Lonely Planet Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan (Lonely Planet Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan)

Maps go from fuzzy and confusing to completely unreliable, and restaurant listings often lack any sort of notion of prices (or are repeatedly geared for people hardly on a shoestring budget). Sometimes author recommendations are even non-existent - like the 'most recommended restaurant' in Batumi, which seems to have been bulldozed. The author for the Georgian section speaks of a gradually developing agro-tourism and homestay industry in the country, but somehow doesn't bother researching it almost at all (although you get plenty of listings for defunct Soviet hotels!). Illogically, sections on towns and other areas never include the names in Armenian and Georgian (apart from a few in an inadequate glossary in the back of the book), leaving you clueless as to what they'd be unless you spent a long time actually learning the national alphabets thoroughly. And, why throw the individual countries' history sections together into one general, regional history, especially given the unique backgrounds of each people? So much more depth could have been added to the book, but one gets the impression that the authors were racing towards a publishing deadline (especially the one for Armenia!). There's supposedly an update in the works, and it is much needed. For now though, check out instead the Trailblazer guide to Azerbaijan (*much* better coverage, even in the small section on Georgia) and the Rediscovering Armenia book, which is available either in country or on the internet - both of these actually do justice to the region.


Frustrating to use   May 8, 2002
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

I think Lonely Planet hurt its reputation with this one-- I was hoodwinked into buying it just because of the Lonely Planet name. What a mistake! Facts are wrong. Phone numbers and addresses are wrong. Information is scattered all over. And I discovered a lot of omissions of important sites for Georgia and Armenia. As a result it was very frustrating trying to use it when I was there in April (2002)and I ended up just giving up and leaving it behind in my hotel. A lot of times there's contradictory facts and you just dont know which one is true! Fortunately I had two other books with me about Georgia and Armenia. For travel to Georgia I would instead recommend "Georgia: A Sovereign Country of the Caucasus." I have continued to refer to it even after returning home from my trip and it is in my permanent collection. It's also a very good introduction to Georgia. In Armenia I prefer "Edge of Time: Traveling in Armenia and Karabagh." This book is also worth holding onto even after your trip is over. It's a very good introduction to Armenia and the photographs were very well done. I didn't go to Azerbaijan and Karabagh so I don't know if Lonely Planet did a better job for those locations.


very pro-armenian   March 28, 2002
 2 out of 11 found this review helpful

this is a nice book for foreigners, but very pro-armenian in every issue concerning Azerbaijan and it's territorial integrity.


to Mr. Meneshian   February 5, 2002
 2 out of 13 found this review helpful

Dear Mr. Meneshian
Be careful when writing reviews. Unfortunately, you are ignorant about the fact that there is no Armenian Region of Nagorno Karabakh. For more information look at the official maps. You probably have no idea about other conventional maps, but the map of the "Great Armenia" on your wall.
Thank you