The Rough Guide to Guatemala 3 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

~ Iain Stewart (Author) "Airfares always depend on the season, with the highest being from Christmas to February, around Easter and in July and August; fares drop at all..." (more)
Key Phrases: Guatemala City, San Pedro, Central America (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Synopsis "The Rough Guide to Guatemala" is the essential guide to this captivating country. A 24-page, full-colour introduction gives an inspiring insight into Guatemala's highlights, from the delightful colonial city of Antigua to the ancient Maya ruins in Peten. The guide includes extensive and reliable reviews of all the best places to eat, drink and stay for visitors on every budget. There is plenty of practical advice when travelling to remote highland areas, plus detailed information on jungle treks, river rafting and volcano climbs. The guide also includes thorough and informed commentary on Guatemala's politics, indigenous culture, diverse landscape and spectacular wildlife, as well as detailed maps and plans for every region.

About the Author

After two years of travelling the world, Iain Stewart arrived in Guatemala and liked it so much he stayed. A few years on, he is the co-author of Rough Guides to the Maya World, Central America and author of Ibiza & Formentera DIRECTIONS. Now based in South London, he is also a journalist and restaurant critic and takes every opportunity to return to Central America. 

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Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Rough Guides; 3 edition (February 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843534991
• ISBN-13: 978-1843534990
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #515,334 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best guidebook I've used to date, May 21, 2002

By	leslie "leslie53" (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Guatemala 2 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

I just returned yesterday from 10 days in Guatemala and Belize and found the Rough Guide invaluable. I went with 7 friends and between us we had Lonely Planet's "Central America", Lonely Planet's "Guatemala" and Fodor's "Guatemala and Belize". The 2 of us carrying Rough Guide were in the most demand and we relied on it for all our housing and most of our eating recommendations. In addition, the book begins with 33 things you must see/do in Guatemala and we hit most of them.

Housing: Finding a place to stay was not difficult, but in Guatemala the comfort can vary a lot even in the budget range. We were able to find clean, comfortable and affordable accomodations at all of our stops. I highly recommend the Hotel Santa Clara in Antigua which has a lovely courtyard and older colonial rooms (ours had a cute, decorative fireplace). All the pricings for accomodations were on target throughout our trip (with the Santa Clara coming in at about 17$ per person based on double occupancy). Depending on how much you want to "rough" it - a $5 difference can be a big one in Guatemala and we often reserved rooms at 2 places in each of our locations. If you are traveling in a smaller group or by yourself you probably don't even need to call ahead.

Food: We used this book for many of our eating recommendations and it never failed to give us an idea of the type of food and quality to expect.

History and Culture: The book was enjoyable to read and provided some good information on preparation, recent happenings as well as history. A little more info on Tikal would have been great - perhaps a walking tour guide - but there are other books available for that and the site is huge.

Overall: I plan to use Rough Guide again in the future. After my less than desirable experience in Peru with Lonely Planet, as their descriptions are often flat and pricing out of date depite the "new" edition.

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best guide book for Guatemala, September 19, 2003

By	Seth Labadie (Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Guatemala 2 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

I recently spent six weeks in Guatemala, and I was able to visit most sections of the country. Although the Rough Guide book was the only guidebook that I brought with me, I have looked through the lonely planet book quite a bit and also the guidebooks from the other travel publishers. I believe that the Rough Guide version is the best guidebook for Guatemala, hands down. I have read the book literally from cover to cover. I especially liked the commentary and general descriptions located throughout the book as well as all of the historical data in the back (which is actually a significant section of the book). Even when I was taking a chicken bus through a random section of the country I could find information any any given area or town along the way--housing, food, and cultural commentary. I've been told by others that the Lonely Planet edits out some places to see (such as Fuentes Georginas near Quetzaltenango). Rough Guide will just give you everything, even if the location is way off the beaten track.
The only complaint I would have is that the author tends to be very socio-politically biased. For example, he dismisses the Eastern Highlands as a stronghold of right-wing politics...the ladinos acting like cowboys..."violent demonstrations of macho pride are common." I suppose this is why "your best bet is to travel directly to San Salvador by pullman" (rather than visit this aweful place of conservatism). I actually liked the Eastern Highlands.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Guide for Guatemala, August 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Guatemala: The Rough Guide (Rough Guides) (Paperback)

This is my personal favorite. We used it a lot on our trip through the Western Highlands and Tikal. It has good maps, from city to national scale. It has something of interest to say about many places, including small villages. It presents lodgings in a logical manner. I found it easy to use. This guide gave us a pretty good overview of places, although it appears that unlike in many very studied/touristed places (such as Europe) there is not as much deep background available on many towns. Of all the guide books I have used for Guatemala this has the most breadth and depth, coupled with ease of use.