Cultured Travel Guide Books - South America (Shoestring) |
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List Price: $33.99
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 918.044
EAN: 9781741044430
ISBN: 174104443X
Label: Lonely Planet
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 1148
Publication Date: 2007-03-01
Publisher: Lonely Planet
Studio: Lonely Planet |
| Spotlight Customer Reviews: |
Customer Rating:  
Summary: Quite useless..
Comment: I am writing this review after visiting Peru, and using this book as a guide.
The book is very thick, but actually contains very little useful information. Most pages are simply full with senselessly long lists of restaurants, hotels, and other contact information. Such things are better found on the internet, or by simply walking around the city. Moreover, a lot of that information was already out of date a little more than 1 year after publication. So, about two thirds of the book is immediately utterly useless weight.
Instead, a good guide book,
1) would have a lot of pictures. There are none in this book!
2) would have a lot of maps. A few are available in this book, but are not sufficiently detailed, not well-prepared, not well-explained.
3) would talk about interesting things to do in A LOT more detail. Such information in this book is extremely limited, sometimes barely a sentence or two, and a short search on the internet would produce a lot more useful and insightful information. This leads me to question whether the writers even visited the places they are talking about. Given the recent news about how BBC's Lonely Planet Guides are being prepared, I'm going to have to say probably not..
4) would have the following important information: the flag of the country would be nice; the inflation and GDP per capita in the country in addition to money exchange rates, and estimates of average transportation, hotel and restaurant prices; the altitude, average temperatures and precipitation of each city (for instance, for Cusco some of these are quite important!). The climate of the country could be entirely discussed in one page in a few simple maps showing altitude, precipitation, and temperature; also population density.
5) would give prices in local money, instead of dollars. Just after a few months, all prices listed are already out of date, not just because of local inflation, but also because of the devaluation of the dollar.
6) would do a lot more justice to the history of the countries, and put the interesting things to see in a context.
7) would have some color. None in here, except the covers and a couple of pages. In other words, the guide should be more visual, and writing should be avoided when it can be. One picture is worth a thousand words or more..
Having said all this, I am not aware of a better guide book. So, I can only suggest to compare guides for yourself and then pick one, or just use information off the internet.
In short: out of the 120 or so pages on Peru, the useful information fills in about a third, and the rest is either out of date, useless, unrelated, or otherwise non-essential.
So: publishers, pay me half the money you paid these writers, and I will give you a guide that is 10 times better than this.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Lonely Planet South America
Comment: Lonely planet is a great travelling guide - it gives you just enough information to get you by when you're in need, and leaves enough blanks for inspiration of your own.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Lonely Planet South America on a Shoestring
Comment: I was very, very disappointed in this book and would have returned it but I had highlighted one article before looking at the book completely. This is probably a good book for a college student who will stay in hostels but as for a book to help find hotels and sightseeing places, it missed the mark completely.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Practical but imperfect travel guide
Comment: This is a useful if flawed guide for backpackers and other budget travelers. This thick book (1,150 Pages) covers lodging, conditions, airports, regulations, and other vital information for 13 countries. The information is practical, useful, and substantial, and one can travel South America with this guide. But in trying to cover 13 countries the book is unavoidably limited on information for any one nation, city, or place, and the maps are at times less than adequate. There is also some out-of-date information (Argentina's Peso is NOT equal to one U.S. dollar) so travelers are advised to check other sources.
If you will be traveling to only a couple nations in South America you would be better advised to buy a travel guide for each country. However, if you will traverse through many countries in this fascinating continent, this book is still a valuable reference tool.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fine, but there are better
Comment: Used this book for a three month trip through Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. A friend who travelled with me had Footprint's guide to South America. While Lonely Planet had far and away the better maps, everything else about the Footprint book was better -- more information, more current information, and most importantly, broader coverage! There were many small towns that were not even included in the LP book. Even in the major cities, Footprint covered more sights and did so with more detail. If you are picking up a second book for a trip, by all means get the LP. But if you are only buying one, go with Footprint until LP seriously expands this edition.
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| Editorial Reviews: |
Challenging? Check. Rewarding? Beyond your wildest dreams. South America is made for travel-the gripping, spine-tingling, adrenaline-charged type of travel you live for. Tred the Cordillera Blanca, glide along the Amazon, explore lost cities and samba up a storm. For backpackers, by backpackers, this best-selling, unbeatable guide gives you the tools you need to create your own adventure.
Get Off The Trail-emerging hot-spots, overlooked attractions, alternatives to the Inca Trail-our authors go beyond the obvious, and show you how to do the same.
Live On The Edge-the best spots for hiking, skiing, diving, surfing, rafting, paragliding, and other thrills.
Straight Talk-opinionated reviews ensure you won't waste a precious peso.
Tread Lightly-make a positive impact with sustainable-travel tips and volunteering opportunities.
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