Lonely Planet Country Guide Spain (Lonely Planet Spain)

Review by Hairy Larry for Lonely Planet Country Guide Spain (Lonely Planet Spain)
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I have used the Lonely Planet guides in Asia, the Middle East, and in Europe. Lately, they seem to have lost their way. Originally, the LP guides were for people who had travelled at least a little bit before and needed some pointers to an area. The guides usually had some sort of walking tours in the cities they indicated. Their guides have become filled with useless colour photos of generic scenes, The quirky, fresh information has largely disappeared — In the summer of 2004, I used the LP guides for both Portugal and Spain. I travelled for about three months. I had been in both places before and had used a LP guide. The most recent guides are stale and minimally updated. They are also occassionally misleading; especially concerning food. Sadly, the LP guide to Spain is not worth the weight that goes along with carrying it.

A telling thing is that I saw several tourists with back packs hanging on both their back and front clutching their LP guides while staggering and sight-seeing through Spanish cities in the afternoon. This is telling for two reasons: (one) In the afternoon, in Spain, there is little to do other than siesta, eat, or drink; it is not the time to sight-see (two) Carrying two packs is carrying one pack too many; the prior generation of LP users were experienced travellers (not tourists) and would find two packs foolish. Anyhow, somehow, LP has lost focus and now better serves the Lets Go crowd instead of more experienced travellers.

My advice: If this is your first trip to Europe, consider buying Lets Go. If you already know how to get your bags off of the airplane, search for an alternative by looking at country specific guides; do not buy a LP guide just because you had happily used one before.

Review by Shikambu for Lonely Planet Country Guide Spain (Lonely Planet Spain)
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I travel a lot, and have found Lonely Planet guides to be a big help… I still do… granted, some of the info is inaccurate (particularly with prices), but every guidebook provides a caveat at its beginning to warn readers of unstable prices… generally the inaccuracies never amount to more a pitance. I found the LP Spain book to be more useful than the Let’s Go! Spain guidebook as the LP book had more background information, more listings for places to stay and more maps with better detail… unfortunately, as one of the other reviewers mentioned, this book and many of their other guide books are starting to refer you to other LP mini guides… they used to throw everything you needed between those covers, but these days you almost have to carry a small library around with you to get what a early 90s LP book would give you. Still better than Let’s Go!, but for how long?…

Review by Bearcat for Fodor’s Costa Rica 2010 (Full-Color Gold Guides)
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My wife and I have traveled all over the world and have used a ton of travel guides. Typically we are Frommers users and not Fodors. With one of my best friends getting married recently and traveling to Costa Rica for his honeymoon I thought this was a great opportunity to review this travel guide.

This new “Gold Guide” has many more full color pictures than the normal Fodor’s or Frommer’s guide. Not quite as many as eyewitness guides but sometimes those guides focus to much on pictures and not enough on the info. The guide is well laid out and provides excellent travel information. It’s nice that even though there are now a ton more color pictures the actual information in the book is still very good and was not ignored. Overall I think this guide edges the Frommer’s and the normal Fodor’s guides. I think the information is very similar but the inclusion of so many color photo’s really does make the guide more fun to use.

I lent this to my friend and his wife and they loved the guide while in Costa Rica. Their comments were that the guide seemed very up to date and was broken down into sections that made it easy to find what they were looking for while there. They did enjoy the color pictures but seemed to be more impressed with the actual information in the book and how helpful it was on their honeymoon. Overall they thought this was an excellent guide book as did I. Recommended.

Review by Chris Damon for Fodor’s Costa Rica 2010 (Full-Color Gold Guides)
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Fodor’s Costa Rica 2010 is a really nice book. I previously bought this very same guide book when the 2008 edition came out, and the 2010 version far surpasses it in many ways. With the full color 2010 edition there are so many more pictures that help you get a better idea of the cultural aspects of Costa Rica’s tradition and the people of this picturesque country. The thicker, glossy paper used in this edition helps to bring out the detail of the numerous photos. The 2008 edition did not have nearly as many photos, with only a small section in the front of the book that had just a few color pictures.

The Contents in the front of the book are very helpful, very extensive, and makes it easier to find the area you are looking for without having to thumb through the pages. The breakdown of the book by geographical location is very helpful to concentrate on specific areas within Costa Rica, and at the top of almost every page shows the general location in bold orange with a more specific location in a regular font. Each area also separates out such things as “where to eat”, “where to stay”, “nightlife”, etc. In the 2008 version where to eat and stay were combined, which was far less useful especially for those on the go. I like that they isolated in this edition. There also seems to be a more reviews of places to eat and stay and have been updated with additions and deletions from the previous addition. This shows that Fodor’s has gone back to Costa Rica and is doing its job. I also really liked the addition of “pros” and “cons” in the reviews of places to stay.

The multipage color “In Focus” features on shopping, coffee, canopy tours, choosing a beach, bird watching, surfing, scuba diving and snorkeling, sport fishing, understanding Costa Rica and the travelling smart are very informative and a great addition to the 2010 book that was not available in the 2008 edition.

The Costa Rica Planner and Top Attractions, FAQ’s and the “Experience Costa Rica” section in the front of the book was very helpful, as was the extensive section on “Understanding Biodiversity” in the different Eco-Zones of the country. There is also an substantial section on the city of San Jose, including a San Jose planner for those in visiting the capital city.

Like the 2008 edition the 2010 edition has a pullout map, the full color map has elevations and shows the terrain quite well. Throughout the book there are also several maps with elevations (where appropriate) that concentrate on the specific geographical area of the book that was in context. The maps also show the roads and highways for those who rent a car it makes it easier to show how to get to a specific location. The edition of car rental agencies in some areas are a great help in the 2010 edition that was lacking in 2008.

Overall this is a great guide book. The only thing that I think that needs improvement is the index in the back of the book. Some towns or beaches are not listed in the index, while they are included in the book such as Panama Beach (Playa), while others that were in the 2008 edition have been dropped in the 2010 edition like Brasilito. I would not let this stop you from buying the book though.

Review by J. Schwartz for Fodor’s Costa Rica 2010 (Full-Color Gold Guides)
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A well organized and comprehensive guide to Costa Rica. The overview chapter and the chapter on biodiversity are excellent. San Jose is well covered. The rest of the country is not covered in much depth, a sacrifice made in order to try to cover as much of the country as possible. This is pretty typical of whole country guides. The photos are excellent.

My only complaint about the guide is that it is relatively heavy. Costa Rica is a place where you will likely be walking and hiking. The book is printed on high quality glossy paper, which is great for durability, but makes for a heavy book. When hiking, every ounce matters.