The Lonely Planet Country Guides are the complete country guides for independent travellers. They feature inspirational colour highlights sections, easy-to-use grid-referenced maps and insightful history, culture, food and environment chapters by specialised contributors.

2006-06-13 Fair, but don't take it as your only guide

I visited Sofia and Plovdiv for 4 days recently, and for my purposes found this guide to be of average usefulness, nothing more. The coverage on Sofia was underwhelming; the main sights and accommodation needs are all well covered, but the recommended eating and drinking venues are rather run-of-the-mill, even lacklustre. Certainly it does not do justice to Sofia's well deserved reputation as an up-and-coming, ultra-hip metropolitan location, where in my experience there is no shortage of exceptional and perfectly affordable bars and restaurants, e.g. 10 leva for a filling and impeccable two-course "Chef's Recommendations" at Upstairs, and the amazing Vinobar which is worth visiting just to see the winelist of 300 varieties.

As for Plovdiv, the author claims that "Unless you're planning a long stay, or venturing out into the suburbs, the maps in this guidebook will be sufficient." Not so. We got lost on the hills of the old town because many of the streets were not labelled on said map.

Other curiosities, for the lack of foresight, or attention to detail, may be found. In the Bulgarian phrases section at the back, "dobur den" (the most commonly used phrase for "good day" or "hello") is missing for some unknown reason. On how to get to Simenovo from Sofia: "Minibus No 41 runs from Sofia city centre to Simeonovo (1lv)." All very well, but may I ask where in the city centre? The section on Sofia transport completely fails to mention the fact that a line of official yellow taxis exist perpetually outside the airport, so there is no real need to book a cab at the counter inside the airport as the guidebook recommends; had this been made clear to me beforehand it would have saved me some sweat on my arrival at the airport at 1:20am.

The section on postal services deserves special mention. Actual prices for mailing postcards are twice of those listed in the Lonely Planet. Unusual considering the guide is fairly recent, but forgivable. Less forgivable is the fact that the central post office operates in a manner which most outsiders would probably find fairly confusing and daunting; that is, division of labour to the maximum degree, and this guidebook makes not one mention of this. My understanding (limited, given the lack of English signage) is that there are actually three sections to the central post office, one for parcels, one for bills and payments and one for ordinary mail. Within each section, each counter is divided to serve a different function. And even then there is a line of postboxes, one for mail to Sofia, one for Plovdiv, one for Varna, one for international mail, etc. I posted a postcard unknowingly into the yellow box outside the post office door which is probably for some other purpose altogether, I hope my friend will receive it.

My review has so far been fairly harsh, and I make no apologies. I have not used the guide to travel the rest of Bulgaria's cities and countryside, and it may be the case that Lonely Planet Bulgaria excels here. However I believe that if the Lonely Planet is to be "the one" travel guide to have, then it should be solid and dependable by itself all the way through, which unfortunately cannot be said of Lonely Planet Bulgaria. To be fair, it is by all means a usable guide, but you would gain much from making use of Internet resources and the excellent Sofia Insider guide, freely available in hotels and restaurants in Sofia.