The Problem With Guidebooks, Or How I Came to Hate Lonely Planet On A Sunday in Crete

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Thanks to Jeanne and Paul for responding. As I said in the piece, I'm generally very high on LP guidebooks, and the fact that they were willing to respond reflects well on Lonely Planet. That said, let me make a few points/suggestions.

We're on a 6 week trip around the Greek islands and have 1 of those six in Crete. I'm sure some readers have more time than us but I'd venture to say that most LP readers have even less time. We have 1 week in Crete, certainly not enough time to devote lots of time to sleepy, remote little Anogia to get it to "seep into our skin."

As guidebook writers, you should assume that people aren't going to spend a tremendous amount of time in a place. Nor should you assume that they will be able to speak Greek or get invited to a wedding. You should assume they'll be there on a short visit and probably won't speak the language.

What I'd like to see in the guidebook section on Anogia is some concession that this is not a physically attractive place. When we set off on this day trip, I had in mind other mountain villages on other islands that we loved- I'm thinking about Manolates in Samos and Apiranthos on Naxos, for example- those places are beautiful, Anogia is not. It's just an ordinary, modern village with nothing to see. I take your point that if you stay long enough, speak the language and meet people, you can have a great experience, but guess what, you can do that in almost any village anywhere in the interior of Crete. So no need to drive far to seek out this one place. For example, you can do the same thing in the village of Spili, 5 minutes away from us in Plakias, and I think that place is more attractive.

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