish pub, Western Europe always inspires with its variety and volume... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1740599276
• ISBN13: 9781740599276
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Lonely Planet
• Length: 1112 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Very useful!

Extremely happy with Western Europe (from Lonely Planet). Glad my friend showed it & recommended it to me. I especially like the fact that it's very brief but includes many towns/cities. Not very comprehensive, but who wants to carry around a 5-volume of European cities? Sometimes, you happen to be in an area that you don't plan to visit, but would like to know if the area has anything to offer. And this book gives you such insight! Great in terms of having campsites of all the cities, as well as other reasonable accommodation. Highly recommend it to all. Wish I had found out about it sooner.

Best regional guide

Lonely Planet is always distinguished for it's fine guides, always recognized as one of the best ones and the first choice for backpackers. If you are certain that you are traveling only to Western Europe you must consider this guide seriously. Being regional allows the authors to put more detail per country than a "all Europe guide".This guide has a great introduction of facts for the visitor, how to get there and how to move around. The "per country" information is extended (better than Let's go Europe), it first shows you the general look of the country and then explores city by city telling you what to see and do, budget places to stay and camping sites around. Even though the hostels listings are long, I'd recommend that you get an alternate source of hotels, since lot's of people traveling in Europe are carrying this guide and have the same listings as you do, when you arrive to Barcelona on Friday night you'll know what I mean, another guidebook or the internet always help.If you are looking for a guide that has a better coverage of European culture and history, you should consider Let's go Europe 2001.

Best I have found

The Lonely Planet guide book series is by far the best set of books I have found for travel. Let's Go, Rough Guide, Frommer's, etc do not live up to these books. LP offers a great blend of interesting facts (history, etc) with the travel information that we all really want. I am a student who spent the summer of 1999 traveling through Europe - poor, but free. I did read a number of other books before and durring the trip, and will always buy Lonely Planet as they have impressed me as being the best, hands down. If you want to go on a drunken tour, buy Let's Go and end up in the same run down American hostels and American bars as the rest of the American students, but take my word, you will have enough ability to do that with LP, but you will not be forced to either. LP will help you to actually experience the culture, and take in a more European version of Europe than Let's Go, and still give you the opportunity to party like a rock star when you want - its up to you. It is the most complete and most versitile book I have found. It will cater to budget and intermediate travelers of all ages and groups. I will buy the same series even when I can afford nice resturants and hotels, because LP tells it all.The same experience is true for my trip this last spring to Ireland. Lonely Planet Ireland is as good as Western Europe, but more detailed.

everything you'd expect and then some

i thought the authors provided a wonderfully comprehensive account of western europe. on those long train rides i found myself reading up on the political history of greece or the history of the plantaganets in great britain. i loved this book! there is so much to see in western europe, i'd like to ask those who don't like it exactly what they expect for a book which covers a couple dozen european countries. you buy a book about 20 different countries, and then don't like the fact that it covers them too quickly? what do you expect? anyway, lonely planet provided a good, concise guide to the most interesting countries in the world.

Much better than "Lets Go Europe"

I traveled throughout Europe in the summer of 98, and found that it had much more information on cheap hostels than Lets Go Europe had. It also gives a brief history of the countries and regions. This book is the only travel guide you will need to bring when traveling in Western Europe. The only thing that it lacks is the Czech Republic. This book will help you to travel and have a good experience throughout your journey... good luck.