Lonely Planet South America on a Shoestring | 
 enlarge | Authors: Conner Gory, Fiona Adams, Sandra Bao, Virginie Boone, Krzysztof Dydynski, Paul Hellander, Carolyn Hubbard, John Noble, Danny Palmerlee, Rob Rachowiecki
Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications
Category: Book
List Price: $29.99
Buy Used: $1.51
You Save: $28.48 (95%)
New (2) Used (10) from $1.51
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 641163
Media: Paperback
Edition: 8th
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1178
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.7
ISBN: 1864502835
Dewey Decimal Number: 918.044
EAN: 9781864502831
ASIN: 1864502835
Publication Date: January 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
From Antarctica to Zimbabwe, if you're going there chances are Lonely Planet has been there first. With a pithy and matter-of-fact writing style, these guides are guaranteed to calm the nerves of first-time world travelers, while still listing off-the-beaten-path finds sure to thrill even the most jaded globetrotters. Lonely Planet has been perfecting its guidebooks for nearly 30 years and as a result, has the experience and know-how similar to an older sibling's "been there" advice. The original backpacker's bible, the LP series has recently widened its reach. While still giving insights for the low-budget traveler, the books now list a wide range of accommodations and itineraries for those with less time than money. Here is the ultimate budget traveler's guide to a continent that will never cease to stimulate the senses. From the Darien Gap to Terra del Fuego and all points in between, this is an essential travel tool. Lonely Planet's South America features 238 country, region, city, and town maps; safety and health tips; reviews of places to stay and eat; lively background on history, geography, and culture; practical outdoor activities including national parks and reserves; and coaching in Spanish, Portuguese, Quechua, and Aymara languages. The book also covers Easter Island, the Galapagos Islands, and the Falklands (Islas Malvinas). --Kathryn True
Book Description
From Caribbean beaches to Andean peaks and Amazonian riverways, 10 LP authors combed South America to uncover the best of the mysterious and vibrant continent. Whether you yearn to dance till dawn at the world's most hedonistic Carnaval, hike Inca trails, or visit pre-colonial 'lost cities' or thriving megalopolises, this comprehensive guide takes you there. Covers Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), the Guianas (Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname), Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. - hundreds of budget accommodation and dining options
- advice on watching wildlife - from Brazil's Pantanal to the Galapagos
- handy language section including Spanish, Portuguese, French, Quechua, Aymara and Sranan Tongo
- 218 detailed, easy-to-use maps
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Quite useless.. August 4, 2008
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.
 Lonely Planet South America March 18, 2008
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.
Lonely Planet South America on a Shoestring March 1, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
Practical but imperfect travel guide April 21, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
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.
Fine, but there are better December 5, 2006
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
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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