Review: Ronda - Jose Manuel Real Pascual

Informative tour guide of the Spanish town of Ronda including over 80 photographs as well as a detailed history of the area.

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Review:
Another tour guide purchased on my recent holiday to Spain this one is all about the mountain town Ronda and specifically Puente Nuevo, the bridge that separates the old and new town and spans the 100m deep Tajo gorge. The bridge was completed in 1793 after 40 years of construction and is just an incredible piece of architecture. I'm scared of heights so crossing the bridge was pretty terrifying to me but the views down the gorge and across the valley were absolutely stunning.

This guide book has a lot of background information about the history of Ronda but what I love most are the gorgeous photographs of the bridge and the surrounding area. It kind of blows my mind that anyone would chose to live right on the edge of such a deep gorge but it's certainly a beautiful area!

If you're interested I also found this fantastic drone footage of Puente Nuevo which really gives you some perspective on just how deep the gorge really is.



Source: Purchased

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Review: Guided Tour of Gibraltar - T.J. Finlayson

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region. At its foot is a densely populated city area, home to over 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities.

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Review:
I love travel guides, whether it's ones I buy before a trip so I can read up on where I'm going or ones I purchase while I'm away to remind me of places I've been, they're something I always enjoy looking through. I picked up this guide to Gibraltar on a recent holiday to Spain when we took a day trip and it's a lovely keepsake. It's really weird to drive 5 minutes from Spain into somewhere that looks and feels so British with everything priced in pounds rather than euros and just a totally different atmosphere to the Spanish towns nearby!

This book has all kinds of interesting information about the history of Gibraltar, it's strategic location and how it has been used as a military base in multiple wars. It also has information about some of the popular tourist spots and a lot of gorgeous pictures of the area.

Source: Purchased

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Review: North Cyprus (Bradt Travel Guide)

Hike up to Buffavento, stroll through the cloisters of Bellapais Abbey or go barefoot on the golden sands of the Karpas Peninsula. Rugged North Cyprus offers charming unspoilt villages, deserted beaches and hidden monasteries - things of the past in the developed south. Revised and expanded, the eighth edition of North Cyprus reveals churches, castles, classical ruins and newly accessible sites. Accompanying this is an entertaining and in-depth overview of the ancient and modern history that has shaped this complex and divided island.

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Review:
I'll admit that I usually go straight for Lonely Planet books when I'm looking for travel guides but since they don't have one specifically for North Cyprus (just for the island as a whole) I ended up choosing this Bradt one and being very happy with it.

This is a pretty comprehensive guide to North Cyprus full of interesting background information on the island. There is so much history to uncover in Cyprus and this guide includes a timeline of important events dating from 6000BC right through to more recent years. The division between the Turkish controlled North and Greek controlled South of the island is complex and versions of events are likely to differ depending on whether you ask someone from Greek or Turkish descent but the information included in this guide is factual and seems pretty non-biased which I appreciated.

As well as the history of the island you'll also find information on the types of flora and fauna you can expect to see, detailed information about the different regions in the North and notes about most of the main tourist attractions as well as the usual tourist tips and info you'd expect from a tour guide and some handy Turkish language hints. There are countless mosques, churches, monasteries, castles and even Roman ruins to explore, beautiful beaches (I wish we'd travelled at the right time to see the turtles who come every year to lay their eggs), wonderful scenery and friendly people. The North side of the island is much poorer than the South so they rely on tourism to boost their economy and because of that they're really very warm and welcoming.

Cyprus really is a beautiful island and the North is far less built up than the South which actually made it a really nice place to visit, you won't find western chains of shops and restaurants there (although everything is still priced in Euros so I'd recommend taking those not Turkish Lira) and it's far less unspoiled than most tourist destinations. This was really noticeable in the capital city Lefkoşa (Turkish) / Nicosia (Greek) which is split in two by the green line, a barbwire barricaded no mans land that marks the boarder between the North and South. If you have your passport you can walk across the boarder in certain places after passing through two checkpoints and as soon as you cross to the Greek south side you'll see an immediate difference spotting chains like Starbucks and KFC that are completely absent in the North.

This guide was published in 2015 so I expect some of the hotel and restaurant information is probably out of date by now but we did a week long coach touring trip that took us around most of the North so we didn't really need that information anyway. It did include information about most of the places we visited and although our tour guide was extremely knowledgable it was nice to be able to look up extra information in the book too and have it as a reference guide to look back on now we're home. If you're looking for a guide for Northern Cyprus then I'd highly recommend this one and the island itself is well worth paying a visit to.

Source: Purchased

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Review: Lonely Planet Nepal

Lonely Planet Nepal is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Soak in the hustle-and-bustle of Kathmandu's Durbar Square, trek to the base of the world's highest mountain, or raft the rapids of the Bhote Kosi; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Nepal and begin your journey now!

Inside Lonely Planet Nepal Travel Guide:

• Colour maps and images throughout
• Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests
• Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots
• Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices
• Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss
• Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, religion, art, literature, cinema, music, architecture, politics, landscapes, wildlife, environmental issues.
• Over 11 colour maps
• Covers Kathmandu, Kathmandu Valley & Around, Pokhara, The Terai & Mahabharat Range, and trekking, biking, rafting and kayaking routes and more

The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Nepal, our most comprehensive guide to Nepal, is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less travelled.

• Looking for more extensive trekking coverage? Check out Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya for all you need to know to have a safe and rewarding trek.
• Looking for a guide focused on other countries in the region? Check out our Lonely Planet Bhutan guide, India guide, and Tibet guide for a comprehensive look at all the region has to offer; or Discover India, a photo-rich guide to India's most popular attractions.

Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet, Bradley Mayhew, Lindsay Brown and Stuart Butler.

About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travellers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves.

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Review:
I've always loved the Lonely Planet travel guides and this one is no exception, I purchased the 2015 edition of the Nepal guide before our trip last year and it was full of invaluable advice on everything from Nepal's history, local customs and religion to language guides, dos and don'ts and suggested itineraries for the main destinations. There is also a section on trekking (which I can't really comment on because we didn't use it) but I'd probably recommend purchasing the separate trekking guide if that's the purpose of your trip.

This guide includes a small section about the destruction caused in the 2015 earthquake but this edition was published within months of the disaster and there has been a lot of rebuilding work carried out since then so it isn't completely up to date. You will notice that a lot of the old temples in and around Kathmandu and Bhaktapur are still undergoing repair so there is a lot of wooden scaffolding around and unfortunately some buildings were completely destroyed but considering it had only been 2 years I was impressed by how much rebuilding had already been done. Lonely Planet is publishing an updated Nepal guide in July 2018 that will probably be slightly more accurate but we still found this was an incredibly useful guide.

We were staying with Nepalese family so had local tour guides for our entire trip but this book really is packed with interesting information about many of the larger temples and places of note and it has some fantastic itineraries for the main areas. We used the guide in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Bhaktapur and Chitwan National Park and there were definitely experiences we would have missed out on if we hadn't read about them in here first. The book gives a good rough idea of entrance fees for most attractions but we did notice that these weren't always completely correct.

If you're planning a trip to Nepal it is well worth trying to travel around the country to some of the larger cities and the National Park, there are so many amazing things to see and do that it's impossible to fit everything in in one trip - even without doing any of the major trekking routes! One piece of advice I can't stress highly enough is not to drink the local water without boiling it first though and if you do end up having a stomach issue go to one of the many local pharmacies as quickly as possible because the local medication is far better than anything you can purchase at home to take with you.

I'd definitely recommend purchasing this guide before your trip and it is well worth taking the time to read up on local customs and tips for travelling before you leave home. Take the time to learn a few Nepali phrases (the most important one being Namaste which can be used as hello, goodbye and just as a general friendly gesture), the Nepalese people are incredibly friendly and welcoming and very quick to smile even if communicating can be hard because of the language barrier.

Source: Purchased

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December 2015 Edition Paperback / Kindle or Preorder the updated July 2018 Edition:

Review: Lonely Planet Pocket Berlin

Lonely Planet Pocket Berlin is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Enjoy stunning views from the Reichstag; stroll through the Holocaust Memorial; or see artist murals on the Berlin Wall; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of the best of Berlin and begin your journey now!

Inside Lonely Planet Pocket Berlin:

Full-colour maps and images throughout
Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests
Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots
Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices
Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss
Free, convenient pull-out Berlin map (included in print version), plus over 20 colour neighbourhood maps
User-friendly layout with helpful icons, and organised by neighbourhood to help you pick the best spots to spend your time
Covers: Sheunenviertel, Potsdamer Platz, Kurfurstendamm, Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg and more

The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Pocket Berlin, a colorful, easy-to-use, and handy guide that literally fits in your pocket, provides on-the-go assistance for those seeking only the can't-miss experiences to maximize a quick trip experience.

Looking for a comprehensive guide that recommends both popular and offbeat experiences, and extensively covers all of Berlin's neighbourhoods? Check out Lonely Planet Berlin.

Visit the Lonely Planet website for more information

Review:
There's a reason the Lonely Planet travel guides are so popular, it's because they are packed with so much useful information and the Berlin Pocket Guide is no exception to that. This book was absolutely invaluable both in the run up to our trip (with advice on places to stay according to your budget, tips for travelling around the city including ticket prices, dos and don'ts and even a few useful German phrases) and while we were there. We took this book everywhere and the pull out map was worth its weight in gold with the street information and most importantly the transport map showing the various different U-Bahn & S-Bahn lines so you could work out journeys in advance.

The book includes lots of information on both popular tourist spots and less known locations along with information on where to find the best shops, bars, clubs and restaurants. The information is split into different parts of the city and they include suggested itineraries in case you don't have much time but want to see the highlights. It's really easy to plan your days around your own interests and because everything is grouped together by location you can save time and transport costs by visiting the things that are close together on the same day.

I'd highly recommend doing at least one of the listed walking tours so you can get to know the layout of the city. There's a 3.5km historical walk that takes you from the Reichstag through the Brandenburg Gate and past Museum Island and the Berliner Dom or a 3km walk that takes you along part of the route of the Berlin Wall where you'll see Checkpoint Charlie, one of the remaining Watch Towers and several remaining sections of wall as you travel up past the Holocaust Memorial (please, please make time to see the museum underneath the memorial, it's free to enter but you can pay €3 for an audioguide which I'd definitely recommend. It's a chilling experience but such a worthwhile one.) and end up near Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. You could actually combine the two walks and see a big chunk of the city but depending how much time you want to spend at each location along the way you might prefer to do them separately.

There is so much to see and do in Berlin that even though we were there for a week we still didn't have time for everything but this guide really helped us make the most of our trip and we packed in an awful lot. I've brought lots of Lonely Planet guides over the years but these pocket ones are perfect for city breaks, they're small and easy to carry in your bag or even a pocket so you'll always have the maps and information at your fingertips in case you want to change your plans last minute. I can definitely recommend the Berlin guide and I'll be buying more pocket guides in the future.

Source: Purchased

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Review: Berlin & Potsdam - Bernhard Schneidewind

An informative tour guide with many impressive photographs and explanatory texts.

With over 170 photographs, a map and public transport information.

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Review:
We bought this guide book on our recent trip to Berlin because we thought it would make a lovely keepsake. It's not a huge book but it gives a nice bite sized introduction to the city including interesting facts from Berlin past and present and a timeline of major events from the earliest settlements in 720 through to the modern day.

It includes lots of information and some really lovely pictures of lots of the main tourist sites throughout the city - the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, Potsdamer Platz, Museum Island, Berlin Cathedral, the TV Tower, Charlottenburg Palace and many more - and it also has segments on the Berlin Wall and some of the different areas of the city.

We realised it covered a lot of the places we'd visited ourselves while we were there so it's nice to be able to flick through and find out a little more background information about the things we saw.

The back cover of the book folds out into a really useful map for when you're actually in the city, it opens out to about A4 size and one one side you have the underground train map and the other has a street view that we found really helpful when we were walking around trying to find different locations.

This was a lovely, inexpensive memento & it's a welcome addition to my growing collection of travel books and guides.

Source: Purchased

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