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| Best of Istanbul 1 (Lonely Planet Encounter) | 
 enlarge | Author: Lonely Planet Publications Ltd
Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy Used: £2.00
You Save: £4.99 (71%)
New (44) from £2.42
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 268044
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1 Pap/Map
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 168
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.1 x 3.7 x 0.2
ISBN: 1741044928
Dewey Decimal Number: 915
EAN: 9781741044928
ASIN: 1741044928
Publication Date: May 1, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Used, so the map is tucked in the book. Some minor wear to the edges of the cover, otherwise excellent condition.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Absolutely Ideal for a short stay in Istanbul September 4, 2008
While the 1 star review is a bit harsh - I do take some of the points on board - this is a pocket size (literally) book after all and so I didn't really expect pictures as this would greatly increase the size and usefulness to me.
I used this book exclusively on my recent 3 day trip to Istanbul. I did only stay around Sultanahmet part so cannot comment on the surrounding areas it also covers, but that said, it is easy to use - nice colour coding on each area of Istanbul covered made it easy to flick to; red is Sultanahmet, orange is boglyu, green is the bazaar district and so on. It gave me all the key sights to see, places to shop at, places to eat and yes these are not alphabetically listed which is a bit of a criticism.
This is a great book to give you ideas, frankly most of the key sights in Sultanahmet are within 1 or two miles of each other, but that part of turkey didn't really interest me much. The maps are small (again this is a slave to size of the book) but they are adequate and using small icons indicate all the listed sights/sounds and so on that are referenced. There is a map for each section at the beginning of the section it refers to.
Some of the prose is rather flowery, but I skipped over that. I would definitely recommend this over the DK one and I didn't even bother opening my eyewitness pocket guide simply because this book did everything I needed for the time I was there. There is a lot to cram in such a small size, and I think they have done this well.
My only real criticism that hasn't been mentioned is to list post offices or where to buy stamps (there was one listed in the area I was in but only as a building, but I discovered two or three much nearer), I like to send cards to friends and relatives and always am keen to know where these buildings are, otherwise, for its price I think this is a good short break guide.
 LP has got it wrong this time March 23, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
As a guide from lonely planet, of which I have many copies for other countries, this one just isnt quite right.
It doesnt quite follow the usual and sucessful format of the 'standard' lonely planets and is therefore a quite confusing and vague. The usual mine of info on hotels, restaurants and concise descriptions of the sights etc are either watered down or non existent or in alphabetical order so you dont know which is best or what is nearby..
Perhaps The worst aspect of this book is the photos and descriptions of the sights. The descriptions are so poor and long winded that I am left not really knowing what the sight actually is, let alone what there is to see there, what is good about it or where it is. Instead you have to wade through a historical story which isnt quite relevant and extract something if you are lucky.
The photos in the book mainly consist either of the useless arty type that you sometimes get in the standard LPs- such as a close up of a local in front of a brick wall, or maybe just the brick wall... Otherwise there is a number of personal profiles with a full page pic of some guys face, his name and what he does (like a tour guide) ?!?
So whats good about it- well the book is a convenient pocket size and every now and then you get a few pages that more closely resemble an LP guide.
Its worth pointing out that this book is a lonely planet "encounter" rather than a standard lonely planet, which seems to be a lonely planet attempt of the style of the eyewitness top 10 books, which are quite good for small city visits where you already have all your accomodation etc taken care of and you just want to know details and good pics about what there is to see. However, with the LP "encounter" version you are left with neither of the good points you may have come to expect from either an LP guide or an eye witness guide.
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