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Middle East
Looking for the real story behind the headlines? Look here. Look to the region where ancient civilisations rose and fell, where deserts, seas and ancient ruins compete for spectacle, and from where all travellers return raving about the extraordinary kindness of strangers. Lonely Planet tells it like it is in this most rewarding of travel destinations.
Old Favorites Rediscovered – extensive back-ground information on Petra, the Pyramids and Palmyra
New Favorites Uncovered – from Tel Aviv’s clubs and wi-fi centres to Beirut’s nightlife and Istanbul’s hippest restaurants: opinionated reviews of all listings
Off The Beaten Track – travel safely where other guidebooks fear to tread, through eastern Turkey, Iran, the Palestinian Territories and Libya
The Best Maps of any guide to the Middle East, all 114 of them
Exhaustive Practical Information – tips on border crossings, Internet access, digital photography, avoiding an Israeli passport stamp, and much more
716 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1994
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 1, 2010
Yes!! Lonely Planet Does it Again!!
This book proved to be absolutely invaluable for our travels through Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and even Cyprus!
While we carried with us a number of other supplementary guides, nothing could stand up to LP in terms of its overall usefulness. As usual the maps are extremely accurate which, being a half-pigeon self-navigator, is a very important factor for me!
With regards to lodging, no other book is tailored towards the budget traveler as much as LP is, and this isn't even one of their 'shoestring' versions! Without the blue book we would have spent substantially more then we did on accommodations!
Food of course is almost impossible not to find though, for those few times when you're looking for something specific, LP usually could nail it down!
As far as sites go, there is plenty of room for additional info but that's why we carried other color books. LP can guarantee to get you there an usually has better information than any other source regarding logistics.
Finally, I have never enjoyed a history section as much as the one in this book. For years the Middle East, its history, conflicts and current events have baffled me. The few dozen pages in which this is all explained shed a remarkable light on the whole situation for me. Sure, it's definitely a condensed version, but one that you won't find in any history book or news article!
This is definitely a worthy investment if you plan on visiting any of the included countries, or, are just looking for a sneak peak into the Middle East!
This book proved to be absolutely invaluable for our travels through Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and even Cyprus!
While we carried with us a number of other supplementary guides, nothing could stand up to LP in terms of its overall usefulness. As usual the maps are extremely accurate which, being a half-pigeon self-navigator, is a very important factor for me!
With regards to lodging, no other book is tailored towards the budget traveler as much as LP is, and this isn't even one of their 'shoestring' versions! Without the blue book we would have spent substantially more then we did on accommodations!
Food of course is almost impossible not to find though, for those few times when you're looking for something specific, LP usually could nail it down!
As far as sites go, there is plenty of room for additional info but that's why we carried other color books. LP can guarantee to get you there an usually has better information than any other source regarding logistics.
Finally, I have never enjoyed a history section as much as the one in this book. For years the Middle East, its history, conflicts and current events have baffled me. The few dozen pages in which this is all explained shed a remarkable light on the whole situation for me. Sure, it's definitely a condensed version, but one that you won't find in any history book or news article!
This is definitely a worthy investment if you plan on visiting any of the included countries, or, are just looking for a sneak peak into the Middle East!
July 22, 2011
The writers do a wonderful job of bringing the area to life, both with overviews of the history, geography, etc., and with details about specific towns and points of interest. I'm going to miss this book...
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December 16, 2007Good for ideas about going to the Middle East--think I'm going to stick with my original plan of Turkey, Egypt and Morocco. It did not have UAE, so I have to look into that too!
July 9, 2013
Always plotting my next trip. Need to get to Lebanon before it goes into chaos too.
November 13, 2010
Usual Lonely Planet awesome-ness! My one criticism is that a better map of Beirut would have been very helpful.
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February 11, 2015This book was pretty interesting and informative.
November 5, 2010
On of the best guides you can find :)
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews