It was OK
We bought both this guide and the Rough Guide to Melbourne before our recent trip to Melbourne. This one had some out-of-date pricing, but otherwise I didn't find anything to dislike about it. The Rough Guide, however, was most suited to our personal reading styles, because my husband and I both preferred it. This guide requires a bit more ability to focus and read longer essay-type writing on topics. In fact, I may read it now that I am home, more for the interesting data it offers, as opposed to for the guerrilla-style-week-of-Melbourne that I was engaged in when I was actually there.

The Hometown Guide
The Lonely Planet city guide to "Melbourne" was put together by Simone Egger and David McClymont. The guide I am reviewing is the 5th edition of the guide, so please take note that a 6th edition will be out soon, and it is almost always best to go with the latest edition of a travel guide.

I may update my review after my trip, but from my first reading of the guide, I found it to be fairly comprehensive. It covers the city as well as some things to do in the immediately surrounding region. There are sections which cover the culture (`City Life', `Arts',' Food', `History'), the area (`Neighbourhoods'), and most importantly for the traveler, things to do (`Eating', `Drinking', `Sleeping', `Walking Tours', `Entertainment', `Sports, Health, & Fitness', `Shopping', and `Excursions').

I found this guide to be very helpful in my planning, and only found a couple areas where it wasn't accurate. The first was in hotel costs, and that is undoubtedly due to the fact that I am going to be there during a holiday. The guide is also from 2004, so there would undoubtedly be changes each year anyway. The other area where they might want to update is for getting a visa. Tourist visas for many countries can now be applied for online, but they do not mention that. I feel that one of the most useful sections of this book will probably turn out to be the `Directory' section, which covers a wide range of topics from transportation, money exchange, embassies, tipping, tourist information, and much more.

As the city guide for the city in which Lonely Planet is based, my expectations were very high, and so far they have been met for the most part. As I indicated earlier, I may come back and edit this review after my trip, but for pre-planning, these is easily a four star reference. However, I do see that the 6th edition is due out in October of this year, so if possible I would suggest waiting for the more up-to-date version of the guide.