Nine new Lonely Planet guides launched for travel and holiday season

01 March 2010

March 1st puts a spring in the step of adventure travellers and explorers, and Lonely Planet publications have launched a fascinating series of new guide books in anticipation. The financial crisis rolls on, but people are not prepared to sacrifice holidays and travel, and self guided holidays and explorations offer a cheaper alternative to package deals.

However it is a daunting task to set off on an exploration of a far flung destination, if you have limited knowledge of the geo-political climate. The guides are a very pleasant way to inform you of what to expect; where to go; what and where to eat; and what to avoid eating, as well as giving useful insights into cultural customs and historical relations, and often some useful language tips. Last year as a first time British traveller to Cyprus, it was useful to know about the 1974 conflict between the Turkish North and the Greek South, and the Visa requirement to travel across the manned checkpoints between the two areas (the north is not recognised as a sovereign state but an occupied territory), and helped us to avoid insensitive remarks, as the Greek Cypriots memory of the conflict is raw, and they do not like you referring to the North as Turkish; much better to describe it as 'the occupied territories'. If this is starting to make you think that I have described Beirut, nothing could be further from the truth, but the Lonely Planet guide tells you all about that, which is reassuring!

 
New Lonely planet guides published today include:

Beijing (Lonely Planet Encounter Guide)
Israel and the Palestinian Territories (Lonely Planet Country Guide)
Greek Islands (Lonely Planet Country and Regional Guides)
USA (Lonely Planet Multi Country Guide)
Germany (Lonely Planet Country Guide)
Zambia and Malawi (Lonely Planet Multi Country Guide)
The Netherlands (Lonely Planet Country Guide)
Montreal and Quebec (Lonely Planet City Guides)
Southern Africa (Lonely Planet Multi Country Guide)

Alternatively you may prefer to use other travel publications such as the Rough Guide, and some of the previously produced Lonely Planet Guides. You can simply browse our travel and holidays section in order of publication, title, or best match. Choose your destination and see if a rough guide exists, in our comprehensive catalogue in order to save you browsing time. Then when you have found your perfect guide, allow our price comparison service to find you availability from the cheapest retailer. It is absolutely great to search through because if you use the release date filter at the top right of the page, it is easy to see the publication date, and therefore feel confident that your travel arrangements are based on thoroughly up to date information.

If you do buy a publication, and you subsequently visit an area, please let us know how useful the guide was to you by writing a review, and you could have the opportunity of winning the monthly review competition.