Malta and Gozo (Lonely Planet Country Guides) [Paperback]

Ok, so I know what other's have said but, I guess it depends on how you use the guide. I found it very useful. I traveled Malta and Gozo. I used reccomendations for accomodations and restaurants. I was quite pleased with both. Lonely Planet usually doesn't disappoint me. The quality of information isn't consistent among all of their guides but, this one offers good information and tips worth taking. I travel, alot, usually one week a month to a new and different destination. I always check my guide info against reasearch I conduct through the internet. You should always do this and you will not be disappointed. So, in the end, I do reccomend this guide and Malta and Gozo....a can't miss!

Whilst on holiday in Malta in November 2010, myself and my boyfriend packed this guidebook. My boyfriend was often found with his head stuck inside this book as it was so useful and a great little read too! It's certainly good value for money and is easily the most up-to-date Malta guidebook.

I bought this guide shortly before leaving for my first visit to Malta and was astounded by the volume of information that would prepare me for the trip. Interspersed with great photos, the text is clearly written and logically laid out and was remarkably up to date as there is a lot of grand scale improvement going on in Malta at the moment. All this in a slim volume that slotted easily into a pocket or handbag and accompanied every venture beyond the hotel grounds. Travelling with children, I needed to know everything from where to eat, to how to get around, and time after time the book was an invaluable resource, with honest and accurate information throughout.

For example, we took the ferry over to Gozo and exactly as it said to expect in the book, on arrival we were accosted by fervent taxi drivers offering everything from overpriced trips around the island to "bargain" short trips up to the capital Victoria. As the book had warned us they even told us that the buses did not run more often than every couple of hours on a Sunday, and that they were very unreliable. None of which was true, no taxi could beat the excellent Gozo bus service (even on a Sunday), which runs like clockwork to meet every ferry roughly half-hourly. In a new and strange place it was comforting to be armed with reliable information and to be able to deflect the advances of the taxi drivers in the knowledge that the number 25 bus we could see at the bus stop was going where we wanted to go at a price we'd be more than happy to pay.

The children loved the old grey buses and the laid back way they work - when returning to the ferry port you just get on the bus at the main bus stop, the driver will arrive in a relaxed yet timely manner, then you simply pay the meagre fare when you get off! Right change though please ladies and gentlemen as splitting a note will inevitably result in lazy mathematics on the part of your taciturn driver!

Having also purchased the Berlitz pocket guide, I have to report that the lonely planet guide was far superior and it's extra few square centimetres in size made no difference to its portability. Don't go to Malta or Gozo without it!
Malta and Gozo (Lonely Planet Country Guides)