In this guide they manage to give you all the basics about where to stay and eat, how to travel and what to see. The guidebook has a good amount of alternatives under each sectiona nd the respective ratings are very good according to those hostels, restaurants and other things I tried out.

If you are backpacking through Poland this book is a necessity and something you can't live without. Given the fact that not so many Poles speaks English, this book proves even more valuable when you can point at the place you are looking for and get directions from the helpful and friendly Poles.

The sections on history and culture is not an indepth explanation, but rather a good overview, which is the aim of Lonely Planet. This is a book for independent travellers.


Good as a travel guide but not as a country guide   March 4, 2004
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

This travel guide is designed for those travelling or holidaying in Poland and does a fairly good job of telling you where to stay, eat and drink. However, the detail is a little thin on the ground in places - not surprising in a reasonably short book about this huge country with a very interesting history.

I would have liked to have read more about the historical background to Poland in order to get a bit more of a feel for the place, but this really isn't the book's focus or purpose, nor is it the focus of the Lonely Planet series in general, which are very much geared towards those spending 2 weeks somewhere. If you're on a short trip to a few different places in Poland or passing through on your way elsewhere, it will give you a few tips and facts that should come in useful. However, if you were visiting the country for any length of time or wanting to really learn about the place, it wouldn't be suitable.

I think those looking for information about specific areas in Poland might want to check out the internet to do some more research as each city and town is dealt with very briefly in this book, and just when you are started to become interested in a place, it's obvious the author has run out of room and must move on to the next dot on the map!


Guidebook with misleading front cover   December 2, 2002
 13 out of 24 found this review helpful

In have bought this guidebook with curiosity. Reading Norman Davies' famous books about Poland I was interested in the historical sights in today's territory of the country. My first surprise was the length of the book. Given the fact that Poland has a big territory with almost 40 Million people I found the guidebook relatively short. For instance the smaller Hungary has almost the same size guidebook as Poland. According to my observation this volume is not detailed enough the historical descriptions are really missing at certain sights.
The very famous Przemysl city received two pages and within this one of the the biggest battle in WWI and the fortification only two sentences. I could continue the examples. I think the historical part is the real weakness of this guidebook which is a pity from a Polish author in case of such a country with rich historical background.
I also think that the front cover is misleading. In a Roman Catholic country the wooden Orthodox churches are not representing Poland's characteristics.