Frommer's Turkey

[travelbug]

We returned recently from Turkey and were extremely disappointed in Frommer's Turkey guide. It missed great sights - like Side in the Antalya area and suggested sights far inferior. The restaurant and hotel suggestions were also poor. We use Frommer guides all the time and it seemed like he missed the boat on this one.

[carrie]

That is too bad...but that is why in my own personal opinion guide books can be very unhelpful..usually out of date...the internet is a far better source of up to date information....too bad you did not ask me about the areas around Antalya..I certainly could have helped you..
I had this discussion with Tom last year in May..regarding the usefulness of the guide books...at one time they were good..( back in the days ) when travel writers were far better than they might be today...in my opinion....each guide book is a copy from each other and I think that real investigation to each area is greatly over looked...

[David Morgan]

I use a good map that shows all the sights. It's great now that most pensions have a computer available - you can do your research on the road. I'm not a fan of lugging my own laptop around, though. I found it quite a revelation the number of travellers with laptops nowadays - and mobile phone/mp3 device, of course.

[turkeytom]

It's not so much that travel writers aren't as good as they used to be, but rather that guidebook publishing has changed dramatically.

For the 35+ years that I wrote guidebooks for Lonely Planet, Frommer's and Berlitz, we authors were well paid—in the case of Lonely Planet, quite well paid. But today most publishers (including LP) pay only a pittance, yet demand ever more detailed work from writers. The fee for writing or revising a book is usually supposed to cover expenses as well, but in some cases is insufficient to do even that. Some guidebook writers end up losing money on a project, and thus subsidizing the publisher!

Also, publishers often use writers who may not have long experience in a destination, or know the local language. It is more efficient to assign writers according to the publishing schedule rather than according to expertise. (This is not the case for Frommer's Turkey. Lynn Levine knows Turkey well.) This helps the publisher's bottom line, but it does not help the quality of the book.

Tom Brosnahan

[kworld]

I'm surprised to hear that Frommer's Turkey guidebook isn't so good... for the most part I've had good experience using their books. But this also depends on the traveller and what they are used and what they are looking for. Lately I've also been relying a little less on guidebooks and I've been researching my holiday destinations online. You can find really good city guides online, and they are usually pretty up to date. You can also see other people's reviews of hotels, restaurants and other things, and this usually helps too.