One Hundred & One Beautiful Small Towns in Mexico (101 Beautiful Small Towns) [Hardcover]

Guillermo Garcia-Oropeza (Author), Cristobal Garcia Sanchez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2008 | Series: 101 Beautiful Small Towns

One Hundred & One Beautiful Small Towns in Mexico broadens the successful One Hundred & One Towns series with a tour through the virgin coastal hamlets, sun-kissed terra-cotta villages, and lush green hilltop towns that abound in Mexico. This is the armchair traveler’s escape and the serious tourist’s companion, featuring exceptional photography referencing a rich cultural background steeped in ancient Mayan folklore and religious tradition. This book ventures through the countryside providing in-depth histories of the smaller, less trodden towns that speckle Mexico’s varied terrain, and introduces readers to the sights, sounds, and scents that are all a part of Mexico’s powerful allure. Towns are organized by region and are accompanied by information on local delicacies, nightlife, and must-see hot spots. A complete appendix with addresses and phone numbers of recommended hotels, villas, bed-and-breakfasts, restaurants, and more can be found at the back of the book, as well as a suggested reading list to round out your trip.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The stunning photographs by Sinchez and Oropeza's chatty text are reason enough to forget about trans-Atlantic flights...it's time to discover new destinations--not too far from home." ~El Paso Times

"Anyone is bound to be surprised by the diversity of towns profiled here." ~The Chicago Tribune

"Most of us go to our familiar corner of Mexico, bask in the sun and leave with a smile. The fact that dozens of other beautiful towns in this sprawling country remain unexplored never fazed us. That is, until we opened (this book)." ~Endless Vacation

About the Author

Guillermo García-Oropeza is the author of several books on topics ranging from travel and literature to Mexican culture. He has received the Jalisco Award for Literature, the Pedro Sarquís Foundation Award, and the José Clemente Orozco and Pedro Ciprés medals.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli (March 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847830284
• ISBN-13: 978-0847830282
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 1 x 10.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #169,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #84 in Books > Travel > Latin America > Mexico

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific resource for discovering new travel destinations in Mexico, April 28, 2008

By 

LMK (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Hundred & One Beautiful Small Towns in Mexico (101 Beautiful Small Towns) (Hardcover)

One Hundred & One Beautiful Small Towns in Mexico

What a fantastic resource for discovering the hidden gems of Mexico. We're planning a trip south, where the dollar will still deliver good value, and are thrilled that we found this book. It's packed with beautiful photographs, informative summaries, a selection of hotel and restaurant recommendations in each location and a regional index to help the reader/traveler organize and plan an itinerary. It covers the places we're all familiar with, but this book also reveals a whole new Mexico that you don't hear much about from the travel websites and agents.
It's not the sort of book you take with you. It's one you want to have before you plan. Who knew about the turquoise lagoons of Bacalar? Or the "dance of the fliers" in Papantla? If you're looking for an exciting and exotic cultural adventure or just wanting to know more about Mexico, get this book!

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars maybe 61 small towns?, October 7, 2009

By 

Bruce Merrill (Cambridge, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: One Hundred & One Beautiful Small Towns in Mexico (101 Beautiful Small Towns) (Hardcover)

While I'm still glad that I purchased this book, since I did learn about a number of attractive small towns that do not turn up in the guide books, prospective customers should be warned that many of these 101 listings are not small towns. Perhaps even less that half? A great number of them are religious buildings from the colonial period: churches, convents, monasteries, etc. And many of them are pre-Colombian sites-- including such classic places as Monte Alban, Chichen Itza and Teotihuacan. It may be that *all* the familiar pre-Colombian sites are listed in here! And then you have cities, such as Guanajuato and Campeche. The most gratuitous listing is Cozumel, the busiest cruise-ship harbor in all Mexico. These may be worthy destinations (and the listing of the religious buildings is certainly useful), but they're not small towns. So, if you're especially keen on the small town experience in Mexico, you will be short changed.

I haven't seen the other books on this series, on France and Italy, but I'll wager that they are truly focused on small towns.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book to browse and read, May 24, 2008

By 

Maria H. Ramirez "mhr1" (North Aurora, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Hundred & One Beautiful Small Towns in Mexico (101 Beautiful Small Towns) (Hardcover)

This is a beautiful book with some great photography about some of the "unknown" places in Mexico. It goes beyond the Cancun and Cabo San Lucas and transports you to another side of Mexico that few people know. Small, charming villages that still preserve the colonial history and the traditions that make them special and makes you evoke a period in history long gone. The descriptions are short and I will have love it if there was a more detailed map of where these places are located and how to reach them.