Product Description

DISCOVER BELGIUM & LUXEMBOURG

Taste the difference between good and excellent in Brussels at the world's finest chocolate shops, p113.

Find your favorite vantage point in fairy-tale Luxembourg City, a town full of spectacular views, p268.

Swathe yourself in the latest Antwerp fashion in hand-picked St. Andries boutiques, p196.

Get pelted with oranges by masked men in Binche, during Belgium's most bizarre carnival, p223.

IN THIS GUIDE

Co-written by a native Belgian and a chocoholic - over 1300 hours of on-the-road research with two kids in tow.
Our special beer chapter will have you sampling the region's finest from divine Trappist brews to acidic lambics.
You asked for it, we researched it - more child-friendly activities, cycling information and battleground coverage.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #147929 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-21
• Released on: 2007-06-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781741042375
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
…Lonely Planet, the intrepid traveler's bible...' --Los Angeles Times, April 2005

From the Publisher
Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travelers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travelers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travelers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travelers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Customer Reviews

The worst Lonely Planet I have read so far !
As much as I am faithul to Lonely Planet guidebooks, I was shocked by reading their edition of Belgium & Luxembourg. Not only did we have to wait 2004 to have a LP guidebook for those 2 countries (which must be after about all other regions in the world, even Antarctica, Papua New Guinea and tiny tropical islands), but it's not even half satisfying.

They should have kept the previous title "Brussels, Bruges and Antwerp", as there is frankly not much about the rest of the country. For instance, Belgium has some 3000 castles, but for some reason only 2 (yes, a miserable 2 !) are listed in the Lonely Planet. Same sparsity for the abbeys. Then, the book is heavily centered on Brussels and Flanders, as if the author didn't know more about Wallonia than the average occasional tourist. No mention of towns like Huy, Ciney or Gembloux - in fact they are not even on the guide's map ! No mention of the beautiful stone villages of the Condroz and Meuse Valley. It's like if they had written a guidebook about England without writing about the Cotswolds, Mendips and the country's many castles and stately homes ! It seems that the author is more interested in finding the best pubs and clubs in Antwerp than in historical and cultural sightseeing. There is more than lots of beer and legal drugs in Belgium !

Lonely Planet disappointment
We, too, were shocked with the inadequacies of this guide, (along with the Netherlands guide). What's happened to Lonely Planet? Maps were almost unreadable, information attached to the maps was confusing, streets there were incomplete, addresses were wrong, and the tone was opinionated and unhelpful. To top it off, one of the hotels that was editor's choice cancelled our two-day booking when a full week booking came along from someone else, and we weren't told. No apology, only a remark that we wouldn't like the room with someone else in it. Who selected this place for inclusion in the book with an extra recommendation?

My 3 years in Belgium is ending ... this book was a big help!
All in all, in my 3 years living in Belgium, I found this a really helpful guide book. Prices are always wrong in guidebooks, but I found the contact information (web, address, phone) nearly always right, and the descriptions accurate.

You will be very challenged to find another guidebook that has this level of coverage of Belgium in its entirety, as most seem to focus on Brussels, Gent, Bruges, and perhaps Antwerp. Belgium seems to typically be an afterthought on most tourists' itineraries.

I really enjoyed the author's picks, both hotels and restaurants. What can I say to the other reviewer where the hotel unfortunately cancelled their booking because they found a group that would pay them more? Is that the authors' fault? No, welcome to Europe, and to Belgium, where the customer is always ... wrong!!

So you're browsing guidebooks, and wondering which one to get?

I would have to say, based on my experience using an earlier edition of this book for the past 3 years (I imagine they're pretty similar!), if you're swinging through Belgium for 2 days, and going to see Brussels and Bruges, this book is probably not the best for you. You'll probably do better with a thinner city-specific guidebook. But if you're going to tour around Belgium, or spend an extended amount of time in a city or two, then the in-depth coverage of this book is a real benefit.

One criticim I do have to echo: Lonely Planet, let's face it, is not known for its maps, and this book is no exception. They're good enough, and I've never NOT been able to find something, but sometimes the maps, er, well, don't necessarily reflect reality.

So all in all, this is a solid book, and if you follow my advice in paragraph 5, I think you'll be happy with it.