The Rough Guide to Argentina 2 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) [Paperback]

Danny Aeberhard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2005

The second edition of the Rough Guide to Argentina explores the country in its entirety, from cosmopolitan Buenos Aires to the spectacular Rio de la Plata and Iguazu Falls in the north and remote Ushaia in the far south. The Rough Guide also includes areas often visited on short trips from Argentina - Tierra del Fuego, Chilean Patagonia and Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. The Rough Guide includes a 24-page full-colour introduction to the country''s highlights, hand-picked by the authors. As well as all the first-hand reviews of the best places to stay, eat, drink and party in every town and province, there is detailed advice on the many outdoor activities available - from horseback treks to white-water rafting to heli-skiing. Throughout the guide there are also insightful boxes on Argentinian culture, including the birth of tango, the rise of Peron and the religion of football.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Rough Guides... make valuable holiday companions The Sunday Times Travel Magazine --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Danny Aeberhard has spent several years leading tours through Latin America and trying - in vain - to decide which he likes best. Lucy Phillips is a British based writer and translator who has worked and travelled around South Ameerica since the eearly 1990's.

Product Details

• Paperback: 896 pages
• Publisher: Rough Guides; 2 edition (January 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843533375
• ISBN-13: 978-1843533375
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,424,601 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good complement to Lonely Planet, but 2nd fiddle for Argentina, December 10, 2008

By 

GMO (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Argentina 3rd Edition (Paperback)

As a frequent RG and LP user, I purchased both for my October 2008 18-day trip to Argentina, which included 1 week in Buenos Aires, 3-4 days in the Cordoba area, and a week in Mendoza area. I went with my wife, so figured the 2 guides would keep us both busy, as I am an active tourist.

I used both guides extensively, since there was downtime and overnight buses. My comments are based on my 3 regional destinations and thorough review of the history/culture/things to do sections. I read both guides for all the areas we visited. In fairness, we didn't visit Patagonia, which one might assume would be stronger for RG in general.

Best quality: Activities. Not surprisingly, the RG is geared for active travelers, who spend less time in a hotel room and get out to explore. The recent update was up on some of the still trendy Buenos Aires and Mendoza restaurants and clubs. I bought a Time Out guide for BsAs, knowing how rapidly places flow in and out of favor (recommended) and the RG was spot on with recommendations.

Biggest fault: Maps and photos. As usual for RG (my opinion), this guide is poor and stingy with maps. The national map is poor, and regional maps rely on limited black and white overview maps. This is my biggest fault with RG guides in general.

1. History: both guides were good - nearly identical, actually. Given the economic fluctuations over the past 7 years, both were full of caveats about how uncertain any year's economy can be.

2. Culture: I actually found the LP better on this level. I found more insights into the "why" questions: e.g., Why Portenos (BsAs residents) do/say certain things, Why the gaucho mystique holds such allure in the culture, Why the labor sector has so much influence, etc. To me, other than the maps, this was the biggest difference between the two.

3. Buenos Aires: I found that I used the LP more than the RG for the capital city - the main reason was because of its better maps. I researched neighborhoods extensively in order to book a rental apartment instead of a hotel (GREAT option if there for a week). Also, we really used the Time Out Guide (in English or Spanish) the most. Recommended: pick up a free city map from any high-end hotel, as it has clearer street-level maps with major landmarks.

4. Cordoba: again, we used the LP more, because of the maps. Glad we didn't spend much time here.

5. Mendoza: RG was a bit better than LP here, for us. The descriptions of wine regions and the Andes-related towns en route were better than LP; again the maps were not as good.

All in all -- of the two, I used the LP more. If I am spending more than a few days anywhere, I tend to bring both RG and LP to my destinations and use them both (what's $20 compared to the thousands of dollars and time to visit?) and do my best to relate the two. Overall, I find myself nearly 50-50 in preference, by location. Hope this is helpful!

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Argentina Country Guide, November 11, 2006

By 

chp (Miami) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Argentina 2 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

The Rough Guide to Argentina (2nd edition published in January of 2005) is the best guide available for the entire country. I phrased it this way because Time Out Buenos Aires (published July 2006) is by far and away the best guide for the city of Buenos Aires.

If you are a little leery of purchasing a guidebook printed almost two years ago I would recommend purchasing Time Out Buenos Aires as well because it seemed that only in Buenos Aires have things changed so rapidly that a newer guide would be necessary.
Having said that you certainly can get away with just having The Rough Guide (just know that prices have gone up - which happens with all guide books).

When comparing The Rough Guide to Argentina to Lonely Planet Argentina (the only real competition since Fodors, Frommers, and Bradt just don't compete) I can easily recommend Rough guide over Lonely Planet. The Rough Guide simply has more information (it has 372 MORE pages than Lonely Planet has). A few times I found that I'd read about a very intriguing and little known attraction in the Rough Guide only to find it missing altogether in Lonely Planet. I know that most guides are striving to also highlight the off the beaten track activities as well as the major ones and The Rough Guide achieves this in a much better way than Lonely Planet.

I don't fault Lonely Planet for this because they produce good travel guides (especially in Europe), but it seems that they made the decision to not go as in depth as The Rough Guide has in South America (since I also found the same to be true with the Chile and Peru guides).

The maps are very easy to use and more intuitive than Lonely Planet's, but it would be nice for Rough Guide to copy LP in printing the elevation and population of cities and towns.

All areas of the country are represented well in the guide. Some are a bit more heavily detailed but it does not come at the expense of others.

The "Basics" section is very detailed in highlighting entry requirements, transportation, health and safety issues, etc. There is also a lengthy discussion on the history of Argentina, it's peoples, culture, political system, food, etc.

You will definitely not be disappointed after purchasing this guidebook.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overall, a well-researched, well written and reliable guide., April 8, 2006

By 

Allan M. Gathercoal "fdoamerica" (Norcross, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Argentina 2 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

In the competitive world of Argentia travel guides this guide is one of the most authoritative, up-to-date and practical guides out. Rough Guide's direct competition is Lonely Planet (see my review) and, between the two, well it's almost a toss up - both have strengths and irritations, but the nod goes to Rough Guide.

This guide has very good accommodations recommendations for all of Argentina. You can find everything from a 5 star hotel to well run hostel. Note: for those going to Buenos Aires', hotel prices have skyrocketed over the past two years and most guides have not kept up with this immense price surge. I found hotels that were listed as $75 a night, now $225! Thus, the hotel's webpage is the best place to make sure of the current price. But this Rough Guide provides very few hotel webpages for hotels "outside" of Buenos Aires. Lonely Planet does much better in this area.

Rough Guide's recommendation for restaurants are reliable. Of those restaurants that I tried, about 90% were good to very good. Yet, for some perplexing reason, Rough Guide fails to tell you what you should expect to pay for your meal. So one eatery may be $4 and another $40 - not good. Also, the description of the restaurant is very terse and leaves one wishing for a fuller description. This guide does not give you the time or days when the restaurant is open; so take care and call first, especially on weekends.

Excellent is the information that this guide provides on Argentina's history, politics, wild life, environment, music and recommended books. Rough Guide is the best out in this area. Also, Rough Guide has excellent maps. All of its city maps are excellent, and far easier to use than Lonely Planets. Kudos.

The cumbersome "price code" system for accommodations, i.e. 1 = up to $25, 2 = $25-40, 3 = $40-60, etc., should be changed. It is so much better to use what Lonely Planet, and most other guides use, the cost in dollars. Duh.

If you are interested in the "economic meltdown" of Argentina in 2001/2002 do take with you Paul Blustein's, "And the Money Kept Rolling In", (see review).

Rough Guide is a very reliable guide. However, there is a new release just out you should also consider: "Footprint Argentina - 2006" - it too is a great guide! (See my review). This "Rough Guide" is Strongly Recommended.