Berlin - Travel Guide recommendation

Lonely Planet Berlin is an excellent resource to use while planning a German odyssey. It’s also sized to be a practical addition to your luggage. At a little more than 330 pages, this guide contains nearly all the information necessary to plan a successful journey, as it includes sections pertaining to hotels, restaurants, sights to see, and getting around the city.

The guide begins by helping the prospective traveler decide when to go to Berlin. It notes useful information like heavy travel dates, the climate, festivals, and community events so travelers can make an informed decision about when to time their vacation. Throughout the book are also sprinkled several useful tips on local etiquette and customs that can make it possible to navigate the region with ease and decorum.

The book also provides useful information regarding how much things like food and lodging typically cost in Berlin. It also highlights free, and nearly free, attractions that might appeal to travelers on a budget. The lodgings listed in the publication tend toward the cheap, however, the editors have taken the trouble to list several more expensive accommodations for those traveling with a less restrictive budget.

Lonely Planet Berlin is also an excellent guide for those with an environmental conscience. The book stresses the importance of using responsible travel practices and takes special care to note the places in Berlin where visitors can enjoy nature within the city.

If the book has one major failing, it is the maps. The fairly detailed maps of Berlin’s main neighborhoods would be more useful if they were larger scale and foldable. The guide would also benefit from having maps that detail the countryside around Berlin, which would make day trips outside of the metropolis an easier journey. The best remedy to this situation, of course, is to buy other, foldable maps that have better depictions of the city itself and the region as a whole. These are simple enough to travel with and can be used in conjunction with the Lonely Planet guide.

Berlin is a city that lends itself well to the use of public transportation. Luckily, Lonely Planet Berlin provides a section that deals with the transportation system. However, it may not be detailed enough to allow travelers to use it successfully. Before departing for Berlin, it might be best to conduct independent research on how to navigate public transportation.

Overall, it’s a solid guide with plenty of useful suggestions and only one or two issues that can easily be resolved before traveling.