Customer Rating:  
Summary: Useful, but disappointing
Comment: I was frustrated using this book (the 2008 edition). The descriptions didn't always convey what I thought they should have (is an okonomiyaki restaurant "plebeian" when it is covered with prayer cards with pervy drawings on the walls, and a geisha mannequin at each table?), the maps were confusing (I swear one temple is put in two different places on two maps), and the walking tours were a little frustrating. One starts off at a chain hotel, which is "near" a pedestrian underpass. I walked out of the subway station, immediately saw the pedestrian underpass but figured that couldn't be the one in question, so I walked up the hill to the product placement hotel instead. Of course, I should have just used the one across from the underpass.
That said, I couldn't have seen anything without it. I chose this guide, because I wanted one for just Kyoto, and not all of Japan. Don't know if others are any better. Have a great trip!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Avoid this guide
Comment: My wife and I just returned from Kyoto, and unfortunately we were relying on this book as our guide. The information was, for the most part, up-to-date.. but the maps were *horrible*. I dunno if they just used maps from the 1930s, or hand drew them from memory, or what.. but you are going to get seriously lost if you rely on these things. There are almost no street names included and the walking tours often rely solely on hard-to-find landmarks.
They also missed some major sights.. for example, Gion; I dunno about you, but I'm interested in seeing some of the tea houses where Geisha actually work. The guide talks about these and gives you one place to look for them. However, it totally skips one of the most beautiful tea house districts located in Maruyama Park! We stumbled on this place by complete accident, and found it to be the best place for Geisha-watching.
It also appears to be an exclusive area where the really well-off clients go, and so perhaps it wasn't covered to keep down the crowds.. but that's the kind of information I *want* in a guidebook.
In short we were extremely dissapointed in this guide. I don't know what would be a good substitute, but I can tell you to avoid this one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Oddly out of date
Comment: No guide is perfect, but some are better than others. In the case of Lonely Planet, some are great, others leave a bit to be desired. For whatever reason, the Kyoto guide is missing some important pieces of information that I would have wanted to see. For example, the best vegetarian restaurant in the city, and one of the few places a veggie can eat some authentic Japanese "meat" dishes (made with fake meat) is the Peace Cafe -- which is not listed in Lonely Planet though it's been around for a few years. Another example: The "japanese-only guides" at the Shigakuin Imperial Residence still holds true.... except they have a full audio guide now, recorded in English, with lots of information at most stops made by the Japanese tour.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Other guides?
Comment: I borrowed this guide from a friend and have leafed through it. I haven't decided if I want to buy it yet when I go to Kyoto later this year.
What do you guys recommend as the best travel guide for Kyoto? While skimming this one, I've noticed a few of the things mentioned here like the unorganized maps and such. But are there betters one there to buy?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Waste of money - poor maps, poor info, poorly organized
Comment: Where do I start? Poor maps, chaotic organization or boring writing? Or perhaps ugly, poor quality photographs (except cover which is really nice - this is the trademark feature of this honest publisher, which is only [inexpensive] as far as publishing costs are concerned, without bothering to reduce the price of the book itself).There are countries where Lonely Planet does a very good job (in West Africa, I would be lost without them), but oh my God how they can mess up things elsewhere! Kyoto is one of them. With so many good guides to Japan available (Eyewitness, Frommer, Fodor, even Rough Guide, for goodness sake), why bother with Lonely Planet? Well, probably because many readers feel that they have a spiritual affiliation with this seemingly hippy-ish, seemingly anti-Capitalist, seemingly slightly rebellious serious of guides. I can only imagine how they are laughing - this lean and mean publishing house, an efficient money-making machine, being funded by mostly a naive bunch of tree-huggers. If you feel good because you identify their sandal-wearing image, go and buy this book, by all means. This is only an image, a marketing tool - clever publishing people are laughing all the way to the bank. However, do not expect to have the best available travel advice. Usually LP guides are praised by those who have not read anything else.
|
