Customer Reviews

Puerto Rico Off the Beaten Path, 5th (Off the Beaten Path Series)

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I bought this book right before a trip to Puerto Rico. Although I wished I'd had more time to read it thoroughly before I left, I took it with us and we referred to it from time to time throughout our vacation. I believe if I had had enough time to read it cover to cover before leaving I would have been able to mark the pages of the things we wanted to do while there.

Some of the information concerning El Yunque was incorrect when we visited, but it wasn't too much a problem. First, when we visited the Caribbean National Forest, our cost was $3.00 per adult and children under 16 were free. This was cheaper than the book said, but it also has a disclaimer that all price information was accurate at the time of printing so that was just a pleassant surprise. The other thing was that the road (PR 191) to the El Yunque lookout was closed, and appeared to have been for some time.

Thanks to the book, we discovered a new Puerto Rican rum and we were able to do a free rum tasting while we were there. Helpful tip, make sure you don't go when the cruise ships are in. When we went the piers were empty and we had the place to ourselves.

The maps in the book are helpful in a pinch, but I would highly recommend purchasing a road map from Walgreens and using it instead, as the maps in this book are not very detailed.

his book contains helpful little lists of hotels, retsaurants and night clubs, and we did refer to those lists a time or two when trying to decide where to eat for the evening.

All in all, I would recommend this book to someone who is going to visit Puerto Rico, and I would also add that you should try to find time to read it thoroughly before you go.

This book is only about 1/3 as thick as your typical travel book but is both wider and taller, making it difficult to fit into my carry-on pocket. But that's okay, because this is the sort of book that you sit down and read at home, rather than something you would take with you on your trip to refer to. I read through it once but I haven't really used it as I've been planning my trip. Largely because I never really read anything in it that isn't included in more detail in my Rough Guide, Fodors, or Moon Handbooks. I was expecting this book to tell me about the out of the way places that only the locals know about. That isn't really the case. Sure, most people take "beach vacations" in PR and may not visit places like the Areciebo Observatory, Camuy Caves or Ruta Panoramica. Those places probably are considered "Off the Beaten Path." But nevertheless, they're still described in every other tour book and in much more detail than what you get in this book. An okay book if it's all you've got. But just about every other PR travel book I've seen is better.

The "Off the Beaten Path" books are a great investment. Buy them for your home state, and buy them when you vacation...you will be building a great collection to your library. You will be amazed at the information in these easy to travel with books. I now own three: my home state, North Carolina (a grown son and I visited there for two weeks...the book was great.), and of course my favorite Puerto Rico (that one has traveled back and forth a few times). Loan them to friends and family when they travel. Writing this teases me to go buy another one for myself...the holidays are coming, maybe a neighboring state I could start to explore.

I ended up using my Moon and Lonely Planet guides more. This one was not one to look through for a few suggestions. It seemed more like a book that one sat down and read through rather than used on the fly, so to speak.