Now in its 40th edition, Let’s Go: Europe is the original traveler’s handbook to the continent that produced the Roman Empire, the Renaissance, and the euro.
CHEER like an Elizabethan groundling in Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for $12.
FEAST on tapas and sangria to the beat of Flamenco dancers for $7.
SOAK in a Turkish bath and try your hand at haggling at the Grand Bazaar for $4.
Customer Review: Lonely Planet or Rick Steve’s offer a better guidebook
After traveling in Europe for four months now, I have used the Let’s Go, Lonely Planet, Frommers, and Rick Steves guides. The only thing I really appreciated with the Let’s Go books were their colored maps of certain major cities (which you can pick up at any tourist information center without buying the book).
Their directions for getting to places were very vague–I couldn’t find half of the hostels or restaurants I wanted to go to with this book. In addition, I found some of their smaller maps to place icons of places in completely different locations than where they were located in the city, but they still gave the correct address. Lonely Planet books were much more reliable, and I believe that the Rick Steves’ books are the best on the market if you want to actually experience a city and not just it’s tourist traps with “We speak english” in every window.
Customer Review: I did not find it as good as Lonely Planet
Let’s Go is the college student classic. Without a doubt, if you are looking simply to party Europe, this is your most helpful tool. But if you are looking to experience Europe, understand that Let’s Go is the most popular European travel guide. Virtually EVERYONE has it. This fact does have its advantages: you will never be far from the American crowd. But the disadvantages are the same: the bars, the clubs, the hostels and resturants are all on the Let’s Go circuit.
In all, my recomendation is to buy the Lonely Planet guidebook that I found much more informative and better written. You can better avoid the American Party crowd when you feel like it, and when you want to partake in the happenings - don’t worry they are easy to find.
The other advantage of everyone having Let’s Go would be that it can be found almost everywhere (hostel bookshelves, your roommate’s backpack) and you will not have any trouble borrowing it for a while. Lonley Planet offers a slightly different perspective, and allows you to more fully enjoy your trip abroad.