Lonely Planet Wales

• Paperback - May, 2004 - Lonely Planet Publications
• Usually ships in 24 hours
• By: Abigail Hole, Etain O'Carroll and John King
• ISBN: 174059424X

Buy this book from Amazon.com

List Price: $19.98
Amazon.com Price: $12.99
You Save: $6.99

Other books you may find interesting

• The Rough Guide to Wales
• Lonely Planet Walking in Britain
• Lonely Planet Germany
• The Sacred Places of Wales: A Modern Pilgrimage
• Footprint Cardiff & South Wales (Footprint Travel Guides)
• Lonely Planet England
• Lonely Planet Great Britain
• The Rough Guide to Wales 5 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)
• More Wild Tracks
• Wild Tracks
• Welsh Castles: A Guide by Counties

Reviews by readers

The only only-Wales guide? An excellent one!

Lonely Planet Guides are for "advanced" travellers, but this one is usable and very fine even for those of us who aren't in that category. It also seems to be the sole "Wales only" guidebook now available, so for those who plan to travel only in Wales and want detailed information about places, history, transportation etc. it is excellent. Although these days even the un-advanced can plan a trip by websites, most of us need a guide such as this to get started, and the material here proved more reliable than that on some websites. Realistic information about travel distances and times, cautious advice on how to climb Mt. Snowdon, and background about Welsh mythology all can be found here. The guide also tries to counter the "theme park" atmosphere by including the sad history of the collapse of mining and industry.

More practical than inspirational: what and not why

The plethora of eateries and places to stay, more than the sights, shops, and ambiance of much of Wales, permeates these pages. You get less of a sense of why to visit so many of the places rather than where to sleep and munch when you get there. This emphasis on the practical, of course, makes this an essential reference for any traveller. Yet, I would supplement it with cultural reading and research before planning a vacation, for too often too little of the reasons to go to one place rather than another are lacking in this Lonely Planet guide.

Extra credit, however, for stimulating, if too brief, introductory material at the start that places as marginalia recommended books and websites (inevitably some of the latter being puffed up as better than they actually are regarding their depth). Too often in many guides, such lists are appended rather than featured prominently. All in all, a helpful nuts-and-bolts guide to where to go and what to do, but as I mentioned, the why will be better found in other books and guides for the newcomer.

Disappointing and inferior to Rough Guide

I usually get both the Lonely Planet and Rough Guides for my trips, and generally both are good. In this case there is no comparison, and I would recommend just getting the Rough Guide. It's 585 pages compared to Lonely Planet's slim 332 and contains much more detailed information. The fourth edition of the Rough Guide (May 2003) is even less expensive! And where Lonely Planet usually wins, in color photographs and maps, the Rough Guide has at least caught up. I do like Lonely Planet's giving phone code and population for each city/town/village, but that alone doesn't make it worth carrying around!

Top of page