Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Brazil (Country Guide)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After a mixed experience with LP's new edition for Morocco earlier this year, I hesitantly agreed to purchase another LP for my trip this summer to Brazil's northeast, specifically Salvador, Recife, and Sao Luiz. I was not disappointed.

LP continues to give budget travelers a good feel for the communities they enter, and in this case, has relatively accurate lodging and restaurant descriptions. While at times I wished for a fuller description of places other than their simply being another "quaint" and "small" fishing village, I never found myself cursing the book for leading me to a place I did not want to be in.

I would definitely recommend this guide, although its prices are already out of date due to currency fluctuations. A better option for future editions, I believe, would be for prices to be listed in the local currency, reals, rather than in dollars.

My husband and I spent 3 weeks traveling around Brazil. Maceió, Salvador, Rio, Blumeneau, and Foz de Iguaçu (Iguazu Falls). We used a travel agent who was from Brazil to book our hotels and flights in advance, but as far as local travel (and in one case, arriving in an airport an hour from our destination city, Blumeneau), we found this book indispensable. For example, it clearly explains how the bus systems work and why you should take them. It also have info in Rio about an airport bus that saved us at least $25, if I remember correctly, in not taking a cab. Recapped the cost of the book right there. Most often, and in spite of my being able to converse in Portuguese, the book was more helpful even than the hotel staff of the hotels where we stayed.

As an earlier reviewer mentioned, prices are completely out of date, due to currency fluctuations, and I agree that listing them in the local currency would have been helpful. Still, since the exchange rate the prices are based on was also posted in the book, it is possible to recreate that information.

As is inevitable with any travel book, some smaller restaurants have closed since publication, and we often relied on locals to give us recommendations (sometimes those recommendations were also in the book, though!). Ditto on a laundry place in Rio. ;) Overall, though, the recommendations in the book allow a tourist to navigate the city without feeling lost and out of place. At least, it did that for us. We used it so extensively that the cover is going in our scrapbook, having been such an integral part of our journey.

I have been doing Brazil vacations for decades (literally) and have seen every guidebook in the English language. For some reason - perhaps because Brazil is such a big country with a limited English-language guidebook market - publishers have never found it worthwhile to invest money and time into producing a truly first rate guidebook. This latest edition of Lonely Planet is no exception. I cannot endorse ANY of the English language guidebooks out there today as a one stop guidebook(although each has a few redeeming qualities).

So what is a would-be Brazil traveller to do? Do what I have been doing for the last ten years: supplement your English language guidebook with a first rate, up-to-date guidebook from the Quatro Rodas series published in Brazil by Abril publishing. In other words, get an English language guidebook for background information (I prefer the footprint book, but LP is adequate for a broad overview of the country). Then, with a limited reading knowledge of portuguese (how much do you really need to know to be able to look up hotel names, street addresses, and phone numbers, right?) your trip will be made a lot simpler if you get the Quatro Rodas guides. The Quatro Rodas series is constantly being updated, and in my experience provides the widest, most complete, accurate, and thorough coverage of hotels, restaurants, tourist sites, directions, and logistics of any guidebook. And best of all, the Quatro Rodas guides are specialized: on a budget, get "Viajar bem e barato" (requires a bit of portuguese reading ability); visiting specific states, get the state guides for your destinations; doing driving, get their road atlas; and best of all, going to the beach, the get the Brazil beachcomber's bible, the "Guia Praias" (truly one of the most amazing guides in the world!).

So where do you get these books? In any airport book store / news stand. Trust me, your life as a Brazil tourist will be made a lot easier if you learn to use the Quatro Rodas books.

Initially, I took three guides with me on my 5-week journey through Brazil: Footprint, Frommer's and Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet gets the nod.

No other guide except Footprints (see my review) comes close to the covering all of Brazil. Lonely Planet is the best guide to have if you are backpacking and/or thinking of crossing into other countries at remote border crossing.

Lonely Planet has EXCELLENT sections on Brazil's history, economy and culture. Lonely Planet segregates Brazil into five geographical areas and introduces each city or region by explaining the history and climate. KUDOS! The descriptions of the towns and cities are top rate. There are many maps, easy to use and well defined.

Sadly, unlike other L.P. guides, this guide has few sidebars or text boxes that give you interesting tidbits about the country. Lonely Planet gives you enough restaurant and accommodation recommendations, but most all have terse descriptions that leave you wishing for more, i.e., "menu is low-key, most pizza and standard rice-beans-meat dishes."

Though this is the 2008 edition (I also reviewed the 2005 edition earlier), I found (too often) places that were recommended but were closed or had moved. Thus, the editors did not `due diligence' and send the writers of this edition back to the places that the 2005 guide raved about and lists. Rather, they just transferred them over. NOT GOOD. Beware. This was especially prevalent in Manaus. Best to call first before you spend the taxi money.

Speaking of money... If you are from the European Union, sing praises for the Euro. If you're from the USA, weep. The fall of the dollar's value is very evident in Brazil. Reality check: Rio, a decent hotel (not great a hotel, just decent) is at least $100 and up. A good, not great, meal is at least $20 to $30. I traveled during the "Low Season" and I found that I needed $100-$150 a day to travel at a 3-4 star level and eat OK (not including my airfares). You should add at least 20-30% in high season and at least 60% at Carnival. Backpackers can do it for less, but not near what the guide quotes. Be Aware - Be Prepared for money shock.

Lonely Planet is my first choice, but I have it on good authority (Amazon.com) that Footprint Brazil 2009 will be out this December. IF you are going to Carnival 2009 then get Footprint over Lonely Planet, it does a much better job of guiding you through this huge event. Also, I highly recommend Culture Shock! Brazil 2007 for anyone wanting to know more about the ethos and customs of the diverse, colorful country. Happy travels.

I took three guides with me on my 5 week journey through Brazil (Sept/Oct 2007): L.P., Footprint, Frommer's. Lonely Planet would have been my first choice, BUT, it's dated. Its publication date of 2005 means that the research was done 2003-2004. Many things have change in four years. The prices in this guide have doubled and some restaurants and hotels that are listed have closed and/or the quality of some has seriously declined. But first, the positive.

No other guide except Footprint (see my review) comes close to the covering all of Brazil. However, LP is the best guide to have if you are backpacking and thinking of crossing into other countries at remote border crossing.

Lonely Planet has excellent sections on Brazil's history, economy and culture. L.P. segregates Brazil into five geographical areas and introduces each city or region by explaining the history and climate. Kudos! The descriptions of the towns and cities are top rate. There are many maps, easy to use and well defined.

Sadly, in this guide, unlike other L.P. guides, there are few sidebars or text boxes that give you interesting tidbits about the country. Also, if you are looking for a guide to help you with Carnival, L.P.'s section is bit anemic (best is Frommer's, see my review). There are many restaurant and accommodation recommendations, but all have terse descriptions that leave you wishing for more.

MONEY: If you are from the European Union, sing praises for the Euro. If you're from the USA, weep. The fall of the dollar's value is very evident in Brazil. Reality check: Rio, a decent hotel (not great a hotel, just decent) is at least $100 and up. A good, not great, meal is at least $20 to $30. I traveled during the "Low Season" and I found that I needed $100-$150 a day to travel at a 3-4 star level and eat OK (not including my airfares). You should add at least 20-30% in high season and at least 60% at Carnival. Backpackers can do it for less, but not near what the guide quotes.

Lonely Planet would have been my first choice if not for the dated coverage. If a new edition comes out, buy it! Still, Lonely Planet is a great backup text to have. My first choice for guides is Frommer's (see my review). I also highly recommend Culture Shock! Brazil 2007 (see my review) for anyone wanting to know more about the ethos and customs of the diverse, colorful country. Happy travels.

After trying to use Lonely Planet with my first Brazilian stop, Sao Paulo, I would definitely NOT recommend this travel guide. I read criticism of the prior edition on Amazon but assumed that Lonely Planet would have corrected the errors in this updated edition. I assumed wrong. Errors on the map still persist. The first day I wasted a good amount of time looking for accommodations that were incorrectly indicated. Once I did find them, I found that Lonely Planet was way off with the price information. Granted the Real has increased recently, but the prices were more than 3 times higher than Lonely Planet's estimate, so the information is plain wrong, not because of currency fluctuations. Another day I wasted time trying to find a bookstore that wasn't even close to the map's dot. Assuming the stated address was correct, I was told to take a cab from the spot where the map indicated it should be because it was so far away.
I was able to look at a Let's Go Brazil at my hostel and I would probably recommend that book. Even with the earlier publication date, the information seemed to be more up to date. Rough Guide's information on the internet also looks useful. The poor quality and apparent laziness I found in the Sao Paulo section is really pathetic and Lonely Planet should be ashamed of publishing such errors. I want my money back.

Lonely Planet is usually the best travel guide out there. Unfortunately, there Brazilian version is full of errors. A friend of mine purchased LP for our trip to Brazil in May 2005 while I got Let's Go Brazil. Like another review stated, there are several errors in Sao Paolo alone. We were search for a Italian restaurant that is suppose to have the "best pizza in Brazil". When we got to the restaurant, we were told by the owner that the restaurant has never sold pizza. I was told by one travel agent/guide in Sao Paolo that the person that did the section on Sao Paolo was only there for 1-2 days and there was no way he could have accurately gotten all the information that he needed in that short time span. We also had a problem finding out hostel in Rio using the map in LP. For a book that was release in Jan. 2005, it is missing much information. I would purchase Let's Go just to have another reference guide book.

As the title goes... I'm a brazilian and use to travel on my motorcycle. Both the brazilian Quatro Rodas Guide and Lonely Planet Guide tackles almost on the beach sites alone. Brazil is very very very bigger than its coast. If you, like me, would like to know the brazilian backlands, so you should delve onto personal accounts and fictional literature.

But talking about the beachs... Quatro Rodas is comphreensive and Lonely Planet is more objective. Quatro Rodas is alphabetical and Lonely Planet is geographical.

I would purchase Lonely Planet to choose the places to go and then search on the internet for hotels.

PROS
Relatively complete information for a new visitor to Brazil
Format of the information is consistent with other LP guides, making it easy to find what I need

CONS
At least one inaccurate city map
Out of date information on at least one sight
May not be as thoroughly updated as I would prefer

I like the Lonely Planet guides because they the country guides are written with a consistent plan. That means that if you get used to finding information in a recent guide, you'll be able to find that information in recent guides for other countries. I have gone to Brazil four times for work, but have some spare time to look around, and this book us helpful both for basic information that even a business traveler needs ("Dangers and Annoyances" in particular) as well as fun things to do when there is time.

In most LP guides, they list the biggest city first. In this one, they list Rio de Janeiro first, probably because it is the most popular destination. São Paulo is much bigger, though not much of a tourist destination, so I guess that is why it comes much later in the book.

LP helps me find good things to see and do in my off time. Visiting the central market (Mercado Municipal) was a worthwhile morning in São Paulo. I would not especially recommend São Paulo, but my business usually includes it.

Ouro Preto certainly did not disappoint as a day trip from Belo Horizonte. However, the map for Ouro Preto was incorrect: some streets were mislabeled compared to the signs I found. As convoluted as the streets are in this town, and given they are on steep hills, the problem caused me more walking when I was ready to wind down.

Another day trip I wanted to take from BH was Gruto Rei do Mato, which LP describes as caves that feature ancient cave paintings, petroglyphs, and bones of an extinct animal. What I found when I got there is that it did not open until 1 PM (not 8 AM as listed in the guide), so I had to wait to get in. After seeing one cave, the tour was over - no paintings, petroglyphs, or bones. A local person said he had been to the cave three times and never seen them because they were located in a smaller cave that has been closed for a few years. To me, without these features, it was just another cavern lit up with colorful lights (LEDs). Since I have seen such caves elsewhere, I would never have spent a precious day off visiting the cave had I known that the most interesting features was closed. This guide is only six months old, and I think they should have re-researched such facts to ensure they were still accurate.

The Belo Horizonte bus station is called Rodoviária, but LP calls it only "the bus station" in the text and on the map. You'll have an easier time getting there if tell the driver "Eu vou a Rodoviária" (the name for the bus station) instead of "Eu vou a estação de ônibus" (the words for bus station; forgive me if my Portuguese is not good: the drivers understand the first form just fine). LP correctly tells you that there is a bus to Ouro Preto from BH bus station, but it does not tell you where to catch the bus to Sete Lagoas (for Gruto Rei do Mato; the answer is Rodoviária), or where to catch a bus back to BH from the cave (you may be able to flag it down on the entrance ramp, but I got a ride to the Rodoviária in Sete Lagoas from one of the other people touring the cave).

The point is, if in my short trip this time I encountered this many problems, there are probably as many in other parts of the book. I don't expect travel guides to be perfect, but these problems add up to two stars off an otherwise good guide.

By the way, Belo Horizonte itself is a pleasant and approachable town for walking, especially the "planned part" inside Avenida do Contorno (the circle that encloses the double-grid streets); outside of Contorno it is a sprawl. There are many Butecos (casual bars with food and lots of people) and por kilo restaurants (buffets of Brazilian food sold by weight). The city seems safer than SP and Rio, but keep your safety awareness on, especially after sunset, and in the area around the Rodoviária. LP tells you these things, and I think it is right.

The section on the nation's capital, Brasilia, makes a valiant attempt to make the place sound worth visiting. From my perspective, it is a pedestrian's nightmare, since the city is mainly built around highways and ramps that are hard to navigate on foot: it was built as a car driver's utopia. There is some unique and interesting modern architecture, but not much of it. At the end of the section they admit that "residents love it but visitors love to hate it."

If you do use this travel guide, I strongly recommend you check before going somewhere to make sure you are not disappointed.

I would have given the review 3 1/2 stars if I could, but given the problems and the choice of stars, I'll give it three.

We went to Rio using this book and were very disappointed. While the background information in the books is helpful, the book is very out of date, and often inaccurate. In particular:

1) Most of the restaurants recommended that we tried to go to were closed down. Those that we found were not as good as the review suggested.

2) Maps are small, hard to read, and often inaccurate, placing locations on the wrong block, or leaving off crucial information, such as there are buildings blocking routes through neighborhoods. This often caused us to have to backtrack quite a distance to get where we were going.

3) There was not much useful information about Ilhe Grande.