Lonely Planet: Australia

Not just for backpackers, Lonely Planet continue to churn out excellent travel reference books. Its writers’ often give a reliable depiction of available accommodation, tourist attractions and eating options, and if you’ve bought a specialised area edition (Far North Queensland as opposed to the more general Australia) the amount of detail provided for even the smallest of destinations is quite astounding. We like to use it as our first point of call in getting an idea of what the region or town we’re visiting is all about. Lonely Planet is also excellent in suggesting places to eat and what you’ll be in for at that establishment. Fiela and I can’t remember the number of times we’ve walked into a café, eaten something really ordinary and then read in the Lonely Planet later we were 100 metres away from a place charging similar prices for much better food. I hate paying for bad food, so on this case alone I think it’s

definitely a worthwhile purchase. However, having said all of this, you are taking on board someone else’s opinion of a destination- you’ll only work out if you’re going to enjoy it (or not)  if you go yourself…