Korea 9 (Lonely Planet Guides)

This is an awesome book that anyone traveling or living in South Korea should not be without. Chuck full of tips, links, updates, so many wonderful things I can't begin to list them all. I have looked at many books but this is by far the one that can not be beat! A must have to buy and a must have take along with you wherever you go in South Korea! Note: I am currently stationed here with my husband who is in the military. We love this book and have used it for so many things... cover to cover!

Good guidebook, not great. But there are only two guidebooks that do a Korea guide for the whole country-- Lonely Planet and Rough. I didn't purchase rough's guidebook because it specializes in off the beaten path, and I need a guide for everything to see. I like all the maps that it has in this lonely planet guidebook, those will probably be invaluable. I wish there were more pictures or diagrams or drawings or something of the attractions/things to do, there are mostly pages of just information listings.I like that a lot of them list addresses, opening hours, cost etc. It is organinized in an easy to read and find-what-you-want manner. It has sections for each province which is broken down into cities and sites to see. There is a lot of information in the book and I'm sure it will be very useful for my move to Korea. There isn't much information on, Gunsan, the area I'm moving to; there is one area of a page. The section on Jeollabukdo, where gunsan is, is probably the smallest section in the whole book. I mention that so that if anybody else is going there bc of the military, you will know. I assume there just isn't much to do in the area I'm moving to. The Seoul section is enormous and so are some other sections; I can't wait to visit them. I do really like all the extra information in the book, on festivals, culture, mannerisms and such. I think the section on North Korea is a nice and very informative touch. Overall I am happy to have this guidebook, I think it will be an invaluable part of my experience in Korea. I'm giving it four stars because the information in the book is very good, but I feel like the guidebook overall could be better if it didn't feel so one dimensional with the seemingly endless written listings of information for the cities and sites.

First, I have to say that I love my Kindle Fire and I love Lonely Planet. But this is a case of two great tastes that DON'T taste great together. The book is wonderful but I can't use it easily on my Kindle. The maps are completely useless (yes, they tell you that you can get the maps on PDF from the website, for free, but that is inconvenient. Also, it's a fine idea to have activated links, so you can click through the links to the museums, hotels, etc., but it is NOT a good idea to have so many hyperlinks within the book itself. You cannot see more than one thing in the same city easily. I had to go to a bookstore and buy a paper copy because I just couldn't work with the Kindle version.Second, I am satisfied, though not thrilled, with the contents of the book. Korea is a major tourist destination and there are literally thousands of hotels and restaurants, museums and attractions to choose from. This book includes a helpful map of Seoul and information on many important sites, but there are so many more which could/should be included. The guidebook for Korea should be bigger overall. In the paper edition, the blue writing is sometimes difficult to use, but the maps are helpful (not just Seoul, all over Korea) and I'm easily able to find my way around with the help of this book.If not for the problem with the Kindle Edition, I would probably have rated this book a 4. I still recommend it for anyone, but it's best to be careful about which edition you choose.

There are a lot of photos which help me plan my visit. I also like a large color map of Seoul.

I bought the Kindle edition of this book and tried to use it in Korea.It's sassy and fresh but nearly useless.The maps are misleading.The history sections are trivial.The images don't scale.This book is dreadful,as is Lonely Planet China.

Using it right now. thank you!

Son likes it

My first Kindle version of a Lonely Planet Guide, but definately not my last...Love the Kindle features: Jumping around in the book by clicking links, offline maps etc. And of course the fact that I only have one lightweight Kindle to carry around instead of all my travel guides.And Lonely Planet has always been the favourite travelguide. In my family it's known as "The Travel Bible".Lot's of good and useful info on what to see and do in Korea, as usual.Only one drawback. The guide mentions only the option of renting a cellphone because Koreas phonesystem is different from the rest of the world. But you can actually get a working prepaid simcard for your own phone if you're persistent enough. It requires an unlocked cellphone and your passport, as both you and your phone gets thoroughly registered before you sign a contract to get the one-month prepaid simcard installed! And preferably bring a korean speaking friend as there is little or no english in most phonestores (or have them call a translation service).The biggest problem however is finding a store that can sell you the simcard. In Cheonan where I stayed (population about half a mill), there was only ONE place I could get the card: In the main SK office. In Seoul there is something like 5 places, including the airports, according to the internet chatter.This info should be included in the next update of the guide. Until then I suggest googling it to find the nearest simcard store.