New Zealand - Book

Very Useful Guide

It covers pretty much everywhere you might want to go. Lots of useful advice and tips. Sometimes not that easy to find what you want but worth buying.

I like the structure and overview of this book. The tips on the side are very easy to read and practical.

L.P. have lost the plot.

L.P. – Lost the Plot. Our first foray into back-packing was in Mexico guided by the 1992 L.P. travel survival kit – Mexico. What a wonderful discovery. We were hooked on L.P. guides, and used them exclusively until we toured the five ‘Stans using the 2018 copy of Central Asia after which backpacking was on hold due to my wife’s illness. Throughout those years we knew exactly where to find the information we needed wherever we went. Firstly there was the factual information about the country and essential information for travellers. Recommended highlights and tour suggestions followed with a variety of themes. Then the nitty-gritty. An outline of an area, with maps, directions on how to get there, get away and get around. Then detailed descriptions of towns natural areas, again with maps. The maps were very detailed so you could find your way to the airport, bus station, post office. A range of accommodation possibilities were listed also places to eat, all located on the map. Suggestions were given for places to visit and how to get there. Similarly the surrounding area was covered. Finally, information on how to get to and from other major centres. Everything was set out logically and you knew where to find everything. Fast forward to 2025 when I am about to resume my travels and with great anticipation I bought L.P. New Zealand. If all L.P. guides are like this one, this will be my last. A colourful hotchpotch of places, adventure activities, where to get your perfectly baked ciabatta and flat white, that can be found in any travel guide. The layout is colourful but haphazard. Finding information, if it is there at all, involves a lot of flicking back and forth and hoping. Gone is the logical layout, gone are the maps, gone is the essential information for travellers on where to stay, eat and get around, other than three casual mentions at the bottom of some pages. For my future travels, I hope to find another publisher that has leapt to fill the void left by L.P.