Lonely Planet Brazil [Paperback]

John Noble (Author), Andrew Draffen (Author), Robyn Jones (Author), Chris McAsey (Author), Leonardo Pinheiro (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lonely Planet Brazil | Publication Date: January 2002

Here is the real Brazil: the people, the food, the architecture and the music. Features expanded coverage of ecotourism: where to go, where to stay and how to get there. New special section on wildlife and travellers' favourite spots: the Amazon and the Pantanal and a colourful section on the world's biggest party, Carnavale in Rio.

Product Details

• Paperback: 736 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 5th edition (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1864501464
• ISBN-13: 978-1864501469
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,597,310 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't Waste Your Money On This One, April 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Lonely Planet Brazil (Paperback)

The conventional wisdom is that you can't go wrong with Lonely Planet guide, but this Brazil guide proves otherwise. The new 5th edition is little changed from the 4th, except for 1) the new Natural Brazil section. Most travelers will find this section too dry and uninteresting, while those really interested in nature will find it too superficial 2) $5.00 higher price tag.
Useful things, such as info on hotels, restaurants, entertainment, and prices are too often inaccurate. The most annoying aspect of this guide is that all prices are out of whack. LP translated prices (some of which were probably 5 years old) into US dollars when the real was 2.2 per dollar. Now it is about 3.5.
All this raises doubts of whether or not the authors actually went to Brazil to update this edition and not just slapped on a new cover and threw in a new useless section. So, if you have the 4th edition, keep using it. If not, look into buying either the Footprints or the Rough guides. The high popularity of LP is another reason to go with something else. When you go to places recommended by LP, you are very likely to run into hordes of other backpackers clutching their LP guides like bibles and afraid to make a step on their own. On a positive note, the LP guide does have useful info about Brazil's history, economy, culture, society, film and literature.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Far Below Lonely Planet's Regular Standards, April 6, 2003

By 

Christopher L. Nordhoff (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Brazil (Paperback)

I lost count of the number of errors in this book. They printed the wrong dates for Carnaval Samba Parades, the prices are in USD rather than in local currency - all wrong by an average 30%, as well. Hotels and restaurants are listed that closed long before the January 2002 publication date, and it's obvious that they haven't been to Brasilia in years - citing it as `treeless` - which I`m sure it was twenty years ago, but not today.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend a better Brazil guide because I don't have any experience with any others, but I enjoyed ceremoniously burning this book when I left Brazil.

The most disappointing is that other Lonely Planet Guidebooks (I have used 5 other ones) far exceed the standards that this one set.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I don't know what to tell you to buy, but don't buy this., March 23, 2004

By 

E. Mueller - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Brazil (Paperback)

On a three month research trip to Brazil, my husband and I began a letter to Lonely Planet detailing every mistake, omission, and out-of-date reference we could remember. Sometimes we just couldn't write fast enough! Many of the maps were virtually useless (particularly the one of Salvador, we thought). Prices were vastly different and inaccurate (and not due only to changes in the exchange rate). At the end of three months, our letter was in excess of 7 single spaced typed pages! And we certainly didn't go everywhere.