Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Guatemala

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I traveled to Guatemala for two weeks in the summer of 2005 and used Lonely Planet the entire time. It was my first trip there, so I needed and wanted extensive detail and maps, which this book provided. I found it to be right on about everything from restaurants and hotels to ATM locations. I appreciated the small bits of cultural and historical information as well. The transportation sections were the most helpful. On several occasions I had people ask to borrow my LP to look up bus connections. Overall, I thought it was excellent and recommend it highly to anyone traveling to Guatemala.

on every backpacking trip, a lonely planet was always one of the must-haves because they are always so on it when it comes to accuracy and reliability. well, i was disappointed by this guatemala edition. the author raved about the country: antigua, tikal, the people...so i had all these warm fuzzy expectations. that was mistake number one.

antigua was described as this beautiful "magical" colonial city. i spent over two weeks there to study spanish and magical wasnt at all what i experienced. nice, yes, but not MAGICAL. ever been to oaxaca, mexico? now, thats lively and magical. antigua shuts down pretty early, so if youre looking for food say at 10pm or later, youre out of luck. if you like bars (i dont), well, then your IN luck. the buildings in antigua were colorful and you can find old landmarks all around, but again, it did not have that "magical" atmosphere like the author described. im not alone on this.

tikal was not a must-see. at least not if youve already seen all the ancient sites in southern mexico. i was not impressed, but the author of the lonely planet (and apparently by some travelers) raved about how amazing it was. maybe the view from one of the temples was breathtaking, and oh yes, the howling monkeys can give you a startle if you didnt know they were just monkeys, but other than that, i was not impressed.

and as for the people, i didnt find them to be all that warm and friendly. they know youre a tourist, and they treat you like one. i stayed with a family for two weeks and still didnt experience that sincerety and warmth. i surmised somehow, that the toursim altered that experience of genuine friendliness. i found that especially true in antigua. the locals really take advantage of the tourist. theyre like robots repeating the same whiny phrase, "que compran?" when you walk by. sometimes, they dont even look at you when they say it.

i guess the author was enamoured with guatemala (he has been many times)...but i didnt find his bias to the country to be all that accurate. its the first time that ive been disappointed by the info in a lonely planet, after having used at least six or seven of them for my other travels.

buy this one for its maps and how-to-get-around and logistics like that. just watch out for the biased reviews of places. judge for yourself and ask other travelers.

I purchased an older version of LP to Gua.
I used it as a general reference guide, taking into consideration prices changed.
However- not only priced changed (dramatically), but also data, places and related info..... that's what I found.
As before, I also found many of the data or essays of writers as invalid, out of touch with reality, and somehow to poetic for a ref guide book....
Bottom line- OK as a ref book, with a grain of salt (or many grains...)

If you're heading to Guatemala, this book has tons of useful information. The maps could be better, but overall this book was with me where ever I went.

Once again, the Lonely Planet has outdone itself with its guidebook, Guatemala. Even Guatemalans recognized the book and held it in high regard. My traveling companion and I started calling it, La Biblia--the Bible--by the second day of travel. It was, however, a 2004 edition. I traveled in February 2007. Some things were out of date or not mentioned. Nonetheless, as someone who mainly hit the tourist spots of Antigua and Pana, I felt very well satisfied with the advice and guidance in the book.