Frommer's Brazil (Frommer's Complete) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Shawn Blore, Alexandra De Vries
Publisher: Frommers
Category: Book
List Price: $21.99
Buy New: $1.85
You Save: $20.14 (92%)
New (20) Used (16) from $1.57
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 567799
Media: Paperback
Edition: 3
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 500
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0471784680
Dewey Decimal Number: 918.10465
EAN: 9780471784685
ASIN: 0471784680
Publication Date: April 24, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Experience a place the way the locals do. Enjoy the best it has to offer. Frommer's. The best trips start here. - Comprehensive advice on the best of Brazil, from samba clubs in Rio to kayaking in the Amazon.
- Outspoken opinions on what's worth your time and what's not.
- Exact prices, so you can plan the perfect trip whatever your budget.
- Off-the-beaten-path experiences and undiscovered gems, plus new takes on top attractions.
Find great deals and book your trip at Frommers.com and check out a free podcast about Brazil.
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| Customer Reviews:
Frommer's is the best "upscale" guide available on Brazil October 21, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
For my five-week journey through Brazil (Sept/Oct 2007) I took three guides (Lonely Planet, Footprint and Frommer's) and Frommer's has the most positive qualities. This review refers to the 2006 edition.
Frommer's Brazil 2006 opens with "What's New in Brazil." This is a store house of information, especially if you are a frequent traveler to Brazil. New hotels and resorts are popping up throughout Brazil and if you can go to these spots before they become well known then you are apt to get great prices and better service. Another section that is excellent is "The Best of Brazil" where the BEST of everything is selected: "Best Beaches," "Best Experiences," "Best Wildlife," "Best Views," "Best Nightlife," on and on.
The hotels selections are great choices. All of the hotels have website listings and going online to see the rooms is a major help. No other guide is as descriptive about the restaurants as is Frommer's. The authors write in such a way that you want to taste and see: "The menu includes pastas such as ravioli with dried shrimp and leek or the spaghetti with seafood. We tried the filet of mignon in cassis sauce and grilled figs and the lamb in tamarind sauce on a bed fo cassve puree." Hum, I am hungry now. Great descriptive writing. The hotel descriptions are equally as well written. This guide has the best write up on Carnival.
About money: Brazil is not `cheep'. This guide is no longer correct regarding cost. The dollar's fall makes Brazil about as expensive as travel in the USA. In Rio, a decent hotel (not great a hotel, just decent) is at least $100 and up. A good, not great, meal is at least $20 to $30. I traveled during the "Low Season" and I found that I needed $100-$150 a day to travel at a 3-4 star level and eat OK (not including my airfares). You should add at least 20-30% in high season and at least 60% at Carnival.
On the `need to improve' side: the section on health is pathetic. It gives you very little information in compared to the other guides. There is a paltry seven pages, which is paradoxically titled `Brazil in Depth' which is an afterthought that attempts to explain the history, culture, economy, politics, religion and life of Brazil. Absolutely insignificant. For those that want more, I highly recommend Culture Shock! Brazil 2007 -- an excellent primer on Brazil (see my review). Though hotel & restaurant recommendations are right on the money, this guide has significantly fewer recommendations than Lonely Planet or Footprint, i.e. the city of Manaus in the Amazon (2 million pop.) has only three restaurant recommendations!
In a nutshell, if you are not going `off the beaten path' then Frommer's is the guide for you. It will give you the best of Brazil (not the cheapest). Happy Trails. Strongly Recommended. 4.5
 Superior to other Brazil Travel Guides January 27, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I purchased this book, as well as a Fodor's Guide to Sao Paulo and Discovery's Insight Guide to Brazil. I have found this book to be more descriptive and detailed in identifying areas/places of interest for the tourist. The Insight Guide has a lot more photos, and is nicer to look at, but this book is far more informative and functional.
Excellant source for information traveling in Brazil November 6, 2006
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
I suggest this for anyone traveling in Brazil.
 OK, but..... October 19, 2004
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
Recently used this guide for a visit to Sao Paolo, Parati, Brasilia and Rio. I did appreciate the more functional approach (settling, exploring) compared to rough guide or lonely planet. Also, the intented audience appears to be a bit older / less backpack / more money, which worked out nice in this case (Brasil is cheap :-). The information appears to be fairly accurate, and did indeed help us book hotels and visit attractions.
However, not all was well. For Rio nightlife try to find other sources of info. One area where this frommers fails badly is maps. Not only do the maps contain errors - attractions drawn in at wrong locations - but the range / level of detail is way too limited. The lonely planet is much better in this regard (although that guide does have some major other problems, like shameless selfpromotion of other items in their stable)
 Should be titled "A Portion of Brazil" June 18, 2003
30 out of 36 found this review helpful
I've enjoyed the other Frommer's Guides I've used, particularly the one for Costa Rica, so I ordered Frommer's Brazil online. I was quite disappointed to discover the book covers only a small portion of Brazil's geography. Not only is the sparsely inhabited interior not covered, the southern states, home to more than a million people and a vacation destination for hundreds of thousands of Brazilians and Argentines are not so much as mentioned. It's improper to title the book "Brazil" when it's really about a dozen or so major destinations.
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