Lonely Planet Colombia (Country Guide) [Paperback]

Michael Kohn (Author), Robert Landon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Country Guide | Publication Date: June 1, 2006

Discover the best kept secret in South America. Colombia is safer than ever, affordable and still blissfully uncrowded - an independent traveler's dream. Laze on palm-fringed Caribbean beaches. Canoe slient rivers through lush rainforest. Stroll Cartagena's colonial old town. Salsa all night in Cali. Packed with practical advice and valuable tips for trouble-free travel, our peerless guide enables you to explore with confidence.

The Basics - detailed maps, tailored itineraries and easy-to-use directory help make the most of your trip.

Adrenaline Rushes - the best spots for diving, rafting, hiking, rock-climbing and other thrills.

Straight Talk - honest advice on where to go - and still risky spots to avoid.

Discerning Reviews - opinionated authors give the lowdown on where to sleep, eat and pain the town.

Colombia 101 - in-depth background chapters provide insight into the country and its people.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Lonely Planet guides are a must-pack” --Toronto Star, February 2006

From the Publisher

Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 4 edition (June 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1741042844
• ISBN-13: 978-1741042849
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #882,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > Travel > Latin America > South America > Colombia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst LP Guidebook I Have Ever Used, January 28, 2007

By 

Chris Luallen (Nashville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Colombia (Country Guide) (Paperback)

I just returned from a 2 week trip to Colombia. We stayed one week in the mountain town of Pasto, where my Ecuadorian wife has friends, and one week in Cartagena. The section on Pasto was OK. But the section on Cartagena was terrible. The hotels mentioned were mostly limited to cheap backpacker places in Getsemani, the worst part of town. I have stayed in many $5 places myself. But my wife, like most Latinas, knows that super cheap hotels often double as brothels or "love motels" in Latin America and refuses to stay at them. They also don't mention any hotels in Bocagrande, where most Colombians on vacation stay. I understand that Lonely Planet caters mostly to foreign tourists on a tight budget. But LP also offers the only current guidebook to Colombia and needs to cover a much broader price range in order to be of use to all types of travellers.The restaurant info was also very limited and of little use.

Furthermore, the 2006 edition offers practically nothing new in its "update" to the 2003 edition. A waste of money!

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Did They really visit Colombia?, January 25, 2007

By 

G. Porecki (Muncie, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Colombia (Country Guide) (Paperback)

This is a very poor Lonely Planet book. I think the reason is that Colombia is still considered dangerous, though for the tourists it is not, and LP authors don't go to dangerous places. The example of that would be Haiti - no guidebook, no update in the new Caribbean guidebook, due to "unstability". Well Rough Guide Authors didn't have a problem with visiting Haiti and french Petit Fute has a recently updated book all about the island. And it isn't dangerous. Lonely Planet just chickend out. I think we have the same problem here. After Mr. Dydynski, noone s just brave enough at LP to visit "risky destinations". The question is, why write a guidebook like this at all.

Anyway, I've visited Barranquilla and Cartagena with this book. The part about Cartagena was OK, though the choice of restaurants was limited and I'm not sure they chose the best ones. The chapter on Barranquilla was laughable. I know it's not really a pretty tourist town, but people do visit it (and not only for the carnival), so LP authors should really write a bit more pages about it. It's a large city and got the amount of info as small towns do in other LP guides.

Well, to sum it up. Colombia is a very interesting country of over 40 million inhabitants and numerous atractions... now look at the number of pages in the book - small countries get 2-3 times fater LP guides... well, case closed - it can't be good!

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very poor, January 13, 2007

By 

Robert Allen (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lonely Planet Colombia (Country Guide) (Paperback)

I have been using lonely planet guide books all over the world for over 20 years. This is a poor effort by lonely Planet and the authors. Very limited information for a country full of incredible people and places.