The ash cloud covering much of Europe at the moment is bringing a lot of misery to a lot of travellers, with people finding themselves stranded a long way from home, and in some cases in a strange part of the world, stuck in an unfamiliar city, trying to get back.
In some cases companies are taking advantage of the stranded traveller, with ferry companies, car hire companies and hotels all hiking up their prices, but that is not the case for all. Step up Lonely Planet, who are offering free travel guides to some of the major cities hit by the flight bans, to aid the traveller in finding their way around an unknown part of the world.
This is a short term offer, running until the 22nd April. The Lonely Planet guides usually sell for £9.49 each, so this is a good time to pick up a good deal. Lonely Planet Travel Editor, Tom Hall, says “Travellers stuck in unfamiliar places need access to practical information as well as suggestions on what to do whilst stranded. That’s why we’re giving away iPhone city guides to major affected destinations.”
The cities guides that are free include Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Copenhagen, Istanbul, London, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Rome, Stockholm and Vienna. These apps offer a wealth of information, including offline maps, a huge amount of things to see and do, to keep you occupied during an unforeseen extended break, location based navigation and an array if images and points of interest listed.
Whether anyone stranded is going to be able to get access to a PC with iTunes and login to download the guides is debatable, but in the meantime why not bag yourself a freebie, to use on your next holiday?