Footprint South American Handbook 2006 (Footprint South American Handbook) (Paperback)

~ Ben Box (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Go no further - this is a legend among guidebooks" South American Explorers; "Grandfather of all guidebooks" The Observer; "... the most electrifying of all practical travel guides." The Wall Street Journal; "The classic" Matthew Parris, The Times"

Product Description

Travel guides come and go, but the Footprint South American Handbook, now in its 82nd edition and with over 1 million copies sold, holds a special place as the gold standard in the field. With nearly 1,700 pages, this guide contains almost 40 percent more information than its nearest competitor. Footprint South American Handbook 2006 takes the adventurous traveler far from the gringo trail to explore the landscapes, wildlife, archaeology, and folk culture of this vast continent, from the Orinoco Delta to the southern ice fields of Chile and Argentina. Called the "Backpacker’s Bible," this guide covers every inch of South America, including the Guianas and the Falkland Islands. Rigorously checked and updated each year, the book features objective recommendations of great places to stay and eat, from colonial haciendas to simple palm-thatch beach huts; an extensive planning section with tips on how to get off the beaten track; historical and cultural background; and a full-color highlights map.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1801 pages
• Publisher: Footprint Handbooks; Revised edition (October 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904777465
• ISBN-13: 978-1904777465
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 4.9 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #892,860 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Largest and most up-to-date guide on South America (as of Dec 2005), but not well written, December 12, 2005

By	Michael Kane "World Traveler Extraordinaire ... (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am comparing this book to its primary competitor Lonely Planet South America.....
Pros to Footprint:

1.)Up to date; as of this writting Lonely planet had not updated their south america guide for about 2 years, footprint is very uptodate

2.)Most content: at over 1700 pages this book has the most content

Negatives:

1.) Not well written. I find this book very confusing, Lonely Planet is 4 or 5 times easier to use...Footprint is very vague on doing basic things like taking a bus from one town to next, and hard to plot a route to follow..

2.)Paper quality....I know this is a minor thing, but Footprint used very cheap paper, and it is hard to turn pages...also almost no photographs in this book, so you better have good imagination ;)



Personally, if I had to choose only one guide I would choose Lonely Planet, but this is perhaps a good supplement.....I haven't really looked at any of the Fodor books.....

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rather good, not close to perfect, May 2, 2006

By	Hepsantuu (Finland) - See all my reviews

There is a lot of information in the guide book and it is up to date. There is information on major cities and smaller, less travelled places. There are a lot of hotel recommendations, more than in any other guide book.

These are the good sides of the guide book, but there are also some seroius lacks. The maps are bad and there are less maps than in other guide books. The basic information on sights is difficult to browse. There is no background information on sights. There are no highlightened sights. The prices are quoted in USD, not in local currency. There is no information for gay travellers.

If you are planning to travel widely in Brazil consider other guide books. The Brazilian section is the worst one!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the best on South America, February 3, 2006

By	Michael White & Clara Bravo "microbewhite" (Trujillo, Peru) - See all my reviews

Still the most experienced, complete, objective, relevant, orderly, up-to-date guide book on South America, with the clearest maps since 2005. Fine paper makes it compact too.
The Footprint Peru 2005, an annotated photocopy of it, Footprint South America 2005 & 2004, Footprint Ecuador, Peru & Bolivia 2005, & Footprint Central America & Mexico have all been stolen from our library during 2005, while various competitors books have been left behind by travellers.
Most competitors books appear only once in 4 years & are hopelessly out of date for most of that time.