When I purchase a travel guidebook, the overwhelming majority of the time, we go with Lonely Planet.
While no guidebook is perfect, Kim and I find Lonely Planet to put out the best guides for our travels. We like getting a bit of history about the country, learning about the sites (obviously) and skimming over the dining suggestions.
Besides guidebooks, Lonely Planet also publishes a variety of other travel-related books. I recently wrote about their just released Best in Travel 2016 book. They also picked the Top Sites in the World in the book Ultimate Travel.
I recently wrote a post about Travel Guidebooks- Useful or Useless? While I still like getting a physical copy of a guidebook to look through and mark up, many people prefer to do their research online or get e-books.
I get the reason why digital books could be appealing. You don’t need to carry around the bulky book as well as worry about the added weight.
If you’re the type of traveler that prefers e-book or wants to save some money on travel guides, then Lonely Planet has a deal for you.
For a very limited time, ALL Lonely Planet ebooks have been reduced in price to $8.99!
That’s definitely a great deal considering most books are priced in the $20+ range.
If you’re interested in the new Best in Travel book, the ebook will only cost $8.99 while the print version is going for $14.99. Here’s another good example of just how good this deal is. If you’re looking to buy Lonely Planet India, that’s going to cost you $34.99. However, the ebook can be had for just $8.99.
I actually need to buy a guidebook for a trip coming up at the end of the year. This sale could save me $10 so I have a decision to make. Do I stick with what I like and just buy the actual book or take advantage of this sale and pick up the ebook for $8.99?
Lonely Planet’s ebook sale is running for a limited time. The sale ends at midnight on November 1. Since this is a limited offer, there is a maximum 10 ebooks allowed.
The offer is not available on pre-orders and print + digital bundles.
If you’re interested in purchasing a Lonely Planet ebook, you can do so here.
Adam-That is a great tip! I’ve bought used guidebooks a few times. I bought a guide for Jordan for the price you mention for a guide which was one print old and it worked out fine. For longer trips, I want the newest version… I should’ve mentioned in the post that I typically buy the LP guides on Amazon unless there is a sale. The guide I’m currently looking to purchase retails for $24.99 through LP. Amazon has it for $18.00.
Or, if you actually prefer to carry the book with you when you visit each of the sites, Amazon has the same books – used, maybe a year or two old – for $0.01 + $3.99 S/H and you don’t have to carry your Kindle/iPad/phone with you and pull it out all the time. And if you lose it, you’re only out $4. Plus, I like to dog-ear the individual pages of places I want to see. Good tip for those that prefer to be iSaavy tourists, but Amazon seems to be the better spot for me, personally.
Charlie- Glad to hear that there is another fan of real guidebooks out there!
Charlie- Thanks for the tips! A great deal gets even better! I’m still planning to buy a regular book for our late December trip since Kim and I really don’t like the ebooks.
I am a big ebook fan since I had to leave most of my “real” books in storage in the US (Kindles just weigh so much less!). But, travel books are still one of those books that I think I prefer in real book form. It is just nice to pull it out and flip to certain sections without having it electronically. Might just be me and you, though! 🙂
BTW, just went to check on them and noticed that it is actually a better deal if you purchase from the international site (since I am in Europe, it defaulted there). It is coming up at €5.95 per ebook – about $6.55! To get that site, just change your country and you will be billed in the foreign currency!
Nice deal! Also, Amazon has just about every Lonely Planet book as well in their Kindle Unlimited program. It is free for the first month, $9.99 each month after and that gives you every single Lonely Planet book (up to 10 at a time) for as long as you want it/keep the subscription. This has always worked well for me since I only ever need the book until I am done with a trip.
Still, I will check this one out for those countries on my wish list. 🙂