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Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan (Lonely Planet Travel Guides)
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Lonely Planet (2004-07-01)
ISBN: 1740591380
EAN: 9781740591386
Dewey Decimal #: 915
Binding/Media: Paperback - 296 pages
Edition: 2
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Hike in the stunning Caucasus Mountains, bathe in the Black Sea, explore lush, church-studded hills, laze on the shores of Lake Sevan and enjoy generous local hospitality. Connect with the diverse cultures and wide-ranging landscapes of the South Caucasus in this, the only guide to cover the region. • UNRAVEL THE PAST - extensive coverage of the region's fascinating history and mosaic of cultures • PLAN YOUR ROUTE with the help of tempting highlights and itineraries and over 40 detailed maps • SLEEP SOUNDLY - wide-ranging listings from welcoming homestays to Soviet sanatoriums • ENJOY fine wines from Georgia and tasty Armenian cognac with our enticing food & drink sections • TALK THE TALK - impress the locals in all three languages using our expert guide
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Customer Reviews
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Artur Wieznowski
Rating  (3)
Date: 2010-07-08
I review only parts of the book dealing with Armenia.
Using this already outdated book - I've been to Armenia in June 2010 - I have found it quite useful. First of all it gives some information of how to use public transport in Armenia. In spite of the fact that the information is now very imprecise, it gives very handy ideas of how the transport is organized and how it works, what let us to understand and use it. We found also useful the information of hiking possibilities, however more detailed information and some, even basic plans would do much good. Anyway places proposed in the book as interesting for the hiker, came out to be interesting, with the final prize of hidden in the wildness churches, castles or wonderful Kilikia beer in one or another town. Much of the information about culture, people, places worth visit is still valid and I can not complain about safety - what was underlined in the guide and made us more brave in choosing Armenia as our holiday destination.
The most important problem with the book is that it covers all 3 Caucasian countries when probably every one deserves a book. This way there is not enough information about surprisingly diversified nature wonders of Armenia in the book. I am absolutely convinced that more precise description of some more remote parts (for example Yeghanodzor, Yeghegis Valley) and some even simple plans (!!!), including plans of more often visited places (Dilijan surroundings, Tsackadzor, Geghard to Gamla valley) would make the travel to Armenia even bigger pleasure.
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GEORGIA REVIEW - Good guide
Rating  (4)
Date: 2009-01-11
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
There are not a lot of guides for these countries, though perhaps one guide per country would give you more detail on each, and/or be more compact. It's not clear to me that anyone going to one of these countries would probably go to all three, especially since most Westerners go for business, or to live in one of these countries in the long-term.
Nonetheless, given the paucity of travel guides for the region and the less than developed tourism industry in Georgia (the only country I have visited out of the three), the Lonely Planet guide was invaluable. Lonely Planet has a lot of problems - few photos, difficult to read black and white maps, and a lot of worthless practical information (post offices, laundromats, etc), the descriptions and histories of the sites and neighborhoods was better than anything I would have gotten within Tbilisi, in English.
Georgia is a country in transition, so certain information was a bit out of date, particularly any area in or near the conflict zones. Can't blame Lonely Planet for unexpected wars. I had the opportunity to travel quite a bit in Georgia in the course of a week or so, with Georgians. Four out of five sites were well covered in LP, with good history and descriptions.
So, if you happen to be going to Georgian and don't speak Russian or Georgian, this LP will make your trip much better.
On another note, Tbilisi is a very lovely city surrounded by high hills and a large ruined fortress looking down into the city, with some of the nicest people I have ever met. I have had problems in many cities, "Western" and developing, where people were either rude, con-artists, outright thieves, or harassing. In Tbilisi people were welcoming and honest - even the taxi drivers! And if you are American, and afterwards an EU citizen, they tend to love you because of the events in August 2008. It's just sad that such a nice city is so far off the beaten path.
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Not perfect, but as good as it gets
Rating (3)
Date: 2007-08-28
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
Writing a guide book for these countries is not an easy job. In this book, information is good and extensive, but don't rely on it as your bible. Maps are not up-to-date, and this might be its biggest weakness; however, you might not find other maps anywhere in the Caucasus which are better, so get this book and use it on the way. You might want to notice that this book is ILLEGAL in Azerbaijan because of pro-Armenia information about Karabakh. At least when crossing by land, the custom control at the border will ask you which books you are bringing in. This is how I lost my book before I even got to use it in the country. But then again, don't blame Lonely Planet, blame the dictatorship.
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use it as a very general guide
Rating (3)
Date: 2007-06-13
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
I only used this book for Georgia, but it got so much wrong---including maps!--that it was almost useless.
It was good, however, for a general overview of the history and culture, and what's where. It was also used frequently to try to find the right 'mashtruka' when traveling, since routes are written in Georgian, and I could show the Georgian name to drivers to see if I was in the right van going to the right place.
Let's hope that this book is either updated soon, or a competitor decides to publish a guide to this intriguing part of the planet.
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Very Useful ...
Rating (4)
Date: 2006-07-18
6 out of 10 customers found this reveiw helpful
The Caucasian countries probably constitute the last bastion of the enigmatic destinations in the world and are shrouded in rumors & unclear doubts. The time trusted Lonely Planet is your only hope and probably the only guide that'll help you plan and execute your trip. I recently came back from a short trip to Georgia and found the information remarkably accurate and undoubtedly useful. It'll serve as your lifeline whilst in the Caucasus.
I've seen some dismal review comments and whilst I respect other people's opinions, I cannot help wonder what (else) were travelers expecting? A street-by-street guide with illustrated pictures will take away all the enigmatic charm and adventure that the Caucasian countries have to offer. A trip that is planned to perfection is usually not much fun. However, the hospitality of the wonderful people and the overwhelming beauty of the country will supersede your dependence on the guide.
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Retail Price: $24.99
Amazon.com's Price:$0.01
That's 100% Off!
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