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Lonely Planet Guides

Lonely Planet Egypt

The Lonely Planet guides are very popular, and have a tremendous amount of specific information geared towards the budget traveler. They have titles for nearly every possible destination that you might want to travel to, and their authors have a slightly irreverent view of things that I really like.

Lonely Planet Egypt, like all of their titles, is full of travel suggestions regarding where to stay, where to eat, and what to see. As I mentioned, the suggestions tend to focus on the serious budget traveler (you won't find more detailed information about hostels and other cheap lodging options anywhere else) who is more interested in really understanding the culture they are visiting than a plushy view of the biggest tourist sites.

Each chapter contains a "highlights" section outlining the must-sees for each region, and the book is full of travel tip sidebars and other advice.

But don't worry -- the major sites are covered in good detail and accompanied by clear maps. There isn't much background or history for the sites, but the book is well organized and I know that many people use the LP guides as their sole traveling book.

Perhaps the best thing about Lonely Planet is the huge online resource they provide, including timely updates, traveler reports, and other addendum that let you get the latest information just before your trip. And,if you can provide updates or corrections LP will include your comments and information in the next version of the book, and possibly a free copy of a guidebook. The address and information for sending updates is provided in each copy of a Lonely Planet guidebook.

Definitely a good choice for the independent traveler, although I might bring along a detailed site reference for historical background, just to fill in the gaps.