Fodor's South America, 6th Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides) [Paperback]

Fodor's (Author)

Book Description

Series: Fodor's Gold Guides | Publication Date: August 24, 2004

Duck into the upscale boutiques on Buenos Aires's Recoleta district, soak up the sun at one of the fabulous beaches in Rio de Janeiro, or enjoy a boat ride on Lake Titicaca, in Bolivia - the highest navigable lake in the world. Enjoy award-winning wines and world-renowned seafood in Chile, or dine at world-class restaurants in Caracas, Venezuela. Our local writers have traveled throughout these countries, as well as Columbia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay to find the best hotels, restaurants, attractions and activities to prepare you for a journey of stunning variety. Before you leave for South America, be sure to pack your Fodor's guide to ensure you don't miss a thing.

The San Francisco Chronicle sums it up best - "Fodor's guides are saturated with information."

- Two-color interior design makes it easier to find the information you need
- Fodor's Choice Ratings flag must-see sights and hidden treasures
- Hotel and restaurant reviews cover all budgets
- Plus multi-day itineraries to help you build the right trip for you and/or your family

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Each Fodor's Travel Guide is researched and written by resident experts

Product Details

• Paperback: 928 pages
• Publisher: Fodor's; 6 edition (August 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400012872
• ISBN-13: 978-1400012879
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,675,775 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A banal guide. There are definitely better, January 8, 2005

By 

Allan M. Gathercoal "fdoamerica" (Norcross, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fodor's South America, 6th Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides) (Paperback)

Of the three guides that I took with me to South American (Footprint, Rough Guide and this guide) all have their strengths and weak points: Fodor's has more of the latter.

Fodor's South America guide excels as a business person's guide. Its usefulness is limited to a few principal cities in each country and the main tourist attractions. Fodor's recommendations of hotels and restaurants are normally well worth heeding, and this was often the primary reason I used this guide; however, I need to caveat this point.

I am a firm believer that any guide book worth its salt has many `easy to read' maps - Fodor's does not. Location maps, help you to locate the recommended restaurant (or hotel) listed in the guide and are essential to all guides. Fodor has location maps ONLY for 7 cities out of the10 countries that are profiled in the book (FYI - there are thirteen countries in South America). This guide has NO OTHER location maps. A serious failure.

This is a 2004 publication (thus the information was gathered in 2002 & 2003, normal for guides) and Fodor's does list the webpage of `most' of the hotel in profiles, but none of the recommended restaurants have their web listing included, and in today's Internet world, most all of the upscale restaurants have a web page with photos, menus and prices.

Finally, the layout was more cumbersome to use than either Footprint or Rough Guide. The guide does not separate their recommended accommodations and restaurants. The guide uses a quirky, icon dollar sign rating to delineate the cost of accommodations and restaurants, so you flip back to the legend to remember how much $$$ was, BUT, that reference changes in every country. So three $$$ dollar signs equal one amount in Peru but a different amount in Paraguay. A hassle indeed, it would be much more sensible just to tell the reader what the cost of rooms or food will be in dollars. Keep it simple Fodor's.

For those that will actually explore South America Rough Guide is my first choose, [see my review] followed closely by Footprint. Fodor's is an `also-ran' guide. Conditionally recommended 2.5 stars