Customer Reviews

The Rough Guide to Guatemala 4 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

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

 

 

I was seriously disappointed with recent guide book updates by other travel guide companies about Guatemala. So, it was natural that I would immediately send for the newest one from Rough Guide.

Although I will probably only look at it in depth next year, when my annual Maya travels will again have me in Guatemala, I looked at enough pages to determine that this author actually visited Peten to update accurately about some of my favorite places there and near there.

If you are looking for the best travel guide for Guatemala, this one is currently THE one to buy. The only reason I didn't give the book 5 stars is that, being half Norwegian, I just don't do that sort of thing.

I traveled by myself at the age of 20 to Guatemala during the summer of 2009. This guide greatly assisted me during my travels. For much of my time in Guatemala, I stayed in Quetzaltenango or Xela. Every week I traveled to different areas in the country, only having the information contained in this guide, there were enough details in this guide to allow me to conduct my travels in this fashion. I never once encountered a situation where the guide book was inaccurate.

If any readers are interested in traveling in this fashion I would highly recommend that you learn some spanish, because with any guide, obtaining clarification from the locals is what will be most effective in understanding exactly what the guide books are referencing. For example when I traveled from Xela to the volcano Tajamulco I was actually traveling with a local Guatemalan, if I would not have had this guide or was unable to speak spanish I most definately would have had to go through an adventure travel agency. Although in reality, I did meet other Americans down there that barely spoke any Spanish and were able to successfully travel from Xela to the surrounding areas by simply using guides similar to this one. Let me know if you have any questions...

As of 12/09, this was the latest Guatemala guide when my wife and I traveled there for 3 weeks.

The too little: Businesses are evolving, coming and going so quickly there were many cases of information being out of date already.

The too much: Guatemala isn't that big of a place, so to fill a whole book's worth, they pack in a lot of very small, out of the way, and minor locations/events/details. This is awesome if you're going to be travelling a long time and/or going way off the beaten path. In our 3 weeks of mad travelling, we still didn't even hit all of the 'highlights', and had to wade through a lot of stuff of little relevance to us.

I bought this because we already had a travel guide (about the same size) that covered all of Central America, and I thought that the Guatemala section might be too sparse. Turns out it would probably have been just right.

I have all three of the main travel guides for Guatemala, Rough Guide, MG, and LP, this is by far the best one, with MG second (MG's just a little out of date since it was published 2 years ago). Very detailed information, of the several areas I've traveled to in Guatemala the Rough Guide has been quite accurate and helpful, whenever I travel somewhere new I carry it with me.

My wife and I just got back from Guatemala. In preparation for this trip, I researched all the guidebooks out there on the subject and ultimately chose this one. Our trip was focused on 3 areas, Antigua, Lake Atitlan and Tikal. In all, this guide book was a tremendous resource for each of these areas. There were a number of very helpful tips/ideas that we used or looked into, which added to the enjoyment of our trip. In addition, the sections in the back which go into more detail of the Mayan's is a nice read.

Stayed in Guatemala city and the restaurants were not existant that were listed in the book. The map of Guatemala City was also incorrect with regards to musuem placement. Admission pricing was outdated too. Decent background information on Guatemala though.

This is the best guide hands down for travelers interested in learning about Guatemala. Personally, I don't choose a guide for travel arrangements (not lodging, not restaurants, not bus schedules, all that can be figured out on line before you go or on the ground once you are there). I pick my travel guides so they can help me figure out where I want to go in order to see the country, and learn about its sites and history when I am standing on the spot.

We went to Guatemala for the first time a couple weeks ago. We traveled to Flores/Tikal, Antigua, Lake Atitlan and we also stopped by ChiChi. We took the Rough Guide with us everywhere. I did not expect to use it as much as we did, but it was really useful in most places. We found descriptions for most of the restaurants/bars to be right on target. The maps were especially helpful--it was nice not to have to plan each day completely, and rather look in the Rough Guide for a place nearby whenever we needed food/drink or wanted to see a sight.

I have traveled all over the world and used numerous guidebooks books and this hands down is the worst I've ever used. The layout is terrible, the information is outdated, there is a complete lack of useful maps, the food and lodging information is 'thin' to say the least, and the organization is abysmal. What little information there is, is scattered throughout chapters in a hap-hazard manner without clear headings or any semblance of thought. Sadly, that isn't the worst part. The Rough Guide completely fails when it comes to assisting in actual 'travel.'

There are no time tables for buses, fairies, or shuttles to be found anywhere in the book. Directions on how to get from one city to the next follow the same 'scattered' pattern as the food/lodging information and often they are scattered between multiple chapters. Several times the book routed me from one city to the next (switch chapters), to the next (switch chapters again), etc. A few times the chapter referenced failed to have any useful information on connecting to the next link, leaving me essentially stranded. Guatemala City, Guatemala's largest and arguably most dangerous area, for example, essentially says "check this broad area of the map for buses."

Avoid this book.

We bought this book and traveled in Guatemala. The most misleading piece of information in the book cost us so much trouble. We purchased traveller's checks as the book suggested. But none of places could use them besides the banks (only $200 a day). We've been back for 3 weeks and are still being chased by vendors who couldn't cash our traveler's checks. What a hopeless reference book!