Lonely Planet India (7th ed)

Rating:
Summary: An excellent resource
Review: Anyone planning a trip to India would be wise to take this book along. Start reading it a couple months before the trip (it's a thick book) and take it with you everywhere you go in India. I promise, any question you have, it will answer. Anytime I needed some information on language, customs, curiosities, cuisine, health issues, or even what time the local museum opens (I visited the Orissa State Museum in Bhubaneshwar), I found the info I needed. I like to refer back to it every now and then to dazzle my Indian friends with my knowledge of India and her culture (sometimes I even know more than they do!)
And I learned it all from this book. This is the 9th edition; in my opinion the 10th edition has a prettier picture on the cover. But the info in this one is reliable and insightful.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't make India sound too great!
Review: I just returned from a month in India, traveling with both the Lonely Planet (9th ed.) and Rough Guide (3rd ed.) If you are considering a long trip across the breadth of India, I would strongly suggest taking BOTH books. The Lonely Planet is great for practical details (train times, phone numbers, etc.) but spends too much space reviewing individual restaurants and hotels. Even though the book tops out over 1000 pages, the sections devoted to actually explaining the sights and the wonderful culture and history of India are very short.

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.

Rating:
Summary: Everyone's obsessed with Lonely Planet!
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: pinch of salt
Review: Lonely planet provied you with a good resouces to navigate through this difficult country. IT provides you with toold such as phone numbers and how to book plane and train tickets. It also gives a great deal of information about history, culture and religion of the India. In addition, it also gives a lot of do and don'ts and what to watch out for.

Rating:
Summary: No one guide has it all....
Review: One should never rely on just one source for a major adventure, as any trip to India is, and this very complete guide is no exception. This guide has excellent information on the history, culture and people of India, and the color section on Sacred India is a nice touch. It has lots of very practical information on what to bring, what you can and can't photograph, what to read before you go, how to avoid "cultural misunderstandings." It's helpful for preparing people for the assault Westerners often experience--ask for directions and you have a friend/guide for life, often accompanied by a very aggressive demand for money. The health and safety information is also pretty good--except that they say that tap water in cities is OK to drink--ignore this advice! I find this guide limited in its retaurant and hotel selections, especially if you're not a low-budget or student traveller. Also, information changes constantly--internet cafes spring up and close overnight, new restaurants and hotels open up every day, and the political situation bears watching up until the day you leave. And of course no guide book has really good maps. But why limit yourself--the internet is chock full of information on this wonderful, confusing, fascinating country!

Rating:
Summary: An excellent accomplishment, heavy but well worth it
Review: This edition of "Lonely Planet India" is better than the previous one, which was very very good itself. Despite the immensity of India and the numberless topics and regions that therefore have to be covered, the authors have done an excellent job indeed. Some weaknesses are inevitable, and this is perhaps why this is not one of LP's masterpieces, but it is indeed inevitable for travel guidebooks to be the better, the smaller the region they cover - this is why this book should perhaps be complemented with the individual LP guides to different Indian regions. But in itself, this book does cover most of what a visitor will need or want to know. And in a place that is chaotic and tough for foreigners like India, this may indeed be an essential tool for the less experienced travellers. The coverage of places to stay and eat is absolutely excellent, not just for the major cities but also for minor towns and sites (the authors would indeed seem to have been on every single square foot of land in India !). The section on permits and other legal matters is of immense value to anyone, and well up-to-date. And of course, the sections and special chapters on history, culture, religion, are extremely well written, great for the traveller and the armchair reader alike. Even though the best discoveries are those a traveller will make herself / himself, this guidebook is surely a great tool and help in anyone's discovery of this wonderful land. All in all, a masterpiece despite its limitations. A weakness is of course that things being as they are in India, information is subject to change, and some may have become out-of-date by the time this book was printed. But this is of course inevitable, and it simply means that - as in any country - a traveller should not rely on only a guidebook, but make a considerable effort to grasp as much as possible of current circumstances on her / his own.

Rating:
Summary: If you use it you will get help from it.
Review: This is the second time to visit India.Both time I took the same Lonely Planet. Always I choose hotel from it and felt not bad. In some small city, hight rank hotel means good servie and the price was not so high as you image it. First all the price listed in the book is as same as in the hotel, so try to cut off nearly 30% off is the very important thing to do during the trip.
Also I visited Jaisalmer on May, but if you following the book you will never go there in such cray summer. In fact, the summer was high enough, but still interesting. No more tourist means you can enjoy alone, and only myself in the hotel you can get nearly 50% discountdown for low season. If you read you can find a lot of things from the book, but on the trip everything is changed, you never image the book can guide you everything. Try to ask person around you, and get the most reasonable price.
I will plan to go to india again, by the guide of Lonely Planet, but I think I need a new version.

Rating:
Summary: Best guidebook, even for experienced India travelers
Review: 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.