Customer Reviews

V!VA Travel Guide to Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands

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

 

 

I just returned from a semester abroad studying in Quito, and I
constantly used this book when I traveled around Ecuador and while in
Quito. I felt like it always led me in the right direction and helped
me discover all the places and people that became the most
memorable parts of my trip.

In Quito, this book has all the best restaurants and bars that only
the locals know about. Other guidebooks on Ecuador seem to recommend
only the touristy places where you hardly even hear people speaking
Spanish. I also bought a "new" 2006 Lonely Planet book, but after the
first few weeks didn't use it (except for occasionally the maps), and
ended up
giving it away because it was so touristy and almost all the prices
were really out of date already and many places recommended were out
of business.

The Viva book's maps could use improving and it was a little hard to
find some info quickly, but once you found it, it was 100% on target.

I liked how this book is created by many different people who have
lived and traveled in Ecuador, and the reviews of places and quotes
from other travelers were cool, as that's how I like to travel anyway
-- asking other travelers who have been somewhere what they liked and
where I should go. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who
wants to get off of the well trodden gringo trail and experience the
country's true culture.

This "community" guide is not only good for essential information, maps and reviews, but for over all enjoyment too, with short stories and comments from other travelers. I guess it takes people who live, travel and work in Ecuador to really make a guide that works!

What is really cool is that unlike other guidebooks who suggest three or four token places for travelers to eat or sleep, Viva lists many reviews not only by the authors, but by their online "community" of travelers as well. It's like virtual tourist type of thing, but in a book.

I have used Moon, Lonely Planet, and Let's Go guides in my travels and I have to say Viva is my least favorite. The index really sucks. I could not find any of the terms and place names I searched for, like Isla de la Plata for example. There are no good pictures or maps in the book either. In some sections the book does not even tell you how to get to certain places. I could not find any part telling me how to take a bus to Otavalo from Quito for example. I also couldn't find prices of bus tickets in some sections. I like Lonely Planet because even if it is not completely up to date, with the price quotes they give you you'll have a general idea of what to expect.

I like Lonely Planet because it is well-organized and has all the information you'll need. Ridiculously enough I had to go to a bookstore to look at a Lonely Planet and get information the Viva Guide was lacking. They pride themselves on providing more restaurant reviews and such but I find that less important than the basic information you need to get from one place to the next.

If you do a google search for Ecuador, you will find a website called Ecuador Explorer that tries to sell this guide but obviously the site is connected to this guide because there is no way I can see anyone in their right mind recommending it.

I am not trying to sell Lonely Planet. I have nothing to do with Lonely Planet but in my personal experiences it is a good guidebook. I like Viva's philosophy and ideally would support a small start-up over a big company like LP but the guidebook is just not worth the money unfortunately. Any positive reviews written here are probably written by people who work there... that's how bad this book is to me. No offense but this guide truly has a long way to go. I do like the descriptions of hotels and restaurants but I would never be able to recommend this guide to anyone.

As someone who travels extensively (and do it very much on a budget and enjoy a truly local experience), this guidebook rates as one of the worst I've found (I bought it because the publishing date was the most current - if I had a chance to thumb through it in a bookstore, I would have passed - few maps and no visuals). While in Cuenca, I found a number of addresses wrong or not listed. For Guayaquil, there was no map in the book and the description of the hotel I booked online was laughably wrong (described as "elegant and sophisticated," but it was more like Motel 6). For the price, you can get much better guides with more photography, maps and detailed information.