Lonely Planet Egypt

As always, from health to history, from the Nile to the necropolis, Lonely Planet does it again--assaulting you with helpful information you need before traveling. I did not check to see if there was a "Footprints" guide (which I highly recommend for South America and Peru over the LP guides) for Egypt. But I have been very satisfied with LP's work with Egypt.

I knew nothing about Egypt before my recent trip to the country. So, I decided to pick up a Lonely Planet Guide on Egypt and I'm sure glad I did. The book filled me in on culture, money, religion, food, history, sites, language, travel and so much more. The history section was precise and just the right length. I especially liked the summary of the pharaohs and gods. It was a nice size to carry along. The summaries of the temples, burial sites, etc were really nice. There was information in the book on the sites that our guide did not tell us. The maps were also helpful. Others in my group were asking to see my guide book instead of reading their own non-lonely planet guide books throughout the trip. Overall, I was very pleased with this guidebook. If you are going to Egypt this book is a must. Or, if you want to learn about Egypt, this is also a great book.

I have used several LP guides and this was the best one yet. I found the info to almost always be spot-on, and the writers of this edition present it to you with far more wit and humor than you would expect in a guide. I looked at a couple of the other reviews and noticed they were quite critical. This doesn't square with my experience at all. I spent 6 weeks in Egypt in spring 2003 and this guide was incredibly useful. Aside from the inevitable little mistake here and there, the only major inconsistency I found was that bus trips usually took about 20-30% longer than the guide estimated. that is, a 4 hour trip would usually take closer to 5. Other than that I had no complaints in 6 weeks of using this guide every single day.

I spent about a month reading this book and the Rough Guide series while planning my trip to Egypt... Well, they were both OK, the RG by Dan Richardson is more practical while LP goes into more detail on places of interest. Incidentally, this is the first book I read with systematic description of Egyptian gods and their relationships. Through the fortnight trip (Hurghada - Aswan - Luxor - Cairo - Suez - Hurghada) the LP was what I read in the evening before going to museums or tombs and RG was what I carried around in my pocket through the day. I would recommend a serious traveller to buy both.

I never travel anywhere without a Lonely Planet Guide. My trip to Egypt was no exception. I like them so much, I often buy the latest edition for places I have already been, just in case I get a chance to go again. This edition is especially nice, in that it only covers Egypt. The edition I used for my trip also covered the Sudan. So to save weight I had to rip out the Sudan pages before I even started the trip. The Lonely Planet guides provide information on everything, and are truely survival guides. I didn't backpack, but even if you stay in a great hotel and take a guided tour, there is no better way to get the feel of the sites and the country than reading you LP guide before you get there. The color pictures, maps and sketches of sites are excellent and well chosen, and the details of who and where to contact in an emergency may very well ensure your survival. But the best stuff is where to go for a particular food or drink and how to find that special place that the "tourists" don't visit. Don't leave home without it.