Customer Reviews

Mexico & Central America Handbook 2009, 17th: Tread Your Own Path (Footprint Central America & Mexico Handbook)

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

 

 

Footprint does a great job covering this region of Latin America in a single volume. The pages are thin enough to pack a comparable amount of information as found in 5 different Lonely Planet guidebooks. The accommodation listings are succint but helpful, and the descriptions of the attractions are intelligently described. It would definitely be the book to bring for someone traveling in multiple countries. I have been disappointed with some of the Footprint guides for other regions of the world, but I loved their guide for Mexico and Central America.

We took this guidebook with us on a three week trip through Belize, Guatemala and the Yucatan and Chiapas Mexico. This guidebook covers too large of an area, with very little info about each place. It gives no historical background info. It only tells you the basics like where to sleep, eat and catch the bus. Our biggest gripe is the info on Semuc Champey National Monument in Guatelmala, one of the most beautiful sites there. The book makes the journey up there from the town of Lanquin sound like an impossible endeavor unless you take a tour, and state that there is nothing up there. THIS IS NOT THE CASE! We were able to get a ride up there on Christmas day and low and behold there were some great budget lodging options right near the site! I was so disappointed that we could have spent the night in the jungle instead of in town where people went crazy with fireworks on Xmas eve!
I bought this book after skimming it in the library. It does have a wide range of lodging options, but such bare bones info on the whole. Near the end of our trip I was tearing out specific pages so I didn't have to carry the entire thing around. Not a good choice for a short trip I believe.

This is a very good book, written British style. This is especially good for those going to Mexico and Central America.

For those just visiting Mexico, who want in-depth coverage, Lonely Planet is the best guide.

This one is a bit difficult because it puts pertinent data in other locations, making it a bit tricky.

The guide is very compact, has good basic info, and is in hard cover.

I used an earlier edition of the "Mexico & Central America Handbook"(Plus, "The South American Handbook") to travel from San Diego, CA, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by bus, train. New editions have less small town maps, less fine detail than older ones. One could probably still make it with these, however.