Everyone has their opinions about the various options for guidebooks but I am Lonely Planet all the way. I think I'm exactly their target audience and I appreciate the hidden sarcasm throughout the guides. I also own at least a dozen of their phrasebooks.
Why I love lonely planet can be summed up with two quick examples from their chapter on Uganda (though don't get me started on how East Africa is one guidebook with just a chapter for each country).
*The book begins with a simple question: WHY GO? I love that it isn't assumed that everyone is going to want to go everywhere. I love that they're pretty straight forward about which places may not be awesome destinations (like Nairobi). However, Uganda gets this glowing review:
"Why Go? Emerging from the shadows of its dark history, a new dawn of tourism has risen in Uganda, polishing a glint back into the "pearl of Africa". Travellers are streaming in to explore what is basically the best of everything the continent has to offer. "
Pretty good sell- and I believe them.
*Lonely planet writers also seem to have a pretty good idea of how their destination compares to others. In one museum description they write "There's a varied and well-captioned collection". That is exactly what I care about! Going to museums without captions is amusing in its own right but maybe not something I'd go out of my way to do. Hours of operation, cost, and presence of captions- that's what I want in a blurb.
Captions in museums are fascinating. In Madrid, the Museo de América has an exhibit on "La emigración africana," which was pretty much my favorite thing there.
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