Lonely Planet Kenya: Detailed Itineraries | Travel Like a Local | Insider Tips | Covers Nairobi, Mombasa, Masai Mara, Laikipia, and more (Travel Guide)

Good book

Poorly written Lone=ly Planet guide. Kenya is THE safari capital, and there was little solid safari content. And, the coverage on game parks, was mostly superficial, and offered little detail on topics such as how to find hiking trails, and where to pick up bikes.Where is a list of recommended safari operators? Open and Close times of parks? Park fees schedule? Whether the parks are 6-6pm daily tickets, 24hr tickets, or single-entry tickets. Where is a list of more than one accommodation for budget, mid-range and luxury options? Detailed logistical information? For example, "hikes" many times the book says, "many places to hike", yet, there are practically no hiking trail maps, nor are there many reference to the trail names, or locations, and other details like whether they are well marked, or not. Lonely Planet was the bible for logistical how-to information. The side stories are fun, but the book misses the main point: To provide who, what, where, when and how-to information a person will need upon arrival. It sounds more like a bunch of kids wrote this book rather than an experienced traveler/writer. I would say, this book had about 10% of the info I was looking for. And a lot of fluff, and repetition. I have more then 50 Lonely Planet guides. I would not recommend this book.

What's happened to LP books? I buy them for the local recommendations of hotels and restaurants....and now there are none!!! It is good to learn about the areas to narrow down where you would want to visit but now will have to rely on trip advisor etc to find accommodation. Massive shame, it was the main perk of the books to me.

The new format is just horrible and is virtually useless. I believe that lonely planet was purchased from the original owners a few years ago, and they immediately changed the format and ever since then it has gone completely downhill. I totally agree with all of the other negative reviews.

I had been using Lonely Planet guides for 20+ years when I started to notice a theme: they shifted from useful resources full of insider tips in around 2016, to nonsense marketing that glosses over practical important information today. Specifically, they've almost completely removed all safety oriented information in favor of suggestions that can get you killed or kidnapped. These read like someone wrote them from their living room sofa relying on marketing brochures and press releases from the local tourism bureau. The "Experience" series is still useful for help in organizing how to spend time in unfamiliar places, but the country guides are all but useless and full of inaccuracies and "narrative framing." The Kenya 2024 guide is especially bad – I just threw it away while still there. What a pity!