Lonely Planet Seoul

Average customer rating:

Completely weak
Needs Reworking
Lonely Planet
Helpful for Newbies
Learning about Seoul

Lonely Planet Seoul
Martin Robinson
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1740598466

Book Description

Find your own way in Korea's buzzing capital, with Lonely Planet's guide to Seoul. Discover the culture; savour the cuisine; and take your pick of palaces and museums, markets and malls, cafes, bars and clubs. Packed with insider tips, straight-up reviews, comprehensive cultural and historical information, Korean script throughout, grid-referenced maps. ELIMINATING THE GUESSWORK - opinionated hotel reviews make the decisions easy. SHOP YOUR SOCKS OFF reviews and tips take you to the city's best traditional markets, glitzy malls, boutiques and galleries. DISCOVER the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) - we take you on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the formidable and fascinating North-South border. FEAST LIKE A KING - eating reviews serve up the city's finest Korean fare, from spicy tofu and barbeque to Korean fusion and Hanjeongsik banquets.

Customer Reviews:

Completely weak.......2007-06-03

This is one of the only travel books on Seoul that is easy to get. I have taken it with me on three trips to Seoul so far, and have found it almost useless. I got a better idea of places to visit from the map I got from the hotel and searching the internet than I did from this guide.

Needs Reworking.......2007-03-10

Lonely Planet Seoul is poorly organized and riddled with inaccuracies; unfortunately it is the only comprehensive, recent Seoul guide (in English) on the market. I used the book to get an overview of Seoul, but shockingly, found the tourist information office maps and guides more useful and accurate. The website Seoul Style offers much more interesting eating, entertainment, and shopping suggestions, but very occasionally I'll refer to the Lonely Planet for further ideas.
The book ought to be organized by neighborhood rather than subject; it's aggravating to visit an area of Seoul and flip between different chapters, looking for the two inches of print on a given activity in a particular area. Other Lonely Planet and Fodor's guides usually integrate all suggestions by neighborhood and accurately portray those suggestions onto maps. One can get an overview of the different areas when the descriptions are integrated, especially if the author writes an introductory paragraph about a neighborhood's feel; to Robinson, it seems that places are just places, with no 'there' there. In reality, each area of Seoul does have a unique feel and meaning.
In the LP Seoul guide, the maps' numbered descriptions are often mis-categorized (e.g., under 'Shopping' the author suggests the bookstore Seoul Selection, but when you look for the location on the map, it is listed under 'Entertainment'; when poring through dozens of suggestions in tiny font, it is frustrating to check all the categories to compensate for his carelessness). The layout and selection of maps in general is mediocre, and leave little sense of the scale or organization of Seoul; for instance, Robinson devotes two pages of maps to Jamsil to depict just a few activities, and leaves the bottom half of those two pages devoid of suggestion, but gives the large, very happening area of Gangnam / Apjugong just one page. Adjacent Cheongdam, which a favorite hangout for younger Koreans and in 'feel' and location is much closer to Apjugong, he places on the Jamsil map, but doesn't provide any activities.
The transliteration between Hangul and English is frequently bizarre, which makes it difficult to decipher the names of neighborhoods and places. It is better to use the Tourist Maps (in other cities I've never relied on tourist maps, but Seoul is different), for the transliteration and neighborhood names are more commonly understood by Koreans. His language guide is also transliterated ineffectually; a traveler trying to follow his phonetics would never be understood by a Korean. For vowels pronounced 'e' he writes 'i'; the number 1 is correctly pronounced like eel; he writes 'il', which is perfect if he means the French pronunciation of 'il'; same for 2: pronounced e, he writes i - again, great for French, but he's transliterating to English, so it's wrong.
LP Seoul needs to be rewritten by a very organized, clear thinker who possesses a current understanding of Seoul and Hangul-English translation, yet who recalls the needs of a first-time visitor to this dynamic city.

Lonely Planet.......2006-08-19

Short passages about all sights and sites one might want to visit. Would be a good book to have there with you as you sightsee.

Helpful for Newbies.......2005-12-29

Having never been to Seoul this book was very helpful for finding attractions. I did not use the book for accomodation or dinner recommendations though. A particularly convenient aspect of the book was that it told you which subway exit to leave from for a lot of the attractions. When subway stops commonly have many exits it makes it that much quicker.

Learning about Seoul.......2005-07-29

Being first time travelers to Korea, we wondered what it would be like. A friend recommended that we order this book. We found it very helpful in answering many of our questions. We also referred to the book on several occasions while in Seoul, confirming our memory of its contents, such as the custom in tipping for services and to remind us of the below ground shopping experiences available within the city. We would recommend the book to others. We also ordered the Korean Phrasebook which we did not use at all -- it was not necessary or helpful for our use.

Lonely Planet Seoul City Guide (Lonely Planet City Guide)

Average customer rating:

Lonely Planet Seoul City Guide (Lonely Planet City Guide)
Chris Taylor
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Asia | Travel | Subjects | Books

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

Lonely Planet | Guidebook Series | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Travel Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 0864421850

Korea on the Move (Facts About Korea, Cultural Heritage, Tour Guide, Participatory Government, Busan ITU, Yellow Pages, Special Issues)

Average customer rating:

Korea on the Move (Facts About Korea, Cultural Heritage, Tour Guide, Participatory Government, Busan ITU, Yellow Pages, Special Issues)
Korean Overseas Information Service
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: CD-ROM
ASIN: B000K841UW

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