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Posted In: Armenia

Isaura Norena says...

This guide book follows the standard Lonely Planet format of providing not only information about the country, but a wide selection of accommodation and tips for the independent traveller.In my opinion, it does a fair job. The book, however, has to compare to other guide books on the same region.And there are a few very good ones around, e.g. Roger Rosen and the Bradt book on Georgia, which did better. I found the book rather thin.It is full of useful facts, but failed to convey the magic of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.A good guide makes people who do not know the country at all want to go there.This one doesn't. Perhaps it would be better to beef it up a little in the next edition rather than concentrate only on listing towns.

Posted on March 24, 2011

Leota Back says...

It seems likely that the reason people buy this book is simply because it's Lonely Planet and because the much better travel guide options for individual countries don't seem to pop up easily when you search this site. However it's worth persevering. For Georgia the Roger Rosen book "Georgia: A Sovereign Country of the Caucasus" is good on architecture and photos, but Tim Burford's recently updated Bradt Guide is more practical. For Azerbaijan Mark Elliott's Azerbaijan with Georgia book (Trailblazer) gets great reviews (see also Amazon.co.uk) but for some reason is hidden around 75th when you search Amazon.com with the key word Azerbaijan. It has about 140 maps and loads of practical detail. For Armenia the best resource is altogether free (Rediscover Armenia Guidebook - download in sections from [website]) though you can buy the whole thing pre printed via Amazon or in situ.

Posted on March 25, 2011

Nichol Muni says...

The guide is well packaged, and is easy to use. One won't have difficulty locating information on, say, visas, or local foods. But the book reads as if it was written by several different people who didn't review each other's notes. There's contradictory information, and much of the data for Armenia is wrong. They have the wrong telephone area code for Yerevan, Armenia, for example. They suggest trying restaurants that are in fact closed. I guess it's not bad for a first try, but I was disappointed.

Posted on March 25, 2011

Danyel Sonderegger says...

Lonely Planet fumbled on this one...much of the information is out dated. The Armenia and Karabagh sections are particularly weak. There are more comprehensive books for this region with better maps and business information. Try again LP.

Posted on March 26, 2011

Allyson Thier says...

This is an amazing CD.Totally totally amazing.It's as though Palestrina took a vacation in Iran.I listen to this CD whenever I need spine-tingling artistic inspiration.My very favorite selection is #8, Sirt im Sasani, or "My Heart is Trembling."Prepare for a full kundalini awakening of the musical variety.Highly recommended.Buy it today.The other CDs in this series are top-notch too, but nothing compares to this one.Spread the word...

Posted on March 26, 2011

Chuck Turck says...

If you like choral music this album will blow your mind out. If youthought that Palastrina or Tallis were good,just wait until you hearKomitas (esp. #1) or Petrosian's the Armenian Church.

This album takesyou through 1700 years of music, from the start of the church as officialin 301 (or 312 if you're an historian)through to very recent works. This isa living tradition which is unfortunately not well knowm in the west. Ihope this album - and its companions - will generate interest in thismusical tradition.

If you want to take a risk and buy something you'renot quite sure of (and we all do it - and make the odd mistake) - BUY thisand you will never regret it. It is Wonderful.

Posted on March 26, 2011

Sherise Cabell says...

I tend to be a fairly big fan of Lonely Planet's style of travel guidebooks - I've used them for travels many times, simply because I like the way they're structured and enjoy all the background information that accompanies their guidebooks. Unfortunately, there are a few duds that slip through the cracks, and this one is unquestionably one of the big ones. Granted, this is a guidebook to one of the most rapidly changing areas of the world when it comes to tourism and travel, but this book doesn't even seem like it was ever in synch with the reality in the South Caucasus. The Azerbaijan section is basically satisfactory, but hardly overwhelming. Sadly, that's the best can be said, as the other two sections are very much lacking. While the Georgia one is sloppy and not at all geared towards what a traveler really needs or wants, the Armenian section is downright awful, with a glaring lack of practical information and even basic facts.

Maps go from fuzzy and confusing to completely unreliable, and restaurant listings often lack any sort of notion of prices (or are repeatedly geared for people hardly on a shoestring budget). Sometimes author recommendations are even non-existent - like the 'most recommended restaurant' in Batumi, which seems to have been bulldozed. The author for the Georgian section speaks of a gradually developing agro-tourism and homestay industry in the country, but somehow doesn't bother researching it almost at all (although you get plenty of listings for defunct Soviet hotels!). Illogically, sections on towns and other areas never include the names in Armenian and Georgian (apart from a few in an inadequate glossary in the back of the book), leaving you clueless as to what they'd be unless you spent a long time actually learning the national alphabets thoroughly. And, why throw the individual countries' history sections together into one general, regional history, especially given the unique backgrounds of each people? So much more depth could have been added to the book, but one gets the impression that the authors were racing towards a publishing deadline (especially the one for Armenia!). There's supposedly an update in the works, and it is much needed. For now though, check out instead the Trailblazer guide to Azerbaijan (*much* better coverage, even in the small section on Georgia) and the Rediscovering Armenia book, which is available either in country or on the internet - both of these actually do justice to the region.

Posted on March 27, 2011

Lisabeth Mckasson says...

I used the guidebook in all 3 countries within one month of its publication, and found it to be accurate for the most part.However, the authors seemed to be under orders to write glowing reports on anything considered mildly worthwhile to visit.Many of these places were not particularly noteworthy, and after awhile we took each raving description with a grain of salt.For some of the most spectacular sites (Davit Gareja and Kazbegi, both in Georgia) the book really should have included maps.The descriptions of both struck me as being second or third hand, as if the authors themselves had not taken any of the trails they described.

Posted on March 27, 2011

Neil Schleig says...

I had been anticipating the new LP guide for Armenia for quite awhile. I must admit

that when I finally got it I was disappointed. It is better than the last one, but that's not saying much. The information is OK, but not extensive. There are barely any photos, so you don't really get a good feel for any of the places. The maps are so small that you need a magnifying glass to read them. And, the 6 pages dedicated

to Karabagh just doesn't cut it!

Posted on March 30, 2011

Ena Prat says...

I selected this book over the Elliott (AZ with Georgia) because of the superior map quality in the LP book -- a huge mistake in retrospect.The information on sights, culture, history -- all of which are so fascinating and rich for this region -- is so vapid and thin that it is hardly worth lugging around.I'd suggest anyone coming to Az (or elsewhere in the region) buy the Elliott book and augment it with photocopies of the LP maps.

Posted on April 6, 2011