Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Average Customer Rating:

The book is full of errors

Customer Rating:

This is one of the worst editions of Lonely Planet books I've ever read. The book is full of factual errors which probably is a result of poor research. I doubt that the researcher actually have been at some of the places, and that he has copied information from the Internet instead. I traveled this summer in Tanzania, and ran into errors in this guidebook time and again. The Rough Guide was far more accurate, even though that book is two years older. I can accept that phone numbers are wrong, given the constantly expansion and changes in the Tanzanian mobile phone system, but addresses should be right most of the time. Further more, I can accept that travel times can't be relied upon as accurate in Africa, but if the journalist had actually travelled the distanses himself, he would have noticed things like: Travel times for bus companies are given to the region, not necessarily the city it self. That can mean a lot of difference given that the regions are huge. The slow ferry to Zanzibar does not take 3 hours as stated in the guide - however if you ask at the ticket office they will tell you that. The slow ferrys are all old freight boats with an extra deck, and they take between 6 till 8 hours on the entire journey. Several restaurants in this edition do not exist, or haven't opened yet. Given the lack of information on the food and service I doubt that the journalist actually bothered to sit down to eat at the places mentioned in the book. Shopping districts mentioned in the Dar es Salaam chapter does not contain the type of shops mentioned. For instance, there are virtually no curio or souvenir shops along the Samora avenue, even though the book claims there's a whole lot of them. The research behind this book is just so bad that it can't be relied upon. Get the Rough Guide instead - it's much better! Torstein

bradt guide is better

Customer Rating:

After having read both the Bradt and the Lonely Planet (LP) guide I can say that the Bradt guide, which is also available on amazon, is much better. Not that the LP guide is bad; in fact it provides a lot of information, which is why I give it 4 stars whereas I rated the Bradt guide 5 stars. The Bradt guide provides much more details about lodges/hotels it recommends and the presentation of information and maps are just much better

Lonely Planet vs. Rough Guide

Customer Rating:

I was traveling with friends in Tanzania. I had the Lonely Planet and one of my friends had the Rough Guide. Lonely Planet is a good book but when it came down to the book that we REALLY found indespensible and would stay up at night reading -- the Rough Guide Tanzania won. Lonely planet is good, yes, but Rough Guide contained much more cultural information. It depends on what you are looking for. We are students and we were working in Tanzania. Rough Guide was better for the daily living and budget stuff. If you're just a tourist, Lonely Planet is perfectly acceptable.The Rough Guide to Tanzania, Edition Two (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

This was a great guide!!!	Customer Rating:
I just returned from Tanzania and this book provided all the information I needed on the different safaris, Masai tribe, Zanzibar/Stone Town, places to eat, etc. It was a great guide!

Great guide book	Customer Rating:
Lonely planet tops the genre. Really only good for if you are going or you want to understand what a friend or family member is likely to encounter there.