Customer Reviews

Footprint Peru Handbook: The Travel Guide

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4 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

I now live in Peru four to six months a year and I have reviewed Peruvian travel guides for the past six years. I must say that the 'Footprint Peru' 4th edition is a quantum improvement over the last edition, and is one of best single guides on Peru on the market now (considering also Rough Guide and Lonely Planet). Another review may appear under my name below but it is for the 3rd edition. Buy the 4th edition.

When it comes to profiling tour operators this guide is superb. If you are hiking the Inca Trail or want to visit the Manu Reserve (Manu only has 7 licenced operators) this guide is a must. The guide has also highlighted some of the NGOs working with abandoned children and environmental issues - applaudable, indeed.

The maps in this edition are much better than the last edition and more user friendly. Many hotels (some hostels) have email addresses and the descriptions and the recommendations are accurate. The sidebars and highlighted information sections are excellent. The restaurant (eating) sections are reliable, however, I found various comments on the decor or music, but `nada' on the food or service.

Ben Box also has a Footprint Guide on Cusco, but I strongly recommend that even if you are going to just Cusco, you skip that guide and purchase this one. This guide is more up to date and reliable. Cusco is in a constant state of change. Many new hotels, hostels and restaurants open yearly and the best place in Cusco, for up to date information, is the 'South American Explorers Club' in Cusco (Lima, also has a club). This guide lists the club and its new address on page 156.

Impressive is the write up on Choquequiaro, 'lost city of the Incas'. Larger than Machu Picchu, and only 30% excavated, it is truly a world class destination and the other guides only give it a slight mention.

The index is basic and could be much better. The guide also lacks an accommodations or restaurant index. Thus, if you have a recommended restaurant you want to look up in a large city (Lima, Arequipa, Cusco etc.) you have to go through all the restaurant pages 'til you stumble across the restaurant you seek or miss seeing it completely.

Offensive is the use of paid advertisements for hotels, tour companies and travel services (there are over 70 ads in this guide - many are full page). Not only are the paid advertisements intrusive, but the advertisements causes one to question the integrity of the guide, especially when a travel company or hotel, with a full page ad, is also strongly recommended by the authors.

The history, politics and culture sections are basic, but do not give you any more information than you could get out of a good encyclopedia. In Peru there is severe environmental damage going on that gets no mention. Also, several ecological alarms are being sounded by various NGOs over the depletion or destruction of various habitats, and, finally, the ineptitude of the government, under the new President, Toledo, is retarding any change. It is alarming that in less than two years the President's approval rating has dropped from 82% to the lowest approval rating in Peruvian history - 14%. The other two contending guides do a much better job of giving a contemporary picture of the state of Peru. For those who want a solid social understanding of this nation, I highly recommend the short, 95 page book, Peru: A Guide to the People, Politics and Culture - Interlink Books.

Overall, Footprint Peru 4th edition is a top rated guide. The accommodations, eateries, sights to see and other information is the best guide out to date. You will do well with the purchase of this guide. Strongly recommended.

The Footprint guide uses a slightly diffrent approach to travel from other familiar guidebooks. The guide is focused primarily upon treks and hikes in the Andes, along the Inca trail and discovering the archaeological heritage of Peru. For those seeking urban refuge, another book may suffice but if you are in need a holiday away from the hustle bustle this book can take you there (oh and an airline ticket). The detailed maps and cultural descriptions are excellent, I hope to return to Peru with the Footprint guide again!

I bought this book because of the Footprint reputation, but itwas a big disaqppointment to me. The information was several years out of date, the text was loaded with typos and misinformation, and the layout of the individual sections was confusing. Too much time was spent on small out-of-the-way villages for my tastes, and too little time on the major sights, such as Machu Picchu, Lima, and Nazca. We were very disappointed in the restaurant reviews, and three of the ones we tried to go to had either closed or had never been there in the first place, according to locals. Finally, we didn't get as strong a sense of the country as we wanted, so the book was an all-out loser from our point of view. If I were to do it again, I'd go for the Lonely Planet's Peru book over this one.

It is good to see an author who spends a week in Trujillo alone, updating the Peru & South American Handbook each 6 months, & getting up to date information published within 6 months. He also visits most of the competition to obtain a balanced view. We wish there were equally serious authors in Spanish language guides. Has anybody ever met anyone from Routard (French guide) in Peru?

I have lived in Peru for the last 7 years and am constantly looking
for accurate Travel Guides to recommend to the always demanding
clients of our Tour Operating company in South America and to steadily
improve our work on giving pertinent and useful info as well.

Footprint Peru Handbook is original in its kind as it focuses on
information and not storytelling. It has more up-to-date info on the
things you actually need in day-to-day travel, most of it presented in
a factual way rather than using endless pages of interesting but
not-really-necessary info.

From a tour operator point of view, I need to know as many facts as
possible in order to prepare, quote and carry out the tours we offer
to our public. The Handbook is a great source of information in this
area, as I don't have to read around the stories, but get the facts
presented in a direct way

Due to the inclusion of much better maps and a very serious work at
updating the info accurately, the latest edition is a big improvement,
and one of best single guides on Peru currently available.
If you decide to visit the awesome Manu Reserve in the Amazon Jungle,
fly over the mysterious Nazca lines, or If you hike the Inca Trail on
your way to Machu Picchu, this guide is a must as you'll find all the
data you need. As a matter of fact, if you decide you're going to
just Cusco, I'd advice to get this guide instead of a Cusco-only one.
You'll find all you need in Footprint Peru Handbook for sure.

Bart

This review is digested. The full review of Footprint Peru 4th edition is above this review. It is a top rated guide. You will do well with the purchase of this guide. Strongly recommended

I was ready to burn this heavy book within four days of arriving in Peru. While the book has a lot of information regarding locations of sites, locations of hotels, and locations of restaurants, it doesn't tell you much about those places. Many of the hotels had clearly never been visited by the writers. All of the restaurants we went to that were listed in this book were tourist traps with food that was mediocre at best. Just because it lists every hotel does not mean that it's a good guide. I recommend 'Let's Go' instead. Though it is smaller and covers three countries instead of just Peru, 'Let's Go' seemed to have more useful information, even for those of us who are not student backpackers.

The book goes through the whole country. Information about where to go, where to stay and eat. It describes all interesting places and how to get to them. Accurate information about hotels, tour companies, restaurants, (with rates and price classes) and infrastructure. The book gives a good overview of the country and its people and culture.