Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Panama

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I usually travel with a Fodor's or Michelin guidebook, but as there was no Fodor's or Michelin available for Panama, I purchased the Lonely Planet book before a recent trip to Panama. It was the first time I used a Lonely Planet book, and I found it very helpful. I was in Panama City on business, and the book provided very useful advice on where I as a businessman should stay, and it recommended not just the most expensive restaurants in Panama City, but also the best restaurants; writers, I've noticed, sometimes mistake the most expensive for the best. Not this one. I suggested four places for business lunches/dinners while I was in Panama City, and in each instance my Panamanian associates were impressed that I "knew" smart restaurants for business meals. Although I'd told them that it was my first trip to Panama, which it was, they soon took to saying, "And you've never been to Panama before?" with a wink and a chuckle. They ascribed to me more knowledge of their country than I possessed. I like it when other people make me look good, and that's one of the things this guidebook did for me. Next time I travel I won't be in such a hurry to by a Fodor's or a Michelin guide.

LP Panama uses the same formula as the rest of the very successful and helpful Lonely Planet book series. BUT Panama is written by someone who toured all or most of the country in a powerful 4-wheel-drive vehicle with a powerful winch, going in a style most budget travelers can not afford, and going far enough out where most affluent traveler would not want nor dare to go. It seemed to be a trip where he went where he wanted. Coverage of some very good areas was sparse (Bocas del Toro for one). Half the book seemed be be geared toward descriptions of hotels and restaurants. Only expensive ("acceptable") hotels are mentioned. There is literally no information about lodging around bus stations. His lodging suggestions were generally not very good, i.e. Panama City and David.

The use of many description such as "a bowl of spaghetti in octopus sauce" to describe the roads around one town bothered me and infuriated some other travelers. He also mentions "a great deal" often. Most were rather pricey, great only if all your expenses are paid! He also missed some great areas in both the west and in the Darian area.

This is the book that every traveller (except for a few who are always asking to borrow it) takes with them to Panama. It was very accurate and very helpful. The only problems we encountered were unlabelled streets (suggestion: try putting landmarks on maps where no street signs are posted) and the trip from David to Bocas del Toro (which was more of a happy surprise than a problem, as in reality it's cheaper and easier than in Lonely Planet).

Panama is an incredibly beautiful country that is not very dense with tourists. Panamanian spanish is also muy facil de comprender. I wholeheartedly suggest visiting the country and embracing the culture and people you meet (not literally).

We spent 7 days in Panama and the LonelyPlanet Panama book was our bible. I don't know what more we could have wanted from a guidebook, this one seems to have it all. As impoverished college students we were primarily looking at the cheapest way to do things and this book was deffinitely oriented around that type of travel. I really don't understand what some of the other reviewers are talking about when they say this book is written for people with lots of money to spend, that was not our experience at all. We went everywhere by bus and taxi and we saved so much money on transportation and lodging that we felt free to splurge in a couple of places. This book has just the right amount of detail so that your trip doesn't lose the element of surprise. I appreciated the range of accommodations described in this book allowing us to pick our own priorities in terms of how much we wanted to spend to stay somewhere or do something. I also appreciated the background and historical information that made the whole trip that much richer. This book is ubiquitous among the english-speaking tourist crowd and we saw people toting it around everywhere. It was a great conversation starter.

I was a little skeptic about the accuracy of any travel book of Panama. I was born and raised there and found that this book had much more information that I even knew about!! It definitely was accurate, interesting and helpful. After 10 years of absence, visiting Panama with this book made my trip an experience I will never forget. Scott Doggett depicted a place full of wonders but also took the time to "warn" you of the "do's" and "dont's" which was very important to us. This book was a wealth of information and it helped us appreciate our travels much better.. and use our time and resources wisely!!

I am really enjoying this book. I was tired of going to the stores and not finding any publication about travelling to Panama. As a native panamanian, I feel that the author really did his research and he presented only the" best" information for travellers planning to explore the exciting adventures Panama offers. I bought the book to help me plan my trip to Chiriqui and found it very informative regarding new tourist attractions, particularly the ones dealing with eco-tourism opportunities. I am going back at the end of February 1999 and despite from the fact that I am going to miss carnival season ,this book gives me ample and detailed information on fun things to do in the Chiriqui Highlands. I am even planning to go and do some trout fishing in Volcan...well if my wife let's me do it. Once again, I highly recommend this book and encourage anybody who is re-discovering my "green Panama" to buy it!! It wil save you time and money !

Hasta Luego y que disfruten el libro!!

Aquilino Sanjur

I have visited Panama twice. I found this guide book to be both useful and interesting enough to read from cover to cover. I read all the sections, not just those that pertained to my areas of interest. I especially liked the author's insights and comments about Panama's history, culture and society. I got a sense of what Panama is "really" like. The frank reviews, both good and bad, of the restaurants and hotels, are very helpful. Also, there is contact information for a number of local guides. I would recommend this book for first time visitors to Panama as well as repeat visitors wishing to have current information.

This book is the most accurate account of Panama that I have read. I am marrying a man from Panama and purchased the book for family members to read. We are planning to get married there and the book served as an overview. Everything from the description of the people fom Panama to the suggested restaurants is helpful and accurate. The prices on some of the hotels have increased since it's publishing. I highly suggest the Hotel Panamonte in Boquete for it's restaurant and for lodging; it is a hidden treasure.

I live in Santiago, Panama, and this book will be very helpful to me. There are still many places I want to explore in wonderful Pnama and I was very pleased to find an LP guide to my adopted country. What he writes about the places I know is accurate.

I just returned from a 5-week trip to Panama with my husband and want to commend the author of this guidebook for doing such a terrific job. We stayed at eight hotels in all, every one a mid-range place recommended by the author, and we were very pleased with our accommodations. They were just as he said they would be. For the most part, we ate only at restaurants the author recommended, and we found the food just as the author described it. He was very accurate, and he steered us away from places where we might have had tummy problems. I appreciate that very much! Having tried to locate history books on Panama, I know how hard they are to come by. There are lots of books on the Panama Canal, but that's about it. And Panama is more than a canal. But the author includes lots of interesting history beyond simply the canal, and I commend him for doing such a fine job of it because I know how difficult obtaining that history must have been. I don't understand the earlier reviewer. Criticizing the author because he didn't compare a market in Panama with one in Ecuador? That's ridiculous. The author wrote that the crafts market in El Valle every Sunday is the best one in Panama, and it is according to our Panamanian friends. So that was a very unfair review. And bus schedules and bus fares the world over never stay the same very long. That they don't remain the same forever is hardly the author's fault. Criticizing the author for not writing more about Panama's Pacific beaches is ludicrous. It's like criticizing a guidebook on Jamaica because the author didn't write about Jamaica's winter sports. No one goes to Panama for its beaches. If you want beaches, you go to the Caribbean or Hawaii or about a million other places. Not Central America. Everyone knows that, or at least they should. This writer did an outstanding job. Once again, Lonely Planet came through for my husband and I.