Customer Reviews

The Rough Guide to Mexico 7 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

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

 

 

I love these guides because they offer the perfect balance between practical information and "the fun stuff." Rough Guides keep getting better and better, and this one is the best I've ever purchased (I have a collection of about 20). For long-time fans, it's typical Rough Guides fare: It's a thick flexible chunk of paper featuring exhaustive coverage, more words than photographs, lots of cultural and historical context, simple easy-to-read maps, special attention to important natural attractions, a sample of the best accommodations and restaurants, and a nice bibliography of related books, films and music. While that may seem like more of the same, this guide brings the series to a new level of refinement. And what better country for reaching such a milestone than truly beautiful Mexico! Armchair travelers and serious vagabonds alike deserve a guide this good.

I used this guide to travel from Yucatán to Guadalajara and around Mexico City and it helped me a lot, woudn't have done it without it. Y also .readthe part from the Lonely Planet about Yucatán, and both me and the guy who owned the LP agreed that the Rough Guide is better about Yucatán. The information appears to be very real and to the point, a no nonsense guide which make your journey or life (I'm in Mexico to study half a year in a university) way easier and comfortable.

While I liked some things about this book there are a few of things that drove me crazy and made it hard to use. One is the method of using a numbering system for hotel prices. It took me a long time to find the key to this system which is located near the beginning of the book. Why can't they just put the actual prices and separate the hotels into budget, mid-range, and high-end categories the way Lonely Planet does?

Another frustrating thing was bus information. Near the end of my trip I found that they have information at the end of each section listing bus routes for that region, but in most cases not much information about schedules. When is the last bus of the day? The first? Can I get from San Cristobal to Oaxaca? Reading this book you would not know if it is possible, yet there are three direct buses a night.

The third issue, and possibly the worst failing of this book, is the quality of the maps. They are much smaller and less detailed than Lonely Planet's. In one case a recommended hotel was misplaced on the map causing me to walk around for an hour looking for it until I finally resorted to going to an internet cafe to look up the hotel's location on line. Also, the hotels and restaurants are indicated by letters and numbers on the map, but these are not cross-referenced on the descriptions of the establishments so what I would do is look up the name and letter then write the letter next to the hotel description for easy reference.

The index is also very poor. For example, I had seen some information about whale-watching and couldn't find it again. The index made no reference to the page I had seen, but when I finally did find it, it was a featured activity for the region!

The book does make interesting reading as another reviewer said, but I wonder if he or she has ever actually tried to use it as a guide.

This book is difficult to read. Probably, I have been used to reading LONELY PLANETS all my life. I find it difficult to plan my Mexico trip using this book. Somehow, the style and approach is not as friendly as other travel book.

Book arrived quickly and was in exact condition as described. Very different and enjoyable guide.

As someone who has either lived or visited Mexico since 1966, I have a pretty good feel for the country.

At this point, the best and most complete guide is Lonely Planet, but this one is nearly as good. As someone else noted, it's a bit difficult to figure out the "key" system, but other than that, it's pretty good.

At the moment, I also have Fodor's guide, which is mainly for American casual tourists who want to visit in the American style as closely as possible, and are mostly interested in the standard tourist destinations.

too small for entire country, too thin for DF. inconsistent and many errors. among the worst when it comes to rough guides.