Product Description

America’s #1 bestselling travel series

Written by more than 175 outspoken travelers around the globe, Frommer’s Complete Guides help travelers experience places the way locals do.

• More annually updated guides than any other series
• 16-page color section and foldout map in all annual guides
• Outspoken opinions, exact prices, and suggested itineraries
• Dozens of detailed maps in an easy-to-read, two-color design

Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism predicts that tourism in 2007 will grow 8% over the prior year. Turkey will have a projected 20 million foreign visitors in 2007.

Frommer's Turkey, 5th Edition explores the highlights of a country that is an amazing and diverse treasure trove of architectural styles and ancient ruins. You'll learn how to navigate the chaotic bustle of Istanbul, buy a rug and get the best deal, find the best undiscovered ruins, and learn the ins and outs of getting a Turkish bath. Readers also get language and etiquette tips, exact prices and directions, logistical advice, detailed two-color maps, and much more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #132207 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 488 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780470247617
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Publisher
This brand-new guide explores the highlights of Turkey, one of the crossroads of world civilizationan amazing and diverse treasure trove of architectural styles and ancient ruins, most of which are still being excavated.

This guide shows readers how to navigate the chaotic bustle of Istanbul; where to buy a rug and how to get the best deal; where to find the best and most undiscovered ruins; how to chart a successful sailing trip along the Mediterranean coast; which beach resorts not to miss and which to avoid like the plague; the ins and outs of getting a Turkish bath; and how to have an unforgettable Cappadocia experience by staying in a hotel carved out of one of the regions limestone caves. Readers also get language and etiquette tips, exact prices and directions, logistical advice, detailed two-color maps, and much more.

From the Back Cover
Experience a place the way the locals do. Enjoy the best it has to offer. Frommer's. The best trips start here.

• Insider tips on bargaining at the bazaars, taking a hamam (Turkish bath), exploring ancient ruins, and seeking out hidden beaches.
• Outspoken opinions on what's worth your time and what's not.
• Exact prices, so you can plan the perfect trip whatever your budget.
• Off-the-beaten-path experiences and undiscovered gems, plus new takes on top attractions.

Find great deals and book your trip at Frommers.com

About the Author
About the Author Lynn Levine has worked for Elle International and as a correspondent for the German editions of Elle, Elle Decoration, and Holiday. The spirit of adventure has inspired her to quit 9-to-5 jobs repeatedly, and as an itinerant vagabond, Lynn splits her time among Manhattan, Florence, Italy and the Jersey suburbs. She is accompanied on her travels by her faithful Jack Russell Terrier, Buster.

Customer Reviews

Try Lonely Planet, Blue or Eyewitness Gds--anything else!
Disclaimer: I don't pretend to be a Turkey expert. However, my experience during a 12-day trip Turkey is consistent with other guides much more than this one.

The author sometimes seems to be generalizing from experiences she had, to say that everyone will have the same experience (I didn't--and found other guides more reliable in terms of what to expect on a social & cultural level). Furthermore, many times I find myself wondering about the depth of research--asides like "(unless my guide was pulling my leg)," (p.101) are alarming and tend to indicate a lack of reliability and attention to detail (which extends to misspelled Turkish words--e.g. efendem for efendim). There was a sort of shallowness throughout that I can't pinpoint but which I found disappointing.

Even more startling are the omissions. Just for a sampling, the book gives no information on Edirne (Adrianople), Iznik (Nicea), or Kutahya; within Istanbul, it skips some of my favorite--not insignificant--mosques and churches (Rustem Pasa, Mehmet Sokullu Pasa, Sergius & Bacchus), the Bucoleon Palace ruins, and even the Theodosian Land Walls (which are mentioned in the introduction but the "see chapter 3" is a dead end). For even the most mildly curious about history/architecture, there is very little here. Even for those who only want to shop, the info on carpets conflicted with what I have read elsewhere (and saw with my own eyes--a fine carpet at 10 knots per inch? Shouldn't it be double that?--again, I'm not an expert, so correct me if you know otherwise) Anyway, there are much better guides out there. I won't pretend to have read them all, but for Istanbul the Eyewitness Guide was fantastic, and for the rest of Turkey, while Lonely Planet Turkey has many flaws, omissions are not one of them--it is encyclopedic (a term mysteriously used for this book by a reviewer on the flyleaf). The Blue Guide is also extremely helpful.

Better luck with the second edition.

An Indispensable Guide
Our battered and dogeared copy of the Frommer's Turkey guide was an indispensible guide on our trip to Turkey. We are independent travelers who like to get out on our own, away from tours, and this guide was perfect for our needs. We used it to plan our trip, modifying Ms. Levine's suggested 2-week itinerary to match our needs. The guide also provided us with plenty of off the beaten path suggestions of where to stay and eat. We found the reviews of accommodations and restaurants particularly accurate in terms of quality, though would have liked to see a few more restaurant recommendations -- this is one area, I think, where Frommers guides in general feel a bit thin. The book also has lots of historical and cultural information and "surivival tips" that made for good reading (and re-reading) during long airport waits and on downtime -- I found myself reading this book more often than the novel I brought along. This guide also works well in conjunction with the Eyewitness or Insight guides (we have found this for other locations too), as the latter seem to provide better at-a-glance cultural information and have superior maps. Yes, prices were more than what were listed in the book, but this is not the author's fault. In any case, after a couple of days in Turkey we could get a sense of "budget," "moderate," and "expensive" prices and estimate these categories in the guidebook accordingly.

I am impressed by how much ground is covered in this guide. We appreciated the attention given to some places and experiences that we didn't find mentioned in other guidebooks to Turkey. Traveling distances and times seemed entirely accurate, and they helped us to budget our time efficiently.

This book is by far the WORST Frommers publication
I always use Frommers books for my vacations, but I have to tell you that this book is the biggest waste of money I have ever spent on Amazon or any other book store for that matter. The author obviously has not done her job here. Be careful, you just might wind up in Iraq if you follow her guides. This book is very vague and confusing throughout. You can not trust her hotel recommendations. How in the world can she justify putting Apricot hotel in Istanbul in this book. This guy is a crook. This hotel should be taken out of this book completely for it's opportunistic behavior. Have you ever heard the phrase BAIT AND SWITCH? BUYER BEWARE? Well, that should be the heading for all her recommendations if they are all like the Apricot hotel in Istanbul. My advise to the author, have a chat with the guy who wrote the Frommers Italy book, you can learn alot from him.