Customer Reviews:
 Great travel companion June 27, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Having just spent 3 weeks in Romania, Macedonia & Albania - this guide was a true travel companion.
Having used the 2005 version of this guide to travel around Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Croatia in March 2006 - this one was much more useful and the writers had gone to great pains to make everything accurate (unlike their Western Balkans guide which was awash with misinformation and inaccuracies, normally regarding telephone numbers etc)
Having also brought the Bradt Albania guide with us (thank god we never relied on this as their pricing information for accommodation was grossly out of date & there was a real laziness in updating vital information) the Lonely Planet was the one that got grubbiest from continual use.
However we did have a few gripes. Having compared the 2005 & 2007 version; the writers appeared to have ommitted certain places to eat in Bucharest for example - this amazing ornate & opulent beer hall didn't appear in the 2007 guide...why not?
Also in Tirana some of the restaurants they recommended as great "sublime experiences" were just plain average with slovenly service.
All in all we felt that this guide provided us with the most accurate information & great cultural & historical context to te region.
They did well in preparing female travellers for the local's reaction to female foreign travellers. It did well in outlining that staring at women travellers for inordinently long periods of time (how they crane their neck round that far is amazing) is the national pastime in Albania and there is nothing you can do to avert their gaze - just get used to it -which was so true!
 2007 Edition: Well Updated & Comprehensive! March 27, 2007
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
Not all Lonely Planet guides are equal, but I found this one to be very good!
It covers pretty much all the former socialist countries westwards from Russia, including the Baltic states, Central Europe, the Balkans, Ukraine, and even obscure, very rarely visited Belarus and Moldova.
It already has a separate country chapter for Montenegro, which only became independent in the summer of 2006!
Inside, you will find all the usual details that can be expected from this series: in addition to the usual background info on history and culture as well as listings of recommended sights and activities, LP does provide useful practical details like prices and contact details of accomodation options as well as fares and journey times for public transport. These seemed pretty accurate to me, though are bound to change within the lifespan of this book.
The detail provided about each country described of course can't compete with single-country guides, but is probably sufficient for most people planning to visit several countries in one trip. As a rule, there are enough places described to fill at least 2 weeks in each country. In comparision to LP's "Europe on a Shoestring" guide which covers the whole continent but is more detailed about the more visited Western European countries, this one has about 3 times more info on Eastern European ones.
I would highly recommend this book for both thoe who are still in the planning stages and need info to decide which countries in the region to visit, and for actual use on the road to those planning to visit several countries on one trip.
Of course, if you only want to concentrate on 2-3 countries only, you may find individual country guides more detailed - though right now quite possibly less up to date! LP and Rough Guides both publish such guides to the more popular countries in this region, while Bradt covers even the more obscure ones like Albania, Belarus, Serbia or Slovakia as separate titles.
For the region as a whole, this book is the one to get for sure though!
 Helpful, but heavy September 1, 2006
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Like all Lonely Planet guides, this book contains plenty of useful information covering all aspects of travel - health, eating, where to visit, where to stay, etc. It's relevant, helpful and well laid out. There's a section on language for all of the countries, maps, country specific information and more general introductory section. There are some colour pictures although not many.
The problem is with its sheer size - it's bigger than a housebrick and weighs about the same, making it impractical to actually carry around with you when away. It covers a large number of countries in a reasonable level of detail, but inevitably there is not as much depth as would be found in a standard Lonely Planet country guide. It also doesn't cover some of the other European countries which might be visited on a tour along with Eastern European nations (Germany, Austria, Greece etc.).
I would recommend this book if you are planning a longer trip around the region and intend to visit several countries, or if you intend to visit lots of countries in the area over several years and want a reference book to keep at home in order to decide where to go. However, if you are travelling to just one or two of the countries at a time, a country specific guidebook will be both more portable and more detailed.
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