Oman, UAE & the Arabian Peninsula 4 (Lonely Planet Travel Guide) Paperback – September 25, 2013

I had the older version of the book that I bought in 2009 before moving to the UAE. I lived there for 3 years and it was useful for travel within the region (I went to all the countries listed except Saudi Arabia) but told me nothing about the town I would be living in, Al Ain. I am moving back to the UAE next month and decided to buy the updated version as a gift for my mother for when she comes to visit me. Before giving it to her, I did look through the book and can tell where they added some information. You can get other guides that might be better for the region but they are sold overseas and not on Amazon. If you are a first time visitor to the Arabian Peninsula this is a good resource. I love the section on Oman as I found it to be the most useful and it highlights places I would have not known where there. Oman has several turtle nesting sites, if you love turtles like me. I have gone to the turtle nesting sites four times and it is an amazing experience.

I have used this book to travel to GCC countries and found it very helpful. The book is updated and has a lot of rich information that can help anyone to get around these countries and specially better understand them. If you are travelling to GCC countries and never been there before it is must read.

I bought this for the UAE and was disappointed. The information on the UAE was quite short and didn't really give the types of details I was looking for. It also didn't have maps that showed the all the key sites of Dubai on one page.

OUTSTANDING book. I have the old (2004) UAE & Oman book, and I was afraid this one would "cheat" those two countries by adding more, but it didn't. *Invaluable* phone numbers and tips ---- and I've lived here for 8 years! (There's a new-ish travel series here that's nice, but I was shocked at how much info was missing. I wanted to buy it instead of having to order this one, but ordering this was well worth it with a friend coming to visit.) I especially liked the cover photo -- of the Omani from the southern-most Dhofar region... he's identified by his tassled mussaar (turban). :-)

Didn't seem to follow the lonely planet rugged, budget format with tips on economical hotels etc.. Not much on interesting non usual tourist sites. The author talked about finishing off the day with cocktails at some view restaurant for example. I think she should be writing for a different company.

This is a very helpful and mostly current guide to the Gulf Region. There is a lot of building and progress here, so hard to keep up with the highest building or the new attractions. For the areas I have visited, it is accurate. I especially loved the cultural notes and health and weather tips. No one can quite capture the austere beauty of the red sand dunes, sculpted by the wind and sun-baked. Reading the Lonely Planet guide to the Gulf is very helpful for someone coming out to work or coming just as a tourist. I highly recommend it!

Good overall tourism book

The two stars are for the Kindle version. Lonely Planet guides are the best, and I love my Kindle, but the Kindle version of the Lonely Planet guide is almost completely useless. It is impossible to flip through or read the maps. Buy the paper version.