Krakow (Lonely Planet Krakow) [Taschenbuch]

I believe that L.P.'s popularity is based on the fact that they have a virtual monopoly on guides for some obscure travel destinations and they have no incentive to improve. I doubt that many travellers rely on LP guides for travel in France, since so many better options are availible. However, if you are travelling to an exotic travel destination, you are stuck with LP.

In any event, the Krakow guide confirmed my negative view of L.P. guides. As usual, the history portion of the guide was very informative and made great reading during my train trip from Prague to Krakow.

However, upon arrival the flaws of the L.P. format became painfully apparent. The font was (as usual) tiny and required a magnifying glass to read. The information regarding sights was overdone for minor sights and woefully lacking for important ones.

For example the portion of the guide dealing with Wawel Castle (one of the top sights in Krakow) was completely unorganized and indecipherable. The cathedral had many things in it which looked interesting but were not commented on in the guidebook. After whetting my appetite to check out the famous Wawel Chokra, the guide did not give information as to locating the thing. Ultimatly, I tagged on to a tour group to get the information which should have been contained in the guide!

Another weak point are the lousy maps. They do not conform with reality and are utterly useless. The maps are located in the back of the book. As a result, in order to use the maps, the user has to flip back and forth between the maps and the sections regarding the location you are trying to track down. This is irritating when you are walking along trying to find something.

The main maps contain a polyglot of information which mixes hotels, restaurants and sights in no apparent order. Would it be too much to ask to have some kind of practical organization? Would it not make sense to put a map in each section with a simple key to the locales discussed? Say what you will about Frommer's, they do maps well! L.P. just gets you lost! I just don't see the adventure into complicating a trip with needless frustration caused by getting lost, especially in a simply laid out city such as Krakow.

In it's defense, the guide did give good recommendations regarding hotels and restaurants and was well done in the Auschwitz section.

If you need a usable guide to get around Krakow, my recomendation would be to buy one of the $1 maps which are sold in the bookstores which surround the Cloth Hall. I did just that after retiring this guide after I wasted a day with it. L.P. serves a good function by filling guidebook gaps with less common travel destinations. However, they need to realize that organization and ease of use are as important as the information contained in the guide. They continue to produce guides which are unwieldy and poorly organized.