Get 13 Lonely Planet iPhone city guides for free

This promotion has now expired.

Lonely Planet is giving away 13 free iPhone city guides to European cities for 48 hours.

The promotion is designed to help travellers stuck due to the severe weather conditions across Europe, according to Lonely Planet. The travel guide company gave away European city guides previously when airborne volcanic ash shut down much of Europe's airspace.

“We know that travellers who might be stuck in unfamiliar places over Christmas will need access to practical information as well as suggestions on what to do while they’re stranded,” said Shawn Low, Lonely Planet’s Asia-Pacific Travel Editor.

However, the promotion will also boost Lonely Planet's popularity in the iTunes app charts before Apple locks them down on December 23rd. Electronic Arts has been giving away many of its most popular games for just 99c for the past week prior to Apple's deadline for finalising top-10 lists before people start receiving their iDevices as Christmas presents, ready to be loaded up with new apps.

Companies that make it into Apple's top-10 and top-50 lists reap big rewards when people start playing with their new iPhones, iPods and iPads, and looking for good apps to purchase for them.

Regardless of Lonely Planet's motive, it's hard to argue that 13 free city guides, worth $8 each, aren't a fantastic bonus to grab while they're available.

The 13 guides will be free in the iTunes App Store for 48 hours until 1pm, Thursday 23 December 2010 (AEST).

The cities available are:

• Amsterdam
• Berlin
• Copenhagen
• Dublin
• London
• Moscow
• Munich
• Paris
• Prague
• St Petersburg
• Stockholm
• Vienna
• Warsaw

To grab the guides, follow these links:

US iTunes Store / Australian iTunes Store

Lonely Planet has also made its Compass City Guides for Android available for US$0.99c in the Android Marketplace for a limited time.

Most recently, Lonely Planet gave away its Hong Kong and New York guides for iPhone. At the time, we noted that "it’s more convenient and less conspicuous to tap, slide and scroll your smartphone’s screen rather than struggle with a concertina map which unfolds into the size of a bedspread and never quite folds back the way it should.

"Plus there's the combination of the iPhone's integrated GPS and Lonely Planet's offline maps to get you from A to B and uncover plenty of eateries, bars, museums and other local attractions along the way."

danwarne