Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect, September 20, 1999
By A Customer
I just spent one month in the Rio area and Sao Paulo with my wife. We took both the Insight Guide to Brazil and Rio, and this book. I never used the Insight Guide books, they were awful. They only had pretty pictures. On the other hand, the Lonely Planet book ruled! The book gives detailed info on how to do things everywhere in Rio, and even has great sections on the pequena cidades in the interior. For example, we went to Teresopolis (north of rio) and the info on Teresopolis was very helpful. I would especially recommend going hang-gliding or para-gliding on Sao Conrado in Rio. The Lonely Planet guide explains how to do it. I did it, and it was better than any dream I've ever had, though terrifying at takeoff! The insight on places to eat, and places to stay, is the MOST helpful. If you're very wealthy, you don't care--you'll just stay at one of the best places and eat at the two or three most famous places. But if you're constrained by a budget, this book clearly indicates how to maximize your dollar. If you're going to Brazil for an adventure, and not just to sit on Copacabana and go to the Sugerloaf, this book is a must.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I used, and I am a local., March 23, 1998
Everytime I traveled to Europe, I used the LP guides. They give you a lot of pratical information, budget places to stay and so on. I am a Brazilian and, unfortunately, we do not have any guide like this in Portuguese, so I tried to use the Lonely Planet guide covering Brazil to travels in my country. The book is amazing, helped me a lot, with a lot of maps and suggestions that are very useful, specially in places that don"t have tourist offices. I think this is THE guide for Brazilians visitors, and I garantee that I know what I am talking about.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Missing some options here., October 2, 2001
All right, out of the box, knowing nothing about Brazil, I'd toss five stars on it in a second. However, just got back from a honeymoon with wife, who is Brazilian, and we take exception to some things:Fortaleza: Imperial Othon rooms are not 5-star, but the service and staff are. Make that known. Its location is ideal, but better rooms can be had at the Melia Confort (not a misspell).
Also, add Al Mare as an excellent dinner choice; right on the shoreline, superb food and service, and very cheap if you're used to paying $80 USD for this kind of meal. Recife: hated it. Boa Viagem beach near Holiday Inn was so-so. The Holiday Inn had clueless staff, cheerfully unhelpful. Worst was Patio de São Pedro: don't go, don't even bother, unless your idea of fun happens to be a flea market in Newark. Some heads-up on dining: liked the Flaminggo (not a misspell) on Boa Viagem, but inexplicably had no soccer telecast for the sub-17 game against France; did not like Bargaço, which attempted to foist a classy veneer on sub-par dinner offerings, and the prices were disparate with the food as well. Rio: fave city, but does any hotel staff know their city outside of Fortaleza? The Everest Rio is a decent 5-star hotel if you imagine it 10 years ago. At least they had 24-hr room service. Prices do change, but the LP doesn't generally steer you wrong. A guide needs more updates, however, and the 5th edition was too long in coming for me to grant a fifth star. One final suggestion: my travel style is generally fearless but I like a good hotel and can pay for a good meal, so list some "non-backpacking" alternatives to places to stay and eat and see.
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