Lonely Planet Best of Germany (Travel Guide) Paperback – Folded Map, May 21, 2019

Well, I do, for one. As a (GASP!) non-Smartphone-user (or Smartphone non-user), I depend to a large extent on actual paper maps and guidebooks when I travel, especially out of the U.S. I plan my trips meticulously in advance, and, while I do rely on GPS to get me where I’m going, travel guidebooks are my go-to planning source, supplemented by printed-out on-line material for the places in which I’m really interested.With that said, I have no use for travel guidebooks filled with pretty pictures. I really don’t care about the pictures. I often wonder how many days or weeks the photographers had to wait to get good weather for their shots, or how much Photoshopping was entailed in making each picture look perfect. Rather, I prefer thick, heavy guidebooks densely filled with detailed, authoritative text and relevant, readable maps, and illustrated with minimum photos.“Lonely Planet’s Best of Germany” is a fine example. It’s everything I look for in a guidebook. Having traveled independently in Germany several times (nothing is more fun for a gearhead like myself than blasting along flat-out on the Autobahn in a rental manual-transmission BMW!), and having been to every area this book covers except Berlin, Potsdam and Dresden, I found that this guide covers the territory very well indeed.This compact, high-quality, full-color volume is a good, practical introduction to many of the most historically important and scenic areas of Germany (mainly in the South and East, not so much in the North) for the first-time or returning traveler. At 324 pages, and with a Berlin city map bound into the back cover, it’s densely filled with small but readable text in two-column format and scores of Lonely Planet’s signature color maps, many of them quite small but some extending over a two-page spread.You know what to expect in a travel guidebook, so I won’t detail what’s here other than to note that the typical information on itineraries, lodging, restaurants, attractions, shopping, sports, etc., is all covered and is, as best I can tell, relevant and accurate. The coverage is refreshingly deep and complete. You won’t find the type of broad-brush, bullet-point “must see” lists designed to appeal to today’s ADD-afflicted society. As with all travel books, some of the information may go out-of-date—the wise traveler will always check on-line as well. As usual, the volume also offers the obligatory historical and cultural overviews and a “Survival Guide” packed with all of the nitty-gritty practical information you’re likely to need to get around, eat, drink beer and/or wine, shop, etc.There’s also the equally obligatory language section containing a few useful words and phrases and their phonetic pronunciations. Sadly, though, it’s missing the phrase that I’d really like to use some day at a rental car counter: “Geben Sie mir 12 Zylinder oder mein Geld zurück!” (“Give me 12 cylinders or my money back!”).Other than that minor omission, “Lonely Planet’s Best of Germany” is as accessible a portrait of much of Germany for the adventurous, curious, independent or escorted traveler as any I’ve seen recently, and it should definitely be in your suitcase or backpack on your next trip there.

I am a big fan of the lonely planet travel books. They always give a unique and distinctive look at the regions they’re spotlighting. In this case the book on Germany you get a detailed look at this country through the eyes and soul of the locals.Lonely Planet book give you so much more than many of the other guides – in this case there’s a section of useful Berlin Blogs that keep you up to date with cutting edge foodie information and they’re written in English. Do you want to go walking through the Black Forest? The guide lists outfitters to get the right gear.I like to have guide books even though you can get most of this information on line. I’ve been in too many places where the internet went down or has become out of range. It’s so much more convenient to be able to reach into your carry-on or ruck sack and grab this small book. I also like that in the back of each Lonely Planet guide there’s a pull out paper map. Yes, kids, it’s like the ones grandma and grandpa used to buy at gas stations when they travel. A great souvenir is to mark this map with a trail of your routes and pins of your stops.When you get your Lonely Planet guide book the first thing I’d suggest is to turn to the last chapter called the Survival Guide. This will give you an overview of health, insurance, legal matters, money, safe travel and so much more. These are the very best guides on the market.

I got this book actually right before my first trip to Germany. I love Lonely Planet books and this one lived up to the hype. It looks at Germany in different ways, by theme, region, interests, and all the sidebars and photos give a lot of information in a short amount of time. It really allows the reader to get to the point really quickly. I like to be able to drill down based on what I am looking for in a travel experience.I think Germany in particular for me as a first timer, it was hard to wrap my head around what the various regions are actually like which makes planning an itinerary a little hard. This book is great in that it provides several suggested itineraries based on length of travel, then breaks down the various aspects of the trip.And the photos, oh my! High quality definition and color saturation has come such a long way! This book is loaded with fantastic, top quality photos. The book also comes with several detailed maps including a really nice detailed Berlin map as well as several smaller more specific maps throughout.While we can get a lot of information on our phones these days, this book is rich in detail, not too heavy and very worthwhile to bring on a trip.

The illustrations in the book are excellent and there are plenty of photos and maps. I find these best of series to be my favorite when looking into a new destination. They tend to lean a little more toward photos and keep the information relevant. While they do discuss accommodations, food, and sightseeing for the best locations,it's not as detailed as some other guides, but I like this series for trip planning in the dreaming stage and you can get details from the internet or other guides.