India (Country Guide)

Explore the myriad wonders of India with this useful guide in hand. Whether you wish to cruise the backwaters of Kerala on the rooftop of a ferry, explore the Buddhist gompas of Leh, drink Darjeeling's namesake tea, get lost in the dusty bazaars of Hyderabad, or stroll the 16th-century ruins in Hampi, this book will help you get there. Highlights include more than 200 traveler-tested maps, thousands of places to stay and eat for all budgets, excellent health information, all you need to know about transportation options, and a 32-page color section on India's religions. --Kathryn True

Product Description
Discover India

Shield your eyes as the desert sun ignites the sandstone of Jaisalmer Fort, p. 245
Sway side-to-side as you lumber through the jungle tiger-spotting on the back of an elephant in Corbett Tiger Reserve, p. 472
Head for the hills and the heavens: adventure out from Darjeeling on a trek with stunning Himalayan views, p. 542
Align your chakras and get bent into a new position at a yoga class in Mumbai, p. 780

In This Guide:

Twelve authors, 252 days of in-country research, 28 new hotels in Delhi alone
Our new Activities chapter covers wildlife safaris, adventure tours, trekking, Ayurveda and yoga courses
Visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews, updates and traveler suggestions

In contrast, the Rough Guide spends much more space discussing the background and culture of individual locations, and is packed with lots of interesting details not found in the Lonely Planet. The RG spends less space on restaurant/hotel reviews, which was perfectly fine - I'd rather know more about the places I'm visiting than worry how much chicken shahjani costs at some particular restaurant.

The tone and approach of the books are different too - the RG takes a much more optimistic, romantic view of India, while the LP is often so terse and cynical that it doesn't really inspire you to visit many wonderful places.

Get the LP for the listings. Get the RG to appreciate the beauty of India.


Read it all before you go (but don't take it all with you)   February 18, 2000
55 out of 57 found this review helpful

I used the 98 edition while travelling in Sept/Oct 99 and found it extremely informative even though the prices were outdated. Prices may change overnight but 1,000 year-old temple ruins probably won't. It did seem as though every other traveler (and hotel owner and rickshaw driver...) owned a copy, yet it provided an excellent orientation to the places I visited and served as a great reference tool for further exploration.

The maps were better than anything I found locally and the cultural info was very helpful.

The book is bulky/heavy but tearing out key sections can easily solve this. I cut my book in half this way and got lots of envious stares from others lugging their entire LP or Rough Guide around and actually referring to maybe a third of it.

Get this book, get the LP Hindi-Urdu phrase book, but skip the LP travel atlas unless you want to walk across India.


the hippie's bible for India   September 2, 1999
37 out of 43 found this review helpful

It's both amazing and pathetic how many rucksack travelers to India follow every word of this book as if it were some holy scripture. So many travelers spend their all of their time with their noses in this book, trying to fill every last moment following each and every step recommended by the book. In the meantime, all too often, they fail to experience India itself. Such devotion to a travel guide is a bizarre phenomenon. Without a doubt, this book is an indispensible guide for those who truly need assistance in knowing on which Bombay street corner they should tie their shoe laces. There's too much chit chat and lame humour in this book (although, granted, it evidently appeals to some). To the book's credit, there are some nice city layouts and state maps. However, for travelers who prefer information without all of the weak attempts at humor and for those who prefer to make their own opinions rather than to blindly follow someone else's words, I would wholeheartedly recommend Robert Bradnock's India Handbook. I've traveled India with both books, and clearly Bradnock's is, in my opinion, the superior of the two.


Everyone's obsessed with Lonely Planet!   March 23, 2001
25 out of 29 found this review helpful

I was in India earlier this year and as it was my first trip out of my own country I made the mistake of presuming that the Lonely Planet guide would be the best as it is the best known. After struggling with it for a few weeks, I pretty much stopped using it. My criticisms of it would include - poor maps and outdated information on things such as banks and costs. These are not things that particulaly bothered me after I had worked out that The Lonely Planet wasn't actually a bible, but just a tool for travel. I think the Lonely Planets biggist problem is that everyone has a copy and is out there doing exactly the same thing as everyone else. In parts of India such as Calcutta, Darjeeling and Sikkim, this wasn't such an issue because there were'nt so many tourists. The hotels I stayed at were generally how they were described in "The Book" , the prices were right and the people unaffected and friendly. Sometimes I was the only westerner staying in a hotel. But the places that were unaffected were few and far between. Most places I would go the Indians were all obsessed with the power the Lonely Planet had over travellers. For example, In Agra, there has been a sceme going where a resturant will purposely poison a tourist and then get a cut from the hospital from the unfortunate victims travel insurance. This is good advice and I must admit that I didn't risk eating at any other place other than that recommended, but the Indians had taken full advantage of this and all the resturants were incredibly expensive as a result. While this is not a direct fault of Lonely Planets I would definately suggest getting a lesser known guide, such as The Rough Guide, so that you don't spend your whole trip surrounded by Lonely Planet readers.


Best guidebook, even for experienced India travelers   November 29, 2001
Gary Worthington (Olympia, WA United States)
22 out of 23 found this review helpful

When Lonely Planet India first appeared in 1981, it raised the standard for all India guidebooks in the comprehensiveness of locations covered and the detailed information useful to independent travelers, especially those on lower budgets. Twenty years later, it remains the guidebook I personally rely upon most, despite my familiarity with India from extensive travels since 1980 researching my historical novels such as India Treasures. I first learned about that wonderful nonprofit home-stay organization Servas from a Lonely Planet guide, which led to many of our best experiences in India, including lasting friendships. Although my wife and I aren't backpackers, and we're probably mid-range in terms of the amount we spend on accommodations and food, the book is extremely helpful. It's the most up to date and highly detailed regarding such information as transportation options within India, the scams travelers can encounter, and a wealth of other tips too numerous to get into in a brief review.

Given the India guidebook's thickness and weight, I've found it convenient to cut it into sections and only take the parts with me for the regions I plan to visit. It's still desirable to get supplemental maps for any city or region one plans to spend much time in, as the maps in the book are usually pretty minimal in terms of detail. And other guidebooks do indeed have useful information this one doesn't (browse the travel shelves in your favorite bookstore to find the additional guides most suitable for your own interests and style of travel). I also advocate reading the better novels set in India, to experience insights into daily life that guidebooks can only hint at.

No single guidebook on India can be all things to all persons for all occasions, but this one surely comes the closest, especially for travelers who don't have their arrangements taken care of on organized tours.