Colombia (Viva Travel Guides) [Paperback]

Lorraine Caputo (Author), Paula Newton (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2010 | Series: Viva Travel Guides

This April 2010 edition is the most up-to-date guide to Colombia available anywhere. Not so long ago, you were far more likely to find Colombia's name in news headlines than you were in tourists' itineraries. Today, however, Colombia is emerging as one of the hottest destinations in the region and a magnet for in-the-know travelers. VIVA's latest guide has all the information you need to safely and enjoyably visit this wonderful country. With this guidebook, you can -Rumba and salsa to some of the hottest nightlife on the continent in Barranquilla and Cali -Relax on postcard-perfect white sand beaches, stretching from Covenas to La Guajira -Tour the farms and plantations that produce the world's finest coffee -Stroll the centuries-old streets of Cartagena, inspiration for Love in the Time of Cholera Why settle for an outdated guidebook? The VIVA community of on-the-ground travel writers, local experts and travelers like you are continuously updating and improving this guide at vivatravelguides.com. Join them, and together we'll make the best guidebook to Colombia even better.

Product Details

• Paperback: 508 pages
• Publisher: Viva Publishing; 3 edition (April 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979126460
• ISBN-13: 978-0979126468
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,165,840 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > Travel > Latin America > South America > Colombia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect guide for Colombian travelers!, December 26, 2008

By 

P. Spallazani - See all my reviews

This review is from: Colombia (Viva Travel Guides) (Paperback)

This book is exactly what I needed for my trip to Colombia. What I've found with VIVA is that their maps are always up-to-date, unlike some of the other travel guides I've had to deal with. Moreover, I like that these reviews are really rated by people who have traveled to the country before. These guides aren't like other guidebooks that cater to a specific demographic, like budget student travelers or the five-star-only set. I can stay in a hostel in one city and a historic landmark in another.

I've been a member of the South American Explorers for a while, and what I've found is that most of the people I meet in countries down there like to use VIVA's website just as much as I do. It's a guide put together by travelers and for travelers, and that's why I stick with them. Yet another great guide!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The first decent Colombia guidebook, July 6, 2010

By 

just bein' Frank (Woodbury, CT) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Colombia (Viva Travel Guides) (Paperback)

I just came back from a 5-week trip to Colombia. Before I left, I was told there really wasn't a good guidebook for Colombia. Checking the Amazon.com reviews, I found a litany of complaints for all the other guidebooks, and finally I settled on a brand-new edition of the VIVA Colombia which at the time didn't have any reviews. While not perfect, the VIVA guide had pretty much everything I needed. (For full disclosure, I'm a budget traveler, and I went primarily in order to improve my Spanish.)

First of all, at 505 pages, VIVA is a longer book than Lonely Planet or the other guidebooks. VIVA will devote an entire paragraph to describing a site that other books gloss over with a sentence or two. It breaks Colombia into regions and devotes a whole chapter to each one (Bogota, Valle del Cauca, Zona Cafetera, Tierra Paisa, the Pacific Coast, Upper Magdalena, Lower Magdalena, the Caribbean Coast, La Guajira, Eastern Colombia, Southern Colombia, and Llanos and Selva). Every chapter has a regional map, a map of each major city, a blurb on the history, a "When to Go" blurb, transportation information, information on local safety and traveler services, and of course a "Things to Do" section, a section on hotels and hostels, and restaurants. It is very comprehensive and easy to use.

VIVA's claim to fame, as I understand it, is that travelers' contributions to the VIVA website are compiled into the book. And VIVA claims to be "the most up-to-date" guidebook. Almost every paragraph on a new topic (be it about a restaurant or about the safety situation in a certain city) is followed by the date on which that information was last updated. And quotes from website users about various restaurants, hotels, or activities are scattered throughout the book.

I haven't had a whole lot of experience with travel guides, but here are my criticisms for whatever they're worth. First, some of the blurbs (for tour companies or Spanish schools) read like advertisement hype rather than insider info. I noticed the "Studying Spanish in Cartagena" section lists five options that actually turn out to be the same exact program under different names. I could have used more guidance on local customs and etiquette (when to tip, etc.) than was given. The city maps are pretty simplistic, but you shouldn't rely on guidebooks for city maps anyway. Just pick one up from a tourism office or the airport. Finally, the book needs a better editor (the index is too short and a couple page numbers referenced in the introductory section are actually wrong).

All in all, not perfect but certainly handy, and probably the best on the market for travelers to Colombia.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I've never seen a poor quality like this, December 6, 2008

By 

wind 2 "wind 2" (Mountain View, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Colombia (Viva Travel Guides) (Paperback)

I was shocked at many errors I found in this book. The first page I read was an overall map that listed several key sites on page 12 and 13. San Agustin was somehow shown east of Bogota. It is really south west of Bogota! Way off... Parque National del Cafe was shown in the right place but the description says, "Located 160 miles north of Bogota..." It is west! This is the first map in the book and usually the first thing readers try to catch. These errors made me feel that I could not trust anything written on this book. I am going to return this now.

One good thing about this book is that this has many maps that Footprint and Bradt do not. For instance, neither Footprint (South America 2009) nor Bradt (Colombia) does not have a map of San Agustin. This book does. But I am not sure these maps are reliable.