Amazon.com Review
At nearly 2,000 miles east to west and more than 1,000 miles north to south, Mexico is a large and diverse country. It requires a similarly expansive and thorough guidebook to do it justice, and Frommer's has the experience, the organizational expertise, and the practical details to pull it off. One of Frommer's smartest features is its "Best Of" chapter with 14 "best" lists, such as Best Beach Vacations, Best Archaeological Sites, Best Shopping, Best Inexpensive Inns, and Best Mexican Food & Drink. It is the first chapter here, and it provides useful suggestions you'll return to as you learn more about your options and start wanting to make decisions and narrow the focus of your trip.
The "Planning" chapter includes all that it should--with brief descriptions of each region, entry requirements, health and safety information, ways to get there, and a calendar of events. Then come specific chapters on specific regions. The "Mexico City" chapter is quite comprehensive, and the Mexico City metro map on the inside cover is a real bonus. The rest of the coverage, from Tepoztlán to Baja, is similarly meticulous, with more of a leaning toward middle- and high-income tourists than toward the budget traveler. In addition, there are 67 city and regional maps; a large fold-out map of Mexico; appendixes of Mexico's history, cuisine, and useful vocabulary; and an online directory to further aid your research. Mexico 2000 does what Frommer's is best at: it provides a vast wealth of information, and then it helps you navigate without drowning. --Stephanie Gold
About the Author
About the Authors David Baird (chapters 1, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, and Appendix A) is a writer, editor, and translator based in Austin, Texas. He spent part of his childhood in Morelia, Mexico, and later lived for 2 years among the Mazatec Indians in Oaxaca, while he was doing graduate fieldwork. Lynne Bairstow (chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16) is a writer, specializing in travel and the Internet, who has lived in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, at least part-time for the past 9 years. She now lives there year-round, and was assisted in her research for this book by Claudia Velo. In a previous professional life, Lynne was a vice president for Merrill Lynch in Chicago and New York. They are also the authors of Frommer's Cancún, Cozumel & the Yucatán, Frommer's Portable Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, & Guadalajara, and Frommer's Portable Los Cabos & Baja.
