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	Lonely Planet New Zealand (Country and Regional Guides) Lonely Planet Publications ( 11 October, 2002 ) Book Our Price : £ 10.49 List Price : £ 14.99 You save £4.5 (30% off) Prices subject to change. usually dispatched within 24 hours.

Indispensable for a trip to New Zealand

There are probably countries you can visit without a Lonely Planet Guide. New Zealand is not one of these. The way to enjoy NZ is to travel from place to place and not to pre-book anything far in advance. Car rental is easy, the roads are very good ( in the right time of the year) and you have accomodation galore. The most important reason not to pre-book is that you are always dependent on the weather. I have made three trips in the past few years to NZ with my family and on all occasions we had to change plans because of the weather. The more flexible you want to be the more important the guide is, in particular when its a first trip. The first time we arrived in Auckland with only a general idea what to do in our three weeks and we found that quickly we left other guides in the suitcase and relied solely on the LP to plan our trip. The guide contains all relevant information and is sursprisningly up to date. The most important is that it is not a commercail tourism promoter but that it gives yo an hones impression on what there is to do. E.g. it was pretty clear from reading the guide that as a family with relatively small children we were better of in Wanaka then in Queenstown as the children were not yet at an age that they could enjoy all the thrills and that Wanaka, whilst offering Jetboating and biking was more appropiate. Even on the third trip we took we still had the guide with us. You have to be prepared to do some long stretches of driving and nothing helps to drive awy the boredom as creating expectations and anticipation by reading aloud what is said about the next attratction. In particular for accomodation I found it helpful. Everywhere you pick up the NZ AA guide with all motel accomodation ( very handy) and the LP is there to give you some reviews of the accomodation selected. The book could haven been priced at a much higher level; I still would have bought it ( in fact, I am on my second edition)

A great series of books.

As me and a friend are planning a round the world trip this series of books has been a great help. In picking places where to go its helpful to know whats there! Were mainly backpacking and using hostels so specific country guides aimed at this was essential. We needed to know campsites, country entry requirements, cost of living, activities, etiquette, transport options, dos and donts and most importantly what the food was like! As well as info on touring in campervans, car or footslogging. The book has it all and more. It covers all such topics and then reviews each place in the country individually. It has topics on law, car rental and purchase, gay and lesbians interests and so much more. If your travelling to this country then this book will be very useful. I dont think there is one thing I could think of that it does not cover. It even has places to rock climb in it! There are even phone numbers and addresses of hostels and hotels. Local culture and etiquette is covered, which is very useful in order that you dont upset the local inhabitants. Loads of major city centre maps and tons of colour pictures all add to the books appeal. In addition their website www.lonelyplanet.com is a great site containing a lot of invaluable information. The books are very durable and will stand the test of time. I now own five in total, including a Thai phrasebook, as the LP guides are an extensive series, covering more than just travel. A very worthy and essential purchase, money very well spent indeed!!

The best guide to New Zealand!

I backpacked around New Zealand for 3 months with some friends and we just returned some weeks ago. I had the lonely planet guide, the other guys had Rough Guides (rough being the key word here). Both of the friends I was travelling with gave their guidebooks away because they were no help at all. The Lonely Planet has excellent maps, and brilliant accomodation sections including the largest hostel selection of any guide, as well as contact info and ratings (of the hostels/hotels/camping grounds/b&bs). It covers the country county by county and lists them in a logical order with things to do, entertainment - pubs/clubs/bars, restaurants, gay/lesbian venues, cinema/performing arts/casino, how to get to that area, including air, bus, train and hitch-hiking information, things to do including local attractions etc. It has helpfull information on buying a car (which I found very usefull) as well as getting cheap insurance and MOT validation. There is also a section on Maori culture, wildlife, European colonisation as well as geographical information. Well worth its weight in gold, (incidently, its quite a heavy book). Do NOT go to New Zealand WITHOUT this guidebook, it will save you hassle and make your experiance much more enjoyable.