Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Puerto Vallarta & Pacific Mexico (Regional Guide)

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

 

 

Very informative. Decent recommendations. A lot of surfing recommendations... if that's what your into. Only a third of the book is dedicated to PV. Rest of it covers Pacific Mexico (Mazatlan, Manzanillo, etc.)I liked Fodor's PV 2007 better. Especially if you are going to PV and not those other destinations covered by Lonely Planet. Fodor's has a lot more content concerning PV, and is easy to use and well laid out.

I usually love the Lonely Planet series, but this book is just a listing of restaurants and hotels along the Mexican coast. There is no information about day trips away from the major cities. A friend of mine pointed out that the cover says it all - that picture could have been taken anywhere! So how did this guide earn two stars instead of one? The history section, as usual, is very good, as is the general travel information for Mexico (information about driving and using phones, etc).

This book is better than not having a travel guide, but I was really happy to have a copy of Moon Puerto Vallarta: Including the Nayarit and Jalisco Coasts (Moon Handbooks) as well. That had excellent information about small towns and other interesting day trips within a few hours of PV. I have a number of LP guides, but for Mexico the Moon series looks to be tops largely because the author (Whipperman) has spent the last 20 years traveling full time in Mexico, and seems to enjoy out-of-the-way places.

The title should be "Pacific Mexican Coast, including Puerto Vallarta". I wanted a guide for PUERTO VALLARTA, but 80% of this book is written for other parts of the coast so it isn't worth the cost for me. I will be returning it and buying the Fodors that seems more honestly focused on Puerto Vallarta. Lonely Planet should be more accurate. I will be a bit more weary before buying their guides in the future.

LP once again delivers with a easy to use reference guide. The color regional map with general attractions in the front of the book were helpful as were the city maps. Although they did not have all the attractions and lodging information correct in the Zihuatanejo area, what's a vacation without a little surprise? If you follow these books as a recipe for a successful vacation, you are in for a surprise. I recommend the LP over many other guide books (Moon, Frommers, etc.).

I hope there is a newer version of the Lonely Planet PV and Pacific Mexico available.We felt that the room descriptions and restaurant recommendations were lacking and not in accordance with reality. I would not purchase this product again.

Lonely Planet is a great series but this book is not. A glaring problem is the outdated street map for Puerto Vallarta - it does not include a major walkway bridge that goes over the Rio Coale. This book is copyright 2009 and the bridge was there in 2008 when I visited last. As others have commented, the section on Puerto Vallarta is on pp. 55-100 - 45 pages of a 320 page book. The rest covers many other cities on the Pacific side of Mexico. The print is small especially on the maps and is difficult on my aging eyes (I don't have this problem with other travel books). The restaurant section certainly does not do justice to Cafe de Olla - the only place in town where people will wait for over an hour at peak to eat - for very good reason - the food is phenomenal and budget-priced. This book gives Cafe de Olla a short, one-sentence, incomplete description. The shopping section lists a mere 25 stores - including 9 art galleries. Strange because the city is filled with thousands of stores of all kinds. The hotel section also seems skimpy, though it does have a good mix of hotels. The general history and culture section is very good. This time I relied more on Fodor's Puerto Vallarta.

The title should be "Pacific Mexican Coast, including Puerto Vallarta". I wanted a guide for PUERTO VALLARTA, but 80% of this book is written for other parts of the coast so it isn't worth the cost for me. I will be returning it and buying the Fodors that seems more honestly focused on Puerto Vallarta. Lonely Planet should be more accurate. I will be a bit more weary before buying their guides in the future.