Frommer's Turkey

Our battered and dogeared copy of the Frommer's Turkey guide was an indispensible guide on our trip to Turkey. We are independent travelers who like to get out on our own, away from tours, and this guide was perfect for our needs. We used it to plan our trip, modifying Ms. Levine's suggested 2-week itinerary to match our needs. The guide also provided us with plenty of off the beaten path suggestions of where to stay and eat. We found the reviews of accommodations and restaurants particularly accurate in terms of quality, though would have liked to see a few more restaurant recommendations -- this is one area, I think, where Frommers guides in general feel a bit thin. The book also has lots of historical and cultural information and "surivival tips" that made for good reading (and re-reading) during long airport waits and on downtime -- I found myself reading this book more often than the novel I brought along. This guide also works well in conjunction with the Eyewitness or Insight guides (we have found this for other locations too), as the latter seem to provide better at-a-glance cultural information and have superior maps. Yes, prices were more than what were listed in the book, but this is not the author's fault. In any case, after a couple of days in Turkey we could get a sense of "budget," "moderate," and "expensive" prices and estimate these categories in the guidebook accordingly. I am impressed by how much ground is covered in this guide. We appreciated the attention given to some places and experiences that we didn't find mentioned in other guidebooks to Turkey. Traveling distances and times seemed entirely accurate, and they helped us to budget our time efficiently.

As a yacht charter broker and trip planner specializing in Turkey, my clients often ask me to suggest a guidebook for Turkey. I have begun recommending The Frommer's Guide to Turkey because it is filled with fresh insights and practical information. I have had very positive comments from customers who have purchased it. Ms. Levine's work is clearly the result of thorough, in-person research. She is a dedicated "good traveler," who has made the effort to understand the subtleties of the Turkish culture. Her discussions on a number of commonly asked questions, such as the merits of driving on your own in Turkey, rug shopping, and bargaining were right on target. She writes with wit and a sense of fun!Overall, Frommer's Turkey Guide is superior to other guidebooks on the market, and I will continue recommending it to our customers. Best wishes,Patricia Goksel

I found this book different and helpful than every other this type of travel guides about Turkey.When I visited recommended places in the book I thought the book is written very objective.Thank you for writing this book.

THIS BOOK IS INFORMATIVE AND A PLEASURE TO READ. IT IS MORE THAN JUST A GUIDE BOOK. IT SHOWS THE AUTHORS LOVE OF THE COUNTRY AND IT'S PEOPLE. AS FOR THE ERRORS IN PRICES....WELL I REMEMBER WHEN 39 CENTS BOUGHT A QUART OF MILK.TIMES CHANGE AND SO DO PLACES OF INTEREST. WHEN COUNTRIES SEE THE "UGLY AMERICAN"PRICES HAVE A WAY OF RISING. AS FOR SERVICE....GET A LIFE!!!

It's unfortunate that the writer of the above review attacks this book without a basic awareness of the mission of the Frommer's guides. Frommer's doesn't pretend to provide encyclopedic information; Frommer's Turkey doesn't attempt to compete with the exhaustive nature of the Lonely Planet guides, the historic depth of the Rough Guide or the cultural perspective provided by the Insight Guide. It does however try to touch upon all of these characteristics, and in this, I think it succeeds. If the reader finds the book not to his/her liking, he/she should simply choose a travel guide more suited to his/her interests and travel style.The reader's disappointment by what is described as a "restatement of the tour" in Topkapi Palace disregards the fact that the book targets independent travelers who do not participate in tours; perhaps his or her ire should instead be directed at his/her tour in that it failed to provide more in-depth information.The reader also attacks the author for inconsistencies in admission fees rather than with the Museum Directorate, who is responsible for fluctuations in ticket prices. At the time the manuscript was submitted, all admission fees stated in the book were correct. Furthermore, since the outstanding characteristic of Frommer's guides is to provide opinionated advice, it stands to reason that not all 15,000 readers of Frommer's Turkey (excluding those having read but not purchased the book) are going to identify with the voice of the writer. The author is certainly realistic that neither the Frommer's format nor her "tone" is going to be received by everyone in a positive manner. It is however unfortunate that those having had positive experiences with the guide haven't copied their letters of thanks to this widely diffuse forum.