Customer Reviews

Frommer's Costa Rica 2007 (Frommer's Complete Guides)

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

 

 

It should be noted that the image used on the cover of this guide is of a private hot springs resort, not the natural environment that Costa Rica is noted for. I guess that's a popular trick though, as I bought a foldable laminated map that had a picture taken from the same resort.

This book is a decent guide, but it will lead you only to the most touristy places on your travel. If that's what you're looking for, this is fine, but don't make the mistake of thinking it will help you find anything more obscure.

Also, don't let the 2007 edition fool you: there is still much out of date information here including pricing and hours of operation. Nothing too glaring mind you, but not exactly up to the claim that they update the entire book each year. For instance, the resort where the cover picture was taken is open later but charges more than the book describes.

It is also not a comprehensive guide, though that is forgivable. If you plan on spending any time on the Nicoya Peninsula, this book has exactly one paragraph for you. Other information and descriptions of major areas was accurate and detailed enough though.

I'd by the Lonely Planet guide instead after reading this.

While I liked the general structure of the book, starting of with detailed best-of lists, and then giving more detail of Costa Rica's regions, I didn't feel I was included in the book's target group. Most hotels discussed start at $30, there isn't much information on local buses or camping - all those things that make backpacking cheap. The descriptions of hiking and tour options are also far less detailed than in the latest Lonely Planet.
The book also caters to people that book whole Costa Rica itineraries, and some are suggested. However, this is not the book for the independent traveler with a limited budget.
However, the wildlife section at the end of the book is really good, and such a section is definitely a good thing in a Costa Rica guide, as many travelers go there for seeing tropical animals and ecosystems.

All in all, the latest Lonely Planet is more up-to-date, and definitely has more information on acommodations, eateries, getting around, camping and hiking. It also includes a lot more places, whereas Frommer's doesn't really leave the trodden paths.

I'm so happy with my purchase. I've bought Lonely Planet guides and National Geographic guides previously, and the Frommer's has become my favorite. It's everything you need it a travel guide! This book is easy to navigate and reference and the information is all very up to date. This book uses a 1, 2 & 3 star rating system and categorizes hotels by price. I have found this book so helpful in planning out my trip.

The only drawback to this book is that the pictures are not nearly as plentiful as the above mentioned books.

I've been to Costa Rica several times. This is a good pocket guidebook. I lik to half plan, half improvise my trips and Fommer is a handy resource. The Fodor version is okay. I like the Frommer layout better but as far as information goes I wouldn't say one is radically better than the other.

There's a lot of Costa Rica you won't discover till you actually get there. The country has more to offer than could ever fit in a pocket guide book.

Costa Rica is a relatively safe country. If you use common sense you should be fine. The main thing you have to worry about is theft. Try not to look like a rich american tourist and you'll be okay.

Frommer's generally puts out comprehensive and up-to-date guides and for the most part this one is no exception. The book follows the standard format for Frommer's with "Best of" lists detailing some of the top attractions followed by general information and suggested initeraries. After that, we get into more detail for each region of the country beginning with San Jose and working through each area of the country in turn.

I was looking primarily for information on the natural attractions that Costa Rica has to offer and I found exactly what I was looking for. There are numerous descriptions of the beaches, rain forests, volcanoes, and hiking opportunities. As another reviewer mentioned, however, they probably should have included more hotel reviews. I suppose this is an inherent difficulty in writing a guide for an entire country (even a small one) and keeping it under 1,000 pages.

Overall, I found the book very helpful in planning my trip and would recommend it to anyone looking for information on Costa Rica.

A lazy attempt at getting you around Costa Rica. Not much info on anything. If a town has 10 places to stay and eat, this one only lists a couple - that is if your town is listed at all. You'll never really be able to see or appreciate Costa Rica using this book. Moon Handbook is far better.

I have trusted Frommer's travel guides for years, but this one was a complete disappointment. The author recommended hotels that turned out to be really seedy. I wondered if he had actually visited some of the places he mentioned. The book itself was confusing in its organization, and the only useful parts were the pull-out map and the suggested itineraries.

This book only lists a few hotels per town and lonely planet lists as many as possible. The pullout map is a joke, it only shows the bigger towns, and there aren't any good maps inside the book. Lonely planet may not be as new, but still has twice the info this book has.

I came back from Costa Rica a week ago and this guide was very useful, It's very accurate and precise, descriptions in the book gives you a perfect idea of what you are going to find. Highly recommended.

This book was great! It took us all through Costa Rica with much comfort and fun. Very thorough: giving you options for towns to visit, resteraunts to eat at, activities to do, so that you may choose based on your general preferences and personality, your level of fitness, the degree to which you value cleanliness, the degree to which you value comfort, etc... I felt like I got a full picture of beautiful Costa Rica from this book and was able to pick and choose what i wanted to do and where i wanted to go based on dependable guidance. Negative point: The descriptions of how horrible the driving conditions were greatly exagerated, as were the descritions of lack-of -safety in the country.