Lonely Planet Istanbul (Travel Guide)
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Istanbul (Travel Guide) Paperback – February 1, 2013
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By
Amazon Customer
on May 17, 2013
Format: Paperback
2 Comments
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This new comprehensive edition is conveniently small and rather portable, for me, it seems nicely structured and with relatively pleasing layout, although some reviewers have said they did not like the change in format etc., some have gone so far as to say it is `unintuitive'.
The illustrations and colour plates are placed throughout the guide which does intrude into the text somewhat, so you do not want to be on street corner looking like an obvious tourist thumbing through the pages to look up some information, that said I always try and put together a quick crib sheet together and rely on that while out and about, and if needs must, will quickly dip into my guide book - normally in a café or such place.
Lonely Planet seems to have also introduced colourful text to illustrate important points or facts; I am still undecided on whether they add clutter or are helpful. While do not expect my guide books to be dripping in historical information, for my tastes I found this particular guide to be rather light, considering the location I was somewhat surprised if not disappointed by this lack of information. At the end of the guide is a rather useful city map. You get the usual tips and suggested itineraries, plus what and how do things once you arrive in town. All in all a nice guide, but for me there a few niggles - hence my four star rating.
The illustrations and colour plates are placed throughout the guide which does intrude into the text somewhat, so you do not want to be on street corner looking like an obvious tourist thumbing through the pages to look up some information, that said I always try and put together a quick crib sheet together and rely on that while out and about, and if needs must, will quickly dip into my guide book - normally in a café or such place.
Lonely Planet seems to have also introduced colourful text to illustrate important points or facts; I am still undecided on whether they add clutter or are helpful. While do not expect my guide books to be dripping in historical information, for my tastes I found this particular guide to be rather light, considering the location I was somewhat surprised if not disappointed by this lack of information. At the end of the guide is a rather useful city map. You get the usual tips and suggested itineraries, plus what and how do things once you arrive in town. All in all a nice guide, but for me there a few niggles - hence my four star rating.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By
Lynn T. Pitet
on October 22, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition
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The travel guide itself is probably excellent, but it's not something you want to have on your Kindle. The paper version would have been better. My mistake.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By
js
on March 4, 2014
Format: Paperback
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I have purchased over 25 LP books for international travel over the years, but this is the first city-specific guide I've used. The book is logically organized by neighborhood and covers the sights in great detail. We had no problem prioritizing the sights to see based on the descriptions and locations. In the front of each neighborhood section there's a 2-3 hour walking itinerary which I found very helpful.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By
Brett H
TOP 100 REVIEWER on April 29, 2013
Format: Paperback
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Istanbul is a fascinating city and definitely one of my favourite places, and I have been there five or six times now. It is a thriving and colourful metropolis, the place where Europe meets Asia and this book does quite a reasonable job of guiding the visitor around.
The first forty odd pages are devoted to an overview of the city and include the obligatory ten top sites to see, for once quite uncontroversial as most would be in agreement as to the majority of this list. Also included is some general information, some suggested itineraries and other basic information. A quite useful and recently introduced feature in Lonely Planet guides is the What's New section and here the recently completed restoration of Aya Sofya is highlighted. This is definitely on the Must Visit list in Istanbul and it has a lengthy and fascinating history. It was originally a Christian Church built in 537 and the last Christian service was held there the day before the Muslim invasion of Constantinople in 1453.
The bulk of the book consists of a description of the six neighbourhoods of the city. Included here are details of the top tourist attractions, including entry fees and days of opening (the latter being important as not many are open all seven days here), where to eat, drink, shop etc. The eating information should be treated with care as in my experience the updating with a new edition is limited and you may well find the eating establishment you have chosen to go to is not as described.
The remainder of the book, some 80 pages, is devoted to an eclectic mix of history and useful information for the visitor including accommodation, though I, like I imagine most these days, tend to rely on sites such as Tripadvisor for the latter.Read more ›
The first forty odd pages are devoted to an overview of the city and include the obligatory ten top sites to see, for once quite uncontroversial as most would be in agreement as to the majority of this list. Also included is some general information, some suggested itineraries and other basic information. A quite useful and recently introduced feature in Lonely Planet guides is the What's New section and here the recently completed restoration of Aya Sofya is highlighted. This is definitely on the Must Visit list in Istanbul and it has a lengthy and fascinating history. It was originally a Christian Church built in 537 and the last Christian service was held there the day before the Muslim invasion of Constantinople in 1453.
The bulk of the book consists of a description of the six neighbourhoods of the city. Included here are details of the top tourist attractions, including entry fees and days of opening (the latter being important as not many are open all seven days here), where to eat, drink, shop etc. The eating information should be treated with care as in my experience the updating with a new edition is limited and you may well find the eating establishment you have chosen to go to is not as described.
The remainder of the book, some 80 pages, is devoted to an eclectic mix of history and useful information for the visitor including accommodation, though I, like I imagine most these days, tend to rely on sites such as Tripadvisor for the latter.Read more ›
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By
Nick Dowling
on November 29, 2013
Format: Paperback
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I normally rely on Lonely Planet guides when I travel, and this is probably the best I've used. It's clearly structured and well written and its recommendations for sites to visit and things to do were consistently excellent. Maxwell's advice on the practicalities of getting around Istanbul and visiting various locations was invaluable and always clearly expressed. The recommendations for the few good restaurants in Sultanahmet were worth the purchase price alone! (the recommended walk through this area was also rewarding). While the standard of Lonely Planet maps is generally very high, I found those in this book - and especially the pull-out map at the end - to also be unusually good.
Like some of the other reviewers I'm not convinced that all the colour photos in the book are really necessary (chopping them out would have reduced the size of the book and hence what I needed to carry around), especially as some of them seem to have been selected mainly to make the book look attractive rather than to provide readers with a feel for what they're likely to see. That said, they do give the book greater visual impact than was the case for the somewhat dull previous generation of Lonely Planet guides.
Like some of the other reviewers I'm not convinced that all the colour photos in the book are really necessary (chopping them out would have reduced the size of the book and hence what I needed to carry around), especially as some of them seem to have been selected mainly to make the book look attractive rather than to provide readers with a feel for what they're likely to see. That said, they do give the book greater visual impact than was the case for the somewhat dull previous generation of Lonely Planet guides.
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By
Mom of Four
on September 19, 2014
Format: Paperback
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The information wasn't up to date. Prices had increased significantly, the museum pass was available at different locations and we ended up on a wild goose chase to obtain it, and the public transportation was much more widely available than the book suggested. In particular, ferry trips on the Bosphorus and to the Asian side, and travel to other places in Turkey, were much easier to arrange and schedule than the book suggested. I've had great experience with Lonely Planet in the past, but this book was a dud. We wasted a lot of time and missed out on some opportunities because we didn't know where to look.
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