Lonely Planet Israel & the Palestinian Territories (Country Guide)

 (36 customer reviews)

I am generally a fan of lonely planet books, and have used them as a guide on other trips. This particular lonely planet guide disappoints. I found this book to provide precious few details about important Jewish sites. Significant space in the book is devoted to the authors' (one-sided) political commentary. The Let's Go guide is more comprehensive and informative (with less political fluff). I recommend skipping this particular lonely planet guide.

The lack of available travel guides to Israel is amazing if you consider the amount of attention the world gives to this tiny state on the western Med. Most that are available are often outdated. Frommer's Israel 5th edition is perhaps the best overall but should have been updated better. Lonely Planet's guide, biased and ill informed, is the worst. Eyewitness's guide is great for background info. Fodor's guide is new and I haven't looked it over yet. If you are visiting Israel, you might be better served to buy guides when you get there. Several I have seen that are area and city specific are a lot better than what is available in generic country guides. If you must purchase ahead of time, or need to research your trip before leaving, Frommer's book will serve you well, not this one however. Lonely Planet's books are often amusing as the editors tend to editorialize a lot in many of there guides. Not here. The editor's prejudices are all too obvious.

I share a prior view that this guide gives too little attention to the sights, and sensuality of the Israeli experience and too much attention; an almost overbearing attention to political correctness and "fairness".
I got a lot more out of Fodor's 6th edition and look forward to buying the 7th. Having used and enjoyed LP guides before - I looked forward to using this one - but this one is a stinker.