Customer Reviews

Tindall's Guide to the Best of Chile

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

 

 

This book captures the real spirit of Chile. The author invested time and energy in learning Chile from the inside. From colorful characters to tasty wines, she shares her genuine appreciation for the country and its people. We found the book to be accurate and informative. We especially enjoyed the wine lover's guide--a virtual wine class--refreshing and useful in navigating the complexities of Chilean wines. Tindall provides personal recommendations in categories ranging from sports activities to favorite restaurants frequented by locals. She replaces typical "tourist traps" with sound advice for enjoying an authentic journey to a fascinating land.

I received this book as a gift and it was the only guidebook I had in Chile. Boy! Was that a mistake! Tindall's book is extremely limited in scope. It only covers major cities and regions so if you go off track, you are left with nothing to refer to. And what I mean by off-track is essentially if you are driving off Ruta 5, the main highway in the country. If you go on Ruta 2, for instance to the coast from Temuco to get a feel of some of the Mapuche Indian culture in cities like Nueva Imperial, Carahue, Victoria, Chol Chol, etc. you were out of luck.

I can understand the author wanted to take a different approach and not drown the potential tourist with too much information. So she made a point of focusing on the really best of the country. But frankly, that's not enough for me.

Additionally, my friend and I found that despite the fact the the book has a copyright of October 1999, some of the recommendations are already out of date. For instance, in Valdivia, only one of five Artesan stores she listed even existed anymore. In Osorno, her recommendation of Casa del Altillo as a place to eat good French food no longer existed. It is now Bell'Italia amd serves Italian cuisine.

We were there in the off season, (November) and found that even her listed high season prices for rooms in many cities were way off and the hotels and other lodging recommended were much more expensive than the author quoted. We got the idea these hotels knew they were listed in American guidebooks and had therefore recently raised prices for American tourists. Fortunately, my friend is a Santiagan so she was able to get better prices for being a Chilean.

I did find the author's guide to Chilean wine extremely good and found it to be a godsend when we were in a restaurant and were not familiar with the wine names.

So I guess my recommendation would be: Don't do what I did. If you get the Tindall Guide, you definitely need to supplement it with another guidebook that's more comprehensive. That way you'll be covered if you want to do anything that's the least bit out of the normal for a typical tourist.

This is a well written portrayal of the country, people, wines and food of Chile. I found this book to be most helpful in planning my trip and was pleased with the author's choice of accomodations while visiting. It was entertaining and easy to read -- the information was well-organized. I would highly recommend this to anyone planning a trip to Chile.

As an editor, I was pleased to find a guidebook that is so insightful and well-written. The author has done a wonderful job finding the best of Chile and describing it in a way that makes me want to be there.

I found this book limited in scope and recommendations, especially for the price. We hiked the volcano which the author said was not too strenuous as long as you are in decent shape. My husband and I thought we were not going to make it to the top and we are both in very good shape and in our early 30s. I question whether the author has ever climbed it in snow boots, or climbed it at all. Lonely planet is better.

I felt like the author loved the country, and really wanted me to appreciate Chile as much as she does. I liked that the information was up to date, and presented in an informal manner. It was an accurate book, and easy to use.