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by Terry Carter, Lara Dunston
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Lonely Planet (2006-09-01)
ISBN: 1740598407
EAN: 9781740598408
Dewy Decimal #: 915.35704
Paperback: 226 pages
Edition: 4
SKU: 112108001
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: ...no markings or highlighting...minor wear on cover
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Flashy, fun, very now, yet distinctly Arabian, Dubai's allure lies in its contrasts. The sound of the muezzin's call to prayer cuts through DJs spinning the latest wax at hip clubs. Traditional architecture blends with modern constructions like something out of science fiction. Modern souqs are fairytale interpretations of old-school bazaars. Whatever your bent, this smart and streetwise guidebook has the city covered. TREAT YOURSELF - from sprawling souqs to mammoth malls, our authors have hand-picked the best places to bag yourself a bargain DINE OUT - from a simple street shawarma to haute cuisine, our reviews pinpoint the best of the bunch FIND THE NIGHTLIFE - whether you're here for the sheesha or the shakin', we'll help you find your scene SLEEP IN STYLE - informative reviews of the best luxury hotels, beach resorts and top-value budget options make the decisions easy MAKE TRACKS with day trips to Hatta, the Buraimi Oasis and Abu Dhabi
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Customer Reviews
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Good Guide
Rating  (5)
Date: 2007-06-08
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
We used this guide extensively during our recent trip to Dubai. We found the information to be accurate and comprehensive. We tried a few or the reviewed restaurants, shops, and excursions and were very pleased.
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Great for Women going to Dubai
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-05-04
5 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
Not know much about Dubai when I was first asked to go, I learned a great deal from this book. I learn about different areas, where to go and what the culture was like. Specificly I found the section on "women traveling to Dubai" very helpful. It pointed out how to expect to be treated when going out to eat, what to wear, and where to stay.
I highly recommand this book and even more so if you're a woman.
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LP = Awesome
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-02-22
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
LP hits another grand slam. I have not bought one LP that wasn't great. I own about 12.
Keep up the good work.
This one has alot of great information on this amazing city. The maps are a little dated, but what can you expect when youa re mapping the fastest growing city in the world.
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Believe the hype!
Rating (5)
Date: 2006-04-04
16 out of 22 customers found this reveiw helpful
My '5 stars' are for Dubai. I'm one of the authors and lived in the UAE for almost 8 years. I guess we do believe the hype, because we've lived it. Dubai is an extraordinary city, the country offers one of the best lifestyles in the world, and the Emirati people - Dubai locals in particular - are incredibly dynamic, funny, laidback, hospitable and tolerant. Having travelled all over the world (to over 50 countries) and recently moved to Europe, Dubai remains one of my favorite cities.
I'd rather not risk repeating what's in our books, but it's true that Dubai has glorious year-round weather (if you like it hot), access to some truly spectactular desert and mountain scenery, some of the world's best shopping (souqs, malls and a growing number of independent stores), restaurants, bars and hotels (and I'm not referring to Burj Al Arab), and a culture that is comprised of both the local and traditional, contemporary and multicultural, that is hybrid and mobile, fresh and alive. Unfortunately, however, we've been just as guilty as the next writers in focussing too much on the city's sun, sand and shopping. Fed up with people criticising the city as being souless (which we know it isn't) and without culture (which we know it has - many complex layers of local, regional and world cultures, in addition to a growing and buzzy arts scene) - in our update of this guide, we try to introduce people to the 'real Dubai' and 'backstreet Dubai' via boxed texts and walking tours that will take visitors off the beaten track. We're hoping these will guide travellers to get beyond the hype and experience more than the beach, desert safaris and malls, and taste a little of the real Dubai - the Dubai that keeps many expatriates in the city so long, and lures vistors back to the city time and time again.
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Mediocre
Rating  (3)
Date: 2006-02-26
4 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
Of all the LP books I've read (probably 30 or 40), this is my least favorite. The authors seem to be working way too hard to sound hip and cool and impress their readers to produce an interesting book for travel addicts. Perhaps they've just been into Dubai a bit too long and have bought into the hype...
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by Rough Guides
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Rough Guides (2005-01-27)
ISBN: 1843532727
EAN: 9781843532729
Dewy Decimal #: 915.2045
Paperback: 1056 pages
Edition: 3
SKU: 113008011
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: exlibrary copy in good condition with the usual markings and stickers
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
The Rough Guide to Japan is the award-winning guidebook to this fascinating country. This new edition is published in Rough Guide''s colourful design, with 24 pages of colour photos and two-colour throughout. The introduction features the authors pick of the ''Things Not to Miss'', from skiing in Nagano to slurping noodles in the neon-dazzling nightlife of Shinjuku. The entire country is covered in detail with accounts of all the sights, from Tokyo’s uber-hip hotels to the picturesque villages of Central Honshu and the pristine beaches of Okinawa. There is practical advice on getting around the country by train, and tips on hiking, skiing and diving. The final chapter, Contexts, gives in-depth features on all things Japanese, from temple architecture to pop culture and the environment.
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Customer Reviews
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It's descriptions are the best
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-09-28
When we were planning our trip to Japan, we purchased The Rough Guide to Japan, The Lonely Planet Guide to Tokyo, and The Time Out Guide to Tokyo. If I had depended on the descriptions in The Lonely Planet Guide to decide what would be fun to do or see, I would never have left home. The same items described in The Rough Guide were much more intriguing. Mostly I chose what to see and do based on The Rough Guide. Other items I picked from descriptions in The Time Out Guide. It's strength was the culture of modern Japan, specifically things relating to anime, manga, cosplay, etc. Rough Guide covers some of these things, but not in such depth.
None of these books, however, mentioned the Godzilla statue in Tokyo. Admittedly, the statue is small and there's nothing to do other than take a picture, but how can you go to Tokyo and not say hi to Godzilla?
When we were in Tokyo, the maps in The Lonely Planet Guide were much more detailed and helpful than those in the other two books. But keep in mind that Tokyo is only a small part of The Rough Guide to Japan. I don't know how The Rough Guide to Tokyo would compare. In Matsumoto, the only place we managed to get to outside of the Greater Tokyo/Yokohama area, The Rough Guide's map got us from the train station to the wonderful castle, Matsumoto-jo, without any trouble.
To sum up, faced with only six days in Japan (plus a day each way for travel), the Rough Guide was invaluable for deciding what we wanted to see, what we could manage to see, and which things would be worth hours on the train to get to.
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Frustrating and disappointing book, especially for independent travelers
Rating  (2)
Date: 2007-07-25
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
I cannot recommend this as a good travel guide to Japan, especially for independent travelers, as the book is not helpful with daily planning and navigation. I used it for a 25-day independent tour of Japan and found it so frustrating that I tossed it in the trash before I came home instead of keeping it to proudly display on my bookshelf with my other travel books. The maps are a complete waste of space: many streets are not labeled and the maps often do not appear near the narrative discussing the area, so you have to page back and forth. Maps for specific sightseeing areas such as Arashiyama in Kyoto are not included (where I really could have used a map and I noticed that Lonely Planet provided one), and the maps that are provided contain various errors. One of the main maps of the entire country has the locations of Osaka and Nara switched - an inaccusable error and one that leads me to believe that the book was not well edited. There are also various errors of omission. Fushimi Inari is not discussed in the Kyoto section, which I found strange, as it's one of Kyoto's most photographed and fascinating sites, it's easy to get to, and it's free. I rarely used the recommendations for places to eat as I found they were often not applicable for budget travelers and unrepresentative of local tastes and habits. For example, usually for every city one curry or Indian food place and an Anglo-style pub is recommended. I would rather the author's individual preferences not be so obvious and more precious space be spent on recommendations for what locals typically eat and enjoy. Similarly, the nightlife and cafe recommendations really miss the mark and are out of touch with Japan's more modern, hip, and youthful scenes. Too many run-of-the-mill gaijin haunts are suggested. I found the best places on my own. Honestly, overall the whole book seems geared towards travelers over 40. I did enjoy one of the sections in the back that summarizes Japan's religious life and history and explains well what you see at shrines and temples, but incidentally, this section was not written by one of the book's main authors or contributors. This book might be OK if you are traveling with a group tour or staying with friends for most of the time and just want some supplemental information, but if you are traveling independently and relying on a guide book to get you around and show you the modern as well traditional heart of a place, I believe you are much better off with Lonely Planet.
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Pretty Good
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-04-23
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This was a good book for my trip to Japan. It provided excellent commentary on history and sites, which I read before visiting temples and shrines. I stayed at two of the accomodation selections in Kyoto and found them to be right on target with the write up. It also is helpful for traveling within the country as it has accurate prices and routes. The maps were a good overview of the area, though they could be better organized with the text. I can't give it 5 stars because of the map organization and because I only used it for three places in Japan. A good resource!
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One of the best English guides to Japan
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-03-17
14 out of 14 customers found this reveiw helpful
We have lived in Japan for 14 of the last 20 years and have spent the last 11 years living in Tokyo. Over that period of time, we have bought and used Lonely Planet, Fodors, National Geographic, and several less well known guides to Japan and specific cities. Of course the best guides to Japan are written in Japanese, and there are many of them. However, if you are like us, looking for an English guide, we have consistently found the Rough Guide to Japan (third edition) to be one of the best books available, particularly if you are hoping to visit smaller cities in outlying regions. It covers many more cities than will a Fodors or National Geographic, although you will not have the glossy photos of some of the other books. In a guide of this size, complete coverage of Japan's geography, history, culture, and attractions is simply impossible. And there will always be a few errors and omissions. Nonetheless, this is simply one of the best guides you can find for trips that include visits to more remote regions of Japan.
We have used this guide book for trips to Okinawa and outlying islands; Hiroshima, Himeji, Okayama, Matsue, and elsewhere in the San'in / San'yo region, and to Matsumoto and the Kiso Valley. The regional maps are good; the city maps are just ok. We have found the material on transport informative and useful. The information on hotels and restaurants is incomplete, but is more comprehensive than just about any other guide out there, and the recommendations and reviews for hotels are accurate and useful. It lists the major sights, and picks up many notable sights in the smaller cities that are completely forgotten by most other guides. One thing we like about this book is that it tells you where to find more information once you arrive at each city or station.
Conclusions:
* If you are looking for a solid general reference that offers as much coverage as possible in one English language book, it is hard to go wrong with the Rough Guide to Japan.
* However, if you want to be comprehensive, you'll need to use this book in conjunction with other references and material. The internet is often a good source of recommendations and up to the minute information. Maps published in Japan, some available in both Japanese and English, others only in Japanese, are also very helpful. If you have the time and money to consider other books, the following would complement the Rough Guide to Japan:
- Gateway to Japan (Kodansha). It's old (1998), but still very useful for remote cities and attractions. There will be a fair amount of overlap, and the Rough Guide will be more up to date, but this book is one of the best for trips to outlying areas.
- National Geographic Traveler Japan. Good photos and walking routes, but the coverage is nowhere near the level of the Rough Guide. Together, they make a good set.
Hope this helps!
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Not useful
Rating  (1)
Date: 2007-01-05
0 out of 18 customers found this reveiw helpful
Filled with inaccurate information, lack of good, accurate maps. It was almost completely useless. Never again I will buy another Rough Guide. Long live Lonely Planet.
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by David Leffman, Simon Lewis, Jeremy Atiyah, Simon Foster
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Rough Guides (2005-11-21)
ISBN: 1843534797
EAN: 9781843534792
Dewy Decimal #: 915.1046
Paperback: 1272 pages
Edition: 4
SKU: 080508024
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: exlibrary copy in good condition...minor wear on cover
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Product Description
With over 1300 pages and 150 maps, the Rough Guide to China is the essential handbook to this vast and extraordinary country. In-depth coverage of the entire country, from buzzing Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai to the ethnic minority regions of the southwest and Tibet. The authors give expert practical advice for every budget on where to stay, where to find the best local cuisine and getting round by public transport. There are also invaluable translations into Chinese script of place names, accomodation and restaurants. The guide also gives a detailed background on China''s history, politics, cultures and peoples. "Best guidebook" Sunday Times "Historical and cultural erudition combined with down-to-earth practical advice puts this guide streets ahead of the competition" Watersone''s Books Quarterly.
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Customer Reviews
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Desperately in need of a new edition
Rating (3)
Date: 2007-12-25
Overall this book is very detailed with a lot of background information and interesting reading. However, as a practical guide, the book is way too dated for fast-changing China. For example, five new subway lines have started operation in Shanghai since the book was written. Although this edition was published only 2 years ago, it glaringly omits one of Shanghai's hottest new destinations for the past decade: Xintiandi, a must see for any visitor to the city. It also has no mention of Qiandao Hu (Lake of a Thousand Islands), a major scenic area in Zhejiang Province.
The author's attitude is sometimes bewildering. In the paragraph for Wulingyuan National Park (Zhangjiajie), the author complains in the same sentence about overcrowding and the admission price (160 yuan, or about $25), which it calls "exorbitant". I personally think 160 yuan is a bargain for a major national park like this. Besides, what do you think would happen to the crowding issue if the price were lowered? Also in the Hong Kong chapter, it calls the Discovery Bay "nightmarish". True, the Discovery Bay is mainly a waterfront residential development popular with expat families, and is of relatively low interest to the tourist. But calling it nightmarish is way overboard.
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The best, but needs a new edition.
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-08-15
12 out of 12 customers found this reveiw helpful
Having consulted the Rough Guide, Lonely Planet, and the Eyewitness guides to China on my last trip to the country, I can definitely vouch that Rough Guide is the way to go, with Eyewitness taking second and Lonely Planet a distant third. For my money, the Rough Guides have the edge on Lonely Planet in their critical-but-not-jaded tone, detailed practical information (more detailed than Lonely Planet), superior maps, informative and comprehensive background essays, and general elan (subjective, I know, but there you have it). That said, Lonely Planet does seem to have a slight edge in restaurants, but every place we ate at out of the Rough Guide was delicious. In the end, of course, which guidebook you buy depends on the kind of travel you'll be doing; I would recommend the Eyewitness guides without reserve for armchair and group travelers, or for those map-obsessed travlers who compulsively want to find their way around on their own. That said, the Rough Guide maps are more than sufficient, especially when supplemented with local tourist maps, which will inevitably be more up-to-date.
That really is my only caveat about the book; things in China (especially Shanghai and Beijing, cities most travelers pass through) are changing so rapidly that a new edition can't come soon enough. I marked an additional 20 subway stations on the Shanghai map in January 2007; this book was published in October 2005. In the meantime, I'll just say that the Suzhou Museum is now a must-see.
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Much better than Lonely Planet
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-08-15
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
After faithfully using Lonely Planet for my trips to Western Europe and Southeast Asia, I can honestly say that I am a Rough Guide convert and will be using Rough Guide books from now on after using this book on my recent trip to China. Aside from the good maps, one thing I love about this book is the depth it takes to explain the historical and cultural significance of the places being described. The logistics isn't bad either since it contains information how to get from one place to the other. This has been a good read while on long-distance train rides and have been with me throughout my trip to China.
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Good guide to China
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-06-26
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
In short, there are two good guidebooks to China - 'rough guide' and 'Lonely Planet'. You can't go wrong with either of them, however 'Lonely Planet' is slightly more comprehensive.
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Worth its weight
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-05-23
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book is the cream of the crop in China travel guides. Its is large and thorough and indispensible.
All information in this guide is thoughtfully organized and easy to follow and read. I also had the LP guide and did not find it as useful when navigating my way around the country.
As with any travel guide, it will not serve as your only travel resource, but will no doubt start you in the right direction when you are looking for something not covered in this book.
Well recommended, don't leave home without it.
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