Lonely Planet Finland (Travel Guide)

I couldn't agree more with the other reviewers. I am planning a trip to FInland next year and had been waiting for this new edition to come out. When I read the reviews, I decided to see for myself, and ordered a copy of the new edition, as well as the prior one from 2018. The difference could not be starker. The old edition is 320 pp, new is 253. The old edition is double-columned with small print, detailed discussions of sites and multiple listings for lodging and food. The new edition has HUGE print headings and generally larger print, single columns with a lot of "filler" in the large margins, mostly consisting of short "best of" lists, as well as a ton more "filler" photos to take the place of useful information. Maps are horrible and lacking in detail. I understand that lodging and restaurant information may get outdated and is readily available on the Internet, but one of the things you pay for in a guidebook is a trusted personal curated selection. I also understand that the travel book business must be getting tougher and tougher precisely due to rising travel costs and the availability of so much information online. Then raise the price of the book a bit. $25 is nothing compared to the total cost of a vacation. It is ridiculous to try to keep the price stable but lower the quality of the book to virtually useless. This may work in candy bars, but not in travel guides. To be honest, the Rough Guide series had, in my opinion, overtaken Lonely Planet long ago in terms of detail, layout and overall quality, but they often complemented each other, and I not uncommonly would buy one of each. If this is the new Lonely Planet, then it is the last one I am buying (and this one is getting returned).

This book is fine if you're visiting Helsinki but terrible for Lapland. Despite a decent number of pages it only focuses on Rovaniemi, Inari and Kilpisjarvi. I needed it for other resorts/towns.

I rarely write opinions and if I do they are positive ones. Unfortunately that is not the case here. I got the book just a couple of days ago but without deep read I can already say this is a huge change in comparison with previous edition and previous format across Lonely Planet guidebook series.I have quite a lot guidebooks of many publishers and I have covered nearly entire planet with my guidebook shopping over the past decade. I have a lot of Lonely Planet guidebooks which are very good and can appreciate the depth of detail. Of course over the years there were better and worse titles but I have always read reviews so if particular guidebook was not good I wasn't buying that and was looking at other options.I have recently been to Norway twice and used Lonely Planet guide to that country and last year I went to Denmark and used Denmark Lonely Planet guide - also quite useful (all in old LP format).Haven't been to Finland yet but already have Rough Guide to that country from 2012 (bought when it was new about 10 years ago). I am planning to go there next year or year after so decided to have more updated guidebook as I am really fun of Nordic countries and this is now my top destination to visit.The format of the book is completely changed - the sections about transportation, accommodation, eating etc. have been removed completely from each section covering specific part of the country. There is a section called 'Toolkit' at the end when you have those topic 'covered' on one page for each topic.The book seems to be disorganized and chapters thin and lacking the details. Seems like written for different generation - people who were born after year 2000 and live with their smartphones all the time. This is clearly attempt to shift audience to new generation and last attempt to change paper format before going digital only. The question is who will buy guidebooks in that new format - the long standing fans will not and the young people may just not buy it as everything can be checked online so why bother.I suspect the sale of the new format guidebooks will be low and eventually there won't be any newer version as everything will be digital in 3-5 years. No need to update anyway as no details are present.What I actually did after I got this book was ordering Sweden Lonely Planet guidebook in the previous version (from 2018) and will use that in the future years (been already to Stockholm and Gothenburg but there is so much more to see in Sweden).My advice - if you are planning to go soon anywhere and want LP guidebook buy the old format edition while still available. New format won't take you far unless you are 20 years old and want just overview and will rely on internet for in-depth info. If you don't believe me look at other reviews for other 'new format' LP guides (Greece for example has quite a few reviews already).I gave two stars as visually it is nice book and looks fresher than old format and it might be what young people want but as practicality goes it is really bad. You can also buy one and have a look how the format looks like and decide for yourself but if you used LP in the past that is not gonna make a good impression.I hope this helps.

Vor Monaten habe ich das Buch bestellt. Ich wollte es als Hochzeitsgeschenk für ein Paar, das ihre Flitterwochen in Finnland verbringen will. Nun - heute ist das Buch gekommen, aber so wie es ausschaut, kann ich es nicht verschenken. Es war lose in einem Karton mit anderen Bestellungen verstaut und hat jetzt dementsprechende Eselsohren. Ich bin sehr enttäuscht und sauer zugleich.

I waited for the release of this new Finland guide from Lonely Planet only to be disappointed. While there are far more color pictures, there is much less useful information: no addresses for sights, no opening hours, no costs, no websites, and little information for getting to and from places. I've seen similar reviews for other new Lonely Planet releases, so I guess I'll need to search elsewhere for my travel guides.