Lonely Planet Finland

Average customer rating:

Good enough
Does its job, even if one is wont to grumble about the rip-offs it might lead you into

Lonely Planet Finland
Andy Symington
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Finland | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Insight Guide Finland (Insight Guides)
Lonely Planet Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania
St. Petersburg (Lonely Planet City Guides)
Lonely Planet Sweden
Insight Pocket Guide Helsinki (Insight Pocket Guides)

ASIN: 1740597915

Customer Reviews:

Good enough.......2007-05-10

Provides good basic information on plenty of spots (even the tiny ones not on the most popular routes). Sometimes little overexcited about the atmosphere or the value of certain sights or cites. The information about pricing and eating joints is outdated in several cases which - on the other hand - forces you to start exploring by yourself. Generally useful especially for your fist trip to Suomi.

Does its job, even if one is wont to grumble about the rip-offs it might lead you into.......2007-03-12

Having moved to Helsinki last August and traveled around a bit, I've used the 5th edition of the Lonely Planet guide to Finland for several months now, mainly in the south of the country. I found the guide useful, but certain aspects of it invite comment.

LONELY PLANET FINLAND does cover all of the standard sightseeing objectives in the country, including museums and natural areas outside of the largest cities. And while maps are often problematic in Lonely Planet guides, I found no errors at all in this one. The activities recommended in cities like Helsinki are spot-on, free of kitsch routes and putting travelers in good contact with the locals. The author clearly thinks that most people will be in the south of Finland in the summer, since visiting places like Suomenlinna wouldn't be all that interesting in the cold and dark time of the year, but this I suppose is a reasonable assumption. And since the guide was written by a single person, Andy Symington, it is more coherent in its rating of destinations and activities than the often self-contradictory guidance of collaborative Lonely Planet efforts.

But while the book is a good companion once one has settled in at one's destination, quite objectionable is its guidance on lodging and travel, with so much inexplicably geared towards wealthy travelers. Finland has a high cost of living, true, but it can be a very cheap destination for the backpacker. You know, that demographic that Lonely Planet has historically targeted. The inclusion of hotels that charge 200 euro/night or more is simply ridiculous; travelers that would fork over that much are much more likely to buy the simpler Berlitz, Fodor's, or Frommer's guides. Even recommendation of so many hostels and guesthouses in each locale seems unnecessary. Basically the entire country is now covered by free Internet hospitality services like Hospitality Club and Couchsurfing, so there's no need to pay for lodging and tours when chances are some kind local will give it to you all in exchange for just interesting conversation and cultural exchange. Similarly, coverage of the north of the country seems excessively concerned with expensive guided tours and safaris.

The preference for expensive lodging is mirrored by the exclusive attention paid to Finland's notoriously pricely train and bus systems. I was happy to see that the Directory of the Finland guide lacks the scary "hitchhiking is never entirely safe and we don't recommend it" text the publisher favours, and in fact the author is fairly positive about it. Unfortunately, this kind look towards hitchhiking doesn't actually translate into giving tips on it. Cutting out the luxury hotel listings that no one will use anyway would free up space for simple advice like "In Tampere, the most popular place to hitchhike towards Helsinki among local students is Viinikka crossroads, a ten-minute walk south from the bus station."

If you are going to Finland to visit just a couple of cities and have already secured lodging and know how to travel cheaply, you should have no problem printing out some information about basic sightseeing from freely available resources on the Web. I found Lonely Planet Finland a decent investment, but only because I've gone out to see many places around the country.

Average customer rating:

Good information with a lack on enthusiasm
Not as inspiring as the cover would indicate!
Great book!
Lots of maps and pretty facts...
Essential really

Lonely Planet Finland
Paul Harding
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Finland | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Europe | 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
Similar Items:

Insight Guide Finland (Insight Guides)
Say It in Finnish (Dover Say It Series)
Insight Pocket Guide Helsinki (Insight Pocket Guides)
Lonely Planet Sweden
Finnish Phrase Book & Dictionary (Berlitz Phrase Books)

ASIN: 1740590767

Book Description

Unlock the mysteries of this enigmatic northern nation with a little help from Lonely Planet. From the slopes to the sauna, you won't miss a beat while exploring Finland's stylish towns and pristine countryside. <ul>

garner valuable insider information on hip Helsinki - the city's finest revealed & reviewed </li>

discover the best places to get your Baltic herring fix, as well as the perfect places to stay </li>

peddle, paddle, ski and walk through unspoiled wilderness, with activities coverage for every season </li>

break the ice with dedicated Finnish and Swedish language sections </li>

find your way like a local with 65 detailed maps </li></ul>

Customer Reviews:

Good information with a lack on enthusiasm.......2007-03-13

I've found the information in this book very handy, but I couldn't help but feel that the author and his predecessors didn't enjoy their time in Finland. Ok, ok, so I've been bored in Finland too. But that's why I buy a guidebook... to turn me on to those hidden gems in the country that I might not have noticed otherwise. This book left me feeling that there weren't any hidden gems... there are obvious gems and then some boring industrial wastelands. But apart from this lack of enthusiasm for the country, I didn't notice any wrong information and the sections on major cities have turned out to be extremely handy (especially the maps).

Not as inspiring as the cover would indicate!.......2004-08-29

To put this review in context - my wife and I travelled to Sweden and Finland this summer. She has family in both countries who we visited and stayed with. Much of the time was spent in rural Finland (Kuusamo and region). Our home is Thunder Bay, which is a small pulp-and-paper city (100 000) in rural Ontario.

The Lonely Planet guides are well-known (at least among my travelling friends) as including a little bit of everything - culture, entertainment, restaurants, and places to stay. Because Finland is a young and sparsely-populated country, it turns out that there aren't a lot of castles or museums or cathedrals to see, and those that are there are not as impressive (generally) as their counterparts in Sweden. No, the reason to go to Finland, according to this guide, is the nature, parks, wildlife, etc.

Normally this kind of thing is very inspiring, and the book makes it sound interesting. However, this is exactly the kind of thing we can do at home - provincial parks, downhill and cross-country skiing, and moose crossing the road are all part of our normal existence. Why would we go to Finland to experience these things? This is the nature of the country, of course, which the editors of the Lonely Planet series cannot control. However, reading the book did not give me any particular desire to go to Finland had I not been planning to go anyways. It seems like the editors may as well have summed it up as "It's a great place to live, although a little dull to visit." In reality, the country is much more interesting than the book would have led me to believe.

Having badmouthed the general aspects, I do want to praise the section on Helsinki. Here the guidebook shines and we toured the city and the sites based on the well-documented walking/biking tour. It is a fantastic way to view the city and made the purchase cost of the book well worthwhile. We saw much more of the city than we would otherwise have been able to. Likewise, as visitors to Scandanavia will likely have noticed, there is a dearth of mid-range eating places (pubs, "family restaurants", etc.) in Scandanavian cities, so we relied on this book to find a place to eat, which again was exactly as described. In that restaurant, we were planning our next move when in walked another couple with the same guidebook, sitting at the table next to us. Obviously they were finding the book useful as well!

Great book!.......2003-03-06

I visited this country with my Finnish boyfriend in 2002. THe book was a great help. It helped me decide which tourist spots, shopping areas, historical sites and places of interest to check out. The only part that I didn't like was that it didn't touch too much on the smaller cities of Finland, but in general, it's a good buy. Definitely worth it, but make sure you get "Culture Shock, Guide to Finland" if you do travel to Suomi. Having a cultural view of this beautiful country is important.

Lots of maps and pretty facts..........2003-02-08

But if you happen to be in Finland, the only thing you'll need to sample is the local alcoholic beverages.

Essential really.......2001-05-17

I've just been to Helsinki for a few days, and although I didn't get the chance to test this book's usefulness in other parts of the country, it certainly proved worth having just for Helsinki. It tells you all the basic stuff, and some of the interesting stuff. I was able to get from the airport by bus and walk to my hotel from the bus station simply by glancing at the book on the flight to Helsinki. Everything is very clear and nicely laid out, and it's a handy size too. I hope I'll return to Finland; this is the first thing I'll pack.

Average customer rating:

Lonely Planet: Finlandia

Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications - Italian editions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Finland | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

Lonely Planet | Guidebook Series | Travel | Subjects | Books

Travel | Italian | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

All Italian Books | Italian | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 8870636666

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