Customer Reviews

Frommer's Buenos Aires (Frommer's Complete Guides)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I actually liked this guide book best of all of them. We also purchased Lonely Planet and I thought it was awful! This one was the most complete and the most accurate. We found it extremely helpful. Also, the restaurant suggestions were right on! This is the guidebook to have!

Lisa

Texas

This is really a beautifully put together book. A must for anyone about to visit the city of good airs. The book follows the standard format of a travel guide, pictures, maps, etc., but along the way Michael Luongo shares well written morsel-sized bits of Argentine and Buenos Aires history. What results is a more comprehensive guide than most, an up-to-date guide that gives a real sense of the city you are about to visit.

It's been over a decade since I visited Buenos Aires, and this book made me want to go back. As Mr. Luongo notes in his preface, now is the perfect time to visit Argentina because virtually everything is relatively inexpensive for the US traveler. Previous to the economic crash of 2001, Buenos Aires was a notoriously expensive city, comparable to New York City. When I visited Buenos Aires in 1993, the US dollar and the Argentine peso were equal and often exchangeable. Taxis, restaurants, etc., accepted dollars and pesos as though they were the same currency. Those days, apparently, are long gone.

Of course, the sections of the book I enjoyed most related to Evita. Michael Luongo provides a brief biography of Evita, and he reviews the "Museo Evita," or "Evita Museum," which is headquartered in Buenos Aires and headed by Evita's great niece. If there were one thing in Buenos Aires I would love to see, it is this museum! Some day, hopefully....

This book has a great deal of very helpful information on the sights to see. As the value of the Argentine peso has improved, the prices are somewhat higher but still excellent value. The least helpful part of the book was the dining section. We found a number of the restaurants were no longer there. However, for those that were still around, the reviews were very accurate.

Frommer's Buenos Aires is one of the best guide books for Buenos Aires. The hotel and restaurant recommendations are pretty much on the mark. The walking tours are the best I've found for any guide book to Buenos Aires.

Very concise, but most recommendations are right on the mark and everything that really matters is well covered.

I wish it would devote a bit less material to hotel reviews and add better (bigger) maps...

The trouble with travel books like Frommer's is that they don't tell the negative side as thoroughly as they do the positive. That's why I like Rick Steves' European guidebooks. He is opinionated and quick to tell both sides of the story.

This Frommer's book on Buenos Aires was useful on our trip last week but did not discuss how massive and basically filthy and jammed with traffic the city is. The sidewalks were littered with broken pavement, garbage and dog droppings, even in the best of neighborhoods.

In one section, Frommer's relates a day trip via ferry to nearby Uruguay; it made it sound as if one were visiting the Magic Kingdom. In truth, it was just a few streets and shops; certainly not worth the trouble.

There was no warning about counterfeit Argentine currency. Apparently color laser printers are pretty common down there because there are plenty of homemade 20, 50 and 100 peso bills that look perfect to the untrained eye. A warning would have helped here.

Great comprehensive piece. Very enticing! Eagerly awaiting travel to Buenos Aires to make use of all the wonderful info I have gathered. I found it to be a "good read," not a typical guide book. Thought the red highlights were helpful, as well. Yet another good point! - it's a light weight - convenient for bringing along on the trip. Thanks, Mr. Luongo for your wealth of information. Muchas Gracias, Bonnie from PA.

I've read the guide and find it to be well written and thorough. As it is new for 2005, I am confident it will be very useful.

The descriptions of the districts, subways, and restraunts are easy to read. The author's love of the city is obvious in the dialog.

A good investment

I never like dining suggestions in Frommer Travel Guides. The very best are expected, quality food at high prices. But their best values are usually not the best values in that respective city/country. What I did like from this book was the side trips, which I highly recommend. Particularly nice was my buquebus trip to Colonia, Uruguary. I went in the winter and it was very scenic and a nice contrast to Recoleta, the neighborhood where I ended up renting an apartment in Buenos Aires.

I really felt like the book helped give me a great glimpse into the culture of the city and its nearby areas. The information on the nearby sidetrips to San Antonio De Areco is also excellent. I stayed at a horse ranch based on a recommendation in the book, and it was a phenomenal travel experience.

James