Lonely Planet Reviews 

Lonely Planet in the past was a most valuable resource to take on holiday abroad. However, the recent library copy on Vietnam (2022) I took was sadly very much out of date, lacking in detail it used to provide, so I found this somewhat disappointing. By way of example, information on Hoi Ann on My Son Sanctuary was very limited, the Japanese Covered Bridge has factually incorrect details. There there was no inclusion of the famous railway in Hanoi (apart from a photograph) which was televised so well by Michael Portillo. Perhaps the authors need to revisit the areas to ensure the next copy is up-to-date.

Very disappointed with the current book content. It feels as if publisher started a new publication and deliberately destroying the iconic publications.
Why? What is LP trying to achieve? Impossible to say, except I would not be wasting my money on this new format!
Very disappointing!

Guides used to be full of useful information to help plan a trip. Now that is all gone - the books are hard to navigate and have very little use other than some nice pictures and discussion. Not worth the money any more sadly. Very sorry to see such a previously great brand in decline.

I have been using the Lonely Planet books for over 35 years......and the last one I bought re: Ecuador was not as useful as previous books. However, I was prepared to gave them the benefit of the doubt.
But i must say that I am SO disappointed with the latest Vietnam edition. I waited until the newest version was released so that it would be the most up to date info. However, as I am sitting here planning my trip it is NOT user friendly, and I am getting sooo frustrated with it, to the point that i will not take it with me to Vietnam NOR will I ever buy another Lonely Planet book!!
There is no clear street map of Hanoi, or other places, with no clear idea of where any eateries, bars, hotels etc.
I could go on and on, but quite frankly i haven't got the time!!

I wish I’d read these reviews before I bought the newest Lonely Planet guide to Cambodia, but how could I have known that Lonely Planet would abandon the excellent format for which so many of us buy it? This new version is useless. I don’t buy a travel guide to look at pictures and read the kind of articles I could read in ordinary magazines. I’ve been buying Lonely Planet guides for decades, but I’ve bought my last.

Wow. What a disappointment. I have been an avid LP reader for many many years, so preparing for my trip to Cuba I ordered the new digital guide to replace my old paper one. What a shock. None of the practical info was left, only a couple of vague suggestions on where to go, eat or sleep but none with contact info or a good description of what to expect. The other valuable thing that completely disappeared is the “How to get there and away” with practical info on different modes of transport and how to arrange it. Also, when a suggestion is made, for instance to go diving somewhere, zero info on how to contact the organization and/or how to even get there. Completely useless guide! In fact, not a guide at all. I had to bring my old paper one instead to at least have some useful info at hand.
I sincerely hope they discontinue this mishap of a magazine type of new format, or they have lost me as a client forever.

I can just fully agree with the latest review. The Lonely Planet travel books have been completely modified and is now only a list of Top "what to do" and do not contain anymore all the information you need to decide your routes among the various possibilities that a country can have.
Yes the new version is beautiful but I do not buy a travel book to only have pictures.
Very, very, disappointed with this new version.
I would have hoped my bad experience was just reluctance with change (which would disappear with time) but I have been trying to use the Vietnam new format for days and let's be honest : I have to look on the web and other travel guides to get proper information and tips.

I ordered a book on Peru on 11/20/2023. I just received it yesterday on 12/22/2023. Not only should it have NEVER taken a month, but even though there is a MAP LEGEND in the back, there is no fold out map like it was supposed to have. Not only that, but they mailed it in some flimsy envelope, which had a huge slit in it and the cover and pages were all damaged. I was going to give it as a gift, but NO WAY would I give this as a gift. Like everyone else has said, I only wished I had read the reviews before I purchased from them. I have disputed the charge with my credit card company.

I wish I had read the reviews earlier. I didn’t think I would have an issue with a company like Lonely Planet. Last Christmas posting date was Friday. I ordered first thing Saturday taking a chance that my gift would arrive. A week later and it has not been dispatched. It is impossible to gain any information. All the phone numbers I found were out of service. My emails were answered hours and days later but did not answer my questions. I decided to cancel my order and sent about 4 messages. I was told they would try and cancel the order and get back to me. No one has got back to me and neither has my order been dispatched.

Update: I have sent my details to your email address although this is the email address I have been using.

I have just perused my newly purchased LP Cuba & Jamaica guides. What a complete waste of time, effort and money! Gone are the practical suggestions of places to base yourself for exploring, eateries, bars etc, replaced by generic gushing over major sights which might easily have been drawn from any number of tourist brochures. I have previously been a devoted LP buyer and user. I have quite a nice collection of them from many trips over the years. Nowhere in these book is there any practical information as per earlier publications. Accommodation is reduced to a single page of "throw away" commentary about different types of accommodation...as if the reader had not ascertained this from even the most basic research. Where is the information about eateries tried and reviewed by the writers? Non-existent. Where are the suggested "highlights" itineraries as per other publications? totally absent. In short, this is little more than I had already found out through rudimentary internet searches. Foolishly, I had believed that LP was a quality brand that would maintain its standard. Wrong. I mistakenly purchased two "Guides" at the same time. I am kicking myself now but pleased that both were on special price offer. However, even at a substantial discount, they aren't worth the money or the time to read over them in detail. A little time spent reading over blogs and websites will give anyone about the same level of information that these inappropriately named "Guides" will do. They are no longer guides, rather they are glossy tourist brochures with lots of 'filler' describing "essential experiences". Nothing like the old reliable LP quality. Do yourself a favour and look out old format guides from the local library rather than spend money on trumped-up travel brochures.

We bought the latest edition of Cancun, Cozumel & the Yucatan, to replace our 2013 edition. It was a good thing we kept our old edition for reference, as the latest is a shell of its former self. The new edition is so void of information it is of no use to us. We travelled pre-internet and relied heavily on The Lonely Planet but now this edition may be useful to hold a door open or for toilet paper as we travel through the Yucatan.

Last year I bought LP Tanzania and was so surprised and disappointed over the lack of information, but I hoped this was a stand-alone poor guidebook.
This year I bought LP Belize and a LP Guatemala, same problem.
From the other bad reviews, I read that LP changed its approach entirely, what a loss! Totally useless, it looks like they are targetting tourists in organized group travel, instead of independent travellers.
Has this company been sold or what??
No more Lonely Planet for me, unfortunately. Maybe Bradt next time.

The new setup is awful. Lonely planet books used to be my travel bible but the copy I got most recently (Vietnam 2023) is more or less worthless as a travel guide. There are heaps of pictures, which is nice per se, but no useful information. What little information you get is superficial and inadequate.
This company will rapidly be loosing their former inpeccable reputation.

Nothing to add to what has been already said by pretty much everybody before me. These guides used to be *truly* great and have been my trusted companions for 20 years. But now all the practical info got binned and replaced with nice pictures. Had to return the newly edited Mauritius, Reunion and Seychelles as it was gross really - full of oversights too. Got a Bradt instead and will continue to do so from now onwards if this is how LP intends to settle.

Just got the Sep 2023 LP Mexico, and to say it is useless is being kind. I've relied on Lonely Planet guides for 20 years, but now all the important information I used to look for is now eliminated: hours of operation, opening days, admission prices, phone numbers, addresses..... All gone. All the smaller regional maps - gone. Sights - drastically cut back. Restaurants down to just a few recommendations, and of course don't even bother trying to find any contact info or location, besides a vague "find this within walking distance of town", or "located 6km west of the city". But worry not, it's all been replaced with lots of worthless pretty pictures! Do yourself a favor and get a Moon Travel Guide instead - they are what LP used to be.

And: Hi Lonely Planet!

Make sure your bots thank me for taking the time to leave feedback here. I appreciate that all comments, negative or positive, will likely be completely ignored!

My feedback will in all certainty be passed along to your trash heap. The massive layoffs at the hands of Red Ventures have decimated this once most-trusted source of information, and we are all worse-off for your horrible business practise.

Sincerely,
A Lonely Planet Customer that now despises your entire company, for destroying what used to be a worthwhile guidebook.

I loved LP guides (I have been using them for 20 years), but the 2023 editions are terrible!! The book is filled of useless photos and contains so little information. Not as expected. Please go back to the old format!!

How to explain better the access to the Smoke Sauna in Kuopio Finland by public transportation
There is a frequent bus number 7 bringing you to its terminal where there is a path sign to the Sauna (1 kilometer)
It starts from the North West corner of Kuopio Market Place

Ordered a map on august 13th for South America, haven't received it...
Now after a month I've got a refund, but yeah, no map... Ow, I only got the refund because I texted them where my map was..
For me, the last time I order from lonely planet.

I ordered a few guidebooks from the Lonely Planet website. Not once but twice they failed to ship the guidebooks from their warehouse. Customer support was friendly and I got my money back pretty quickly.
It was probably better they never arrived, because the 2023 guidebooks are really a great disappointment - what a way to celebrate their 50th anniversary. The 2023 edition looks very nice, but they only include a few highlights of the different places, many places are not listed at all anymore, it doesn't have the extensive list of festivals and events it used to have, the maps are not easy to use anymore, opening days/hours are missing, etc etc.
For Sweden I purchased the Rough Guide instead, which will probably be the first publisher I'll check from now on. For Denmark, I did purchase the Lonely Planet guidebook (at another store), as I couldn't find a better guidebook. This guidebook has some suggestions for Helsingborg in Sweden if you take the ferry. But the Lonely Planet guide for Sweden itself doesn't even cover this city anymore (it was included in previous editions). I really don't understand what the new owners of Lonely Planet tried to achieve with the updated versions - there is hardly any practical info included and the selection of places is so minimal, that you'll end up searching online for more options and opening hours etc.
The LP website is full of positive reviews - but even though I did buy an ebook, I couldn't find any link to leave a review. The rest of the internet is full with negative reviews for the 2023 edition, so I really hope they'll go back to the old format. I rarely leave reviews somewhere, but now I felt I had to. It's sad to depart from Lonely Planet after they've accompanied me around the world for almost 20 years.

After 30 years in the useful, always sheltering company of LP, getting in touch with the LP England 2023 was shockingly disappointing and useless. Almost no infos about the locations and how to reach them, respectively with a totally insufficient selection of (posh) accommodation and food choices. Why should I have a book like this one f it does not help me plan my trip? And if I need the internet by my side all the time to complement the missing LP infos? The LP website as such does not work well. To sum up, I am feeling deceived and abandoned by LP. Unfortunately and most likely, this has been my last LP purchase - unless the traditional quality is regained.