Costa Rica For Dummies (Dummies Travel) [Paperback]

Eliot Greenspan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dummies Travel | Publication Date: October 31, 2005

With a wealth of attractions and adventures, Costa Rica is the hottest new vacation destination in the Americas. Whether you want relaxation or excitement, you’ll find it. Stroll leisurely on the beach or zip through the trees on a canopy tour. Explore urban San José or incredible national parks with untouched wilderness. Choose the Caribbean Coast or the Central Pacific Coast Relax beside an infinity pool or battle a billfish. Seek out exuberant nightlife or take in the lush tropical scenery. Go golfing, snorkeling, volcano viewing, river rafting, sea kayaking, mountain biking, or horseback riding. Stay in a luxurious resort or a rustic wooden cabin…a Mediterranean style villa or an Ecolodge tent. This friendly guide clues you in, with:

• The rea1 deal on how to get to Costa Rica and how to get around after you arrive
• Details on San José and the Central Valley; the Guanacaste area, Costa Rica’s “Gold Coast”; the Manuel Antonio area, the most popular ecotourism destination; the Monteverde area with misty cloud forests,; and the rest of the country
• Five suggested itineraries to help you make the most of your time
• Fun options for rainy days—even if you’re on the sunny coast

Like every For Dummies travel guide, Costa Rica For Dummies, lst Edition includes:

• Down-to-earth trip-planning advice
• What you shouldn’t miss—and what you can skip
• The best hotels and restaurants for every budget
• Handy Post-it Flags to mark your favorite pages

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Travel smart at www.dummies.com

Explore Costa Rica the fun and easy way®

From sandy beaches to lush rain forests, luxurious resorts to ecolodges, Costa Rica offers incredible variety. Whether you want to swing your golf clubs or swing through the treetops on a canopy tour . . . marvel at the wildlife or take in the night life, this is your friendly guide.

Discover

• Down-to-earth trip-planning advice
• What you shouldn't miss — and what you can skip
• The best hotels and restaurants for every budget
• Handy Post-it® Flags to mark your favorite pages

About the Author

Eliot Greenspan is a poet, journalist, and travel writer who took his backpack and typewriter the length of Mesoamerica before settling in Costa Rica in 1992. Since then, he has worked steadily as a travel writer, freelance journalist, and translator, and continued his travels in the region. This is Eliot’s first For Dummies title. He is also the author of Frommer’s Costa Rica, Frommer’s Belize, Frommer’s Cuba, and The Tico Times Restaurant Guide to Costa Rica, as well as the chapter on Venezuela in Frommer’s South America.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (October 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764584413
• ISBN-13: 978-0764584411
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,912,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best First Visit to Costa Rica Book, May 16, 2007

By 

Cirroc (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Costa Rica For Dummies (Dummies Travel) (Paperback)

My husband and I were going to Costa Rica for our honeymoon so, wanting to research it thoroughly, I bought 6 different C.R. travel books. I bought this one last and wish I had bought it first. It was the book I kept going back to. It also had the most useful maps of any of the C.R. books I saw. We wanted to stay at a mix of regularly priced places ($100+/night) along with the occasional splurge of $200+/night places. We also wanted to stay at enviromentally-friendly places as much as posible. This book got the job done.

CR for Dummies is the best intro/overview book. I would also recommend buying The New Key to Costa Rica because it has more detailed information about accomodations for all budget types and lots of additional info on activities and tours that you won't find in Dummies.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Does a very good job, but you need supplement, July 29, 2008

By 

Mrs. Night Owl - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Costa Rica For Dummies (Dummies Travel) (Paperback)

Dummies travel books are usually pretty good and this is no exception. I just can't figure out how people could travel with only one guide book. It usually takes me 3 - I find that between all of them I can fill in most of the blanks. This one and Frommers were the best combination for Costa Rica but a lot of their info was duplicated because this Dummies book has "tips and recommendations from experts at Frommers" so it is like getting a different flavor of the same book. Why can't they just cram it all into one? I also had National Geographic but that was used mostly for the beautiful photos (great natural advertisements for neat places).

I wish there were pictures in this book but it's all text. The one great advantage to this is that you can highlight items of interest and they are very easy to find since there are no other contrasting colors in the book.

The bottom line is that I like it, it's a good tool, but for me it wouldn't be enough on its own.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For Dummies It Is, August 23, 2007

By 

Michael L. O'Connell - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Costa Rica For Dummies (Dummies Travel) (Paperback)

Although the book supplies the necessary do's and don'ts in Costa Rica, it does not touch on the secluded villages in the country or much on Costa Rican traditions.