guide books

This very recent guide published by Lonely Planet in year 2000 is an indisensable and wonderful tool to take to Peru with you. As always, LP has explored the country, giving you advice on places to stay - from top 5-star hotels to low-budget accommodation - as well as restaurants, transport, etc. There is little or nothing which you won't find in this book, because this guide has it all... Including indispensable advice on local customs, how to deal with people, what to buy, etc, as well as historical, social and political overviews, all up-to-date ! A small piece of luggage, but well worth the weight and the price.

Peru is a remarkably interesting country. This is a pretty good guidebook. One area where the guide could be improved is advising tourists on itineraries that work up to high altitude gradually. The easiest trips to arrange go straight from Lima at sea level to sleeping in a hotel in Cusco at 11,000' above sea level. At best you won't feel good and at worst you could get acute altitude sickness. A bit of planning, however, and you can either zip straight from the airport at Cusco to Aguas Calientes below Macchu Pichu (about 8000') or work your way up to Cusco from some towns that are at 7000'. Simply by reshuffling your itinerary you can have a trip where you are feeling good and strong all the time rather than a trip where you stagger around breathlessly and suck down aspirin for the pounding headache.

I adored the writing style of this particular guidebook. I felt I knew the author after spending so much time reading it. Alas, the Arequipa section is outdated in the following areas: restaurants, cafes and entertainment. Establishments seem to come and go in Arequipa.

Also note that Arequipa is a region -- not merely a town. I wish the guidebook had better expressed this reality. Nearly all of the "adventure" tours lie 5-6 hours bus ride away from Arequipa. Mind you, these are Peruvian buses that tend to break down. Allow enough time to travel between Arequipa and your adventures...

It appears to me that the first reviewer may have a chip on his shoulder and ought to have stayed home, wherever that is. As someone who was raised in Per� and return often, I believe that the author of Frommer's Per� did a very good job, especially considering that most guidebooks don't include much about how tourism is endangering many heritage sites in the country. Neil Schlecht obviously cares and let's readers know, politely, that they need to walk softly through this beautiful nation.

I loved the fact that I recognized many of the places he recommended - La Casa de Melgar in Arequipa is indeed a marvelous place to stay, for example and it was a thrill to read his section on Cajamarca, my second favourite Peruvian city, after Arequipa.

I liked his Best of Per� section, although I believe that he missed on the best markets/shopping section and would have liked to read more about how tourists are also endangering the textile and folk art traditions given that they want cheap shopping. For example, more and more textile artists are using synthetic yarns and dyes because they're fed up with visitors bartering them down to pennies for an object that took weeks, if not months to make. Take a moment to consider that the folks who make authentic Peruvian textiles and folk art need to eat, feed and educate their children and have a right to have their work and themselves treated with respect and dignity - heads up to the first reviewer!

Per� is, in many ways, like India in that one could travel there every year for the rest of one's life and not see everything. Personally, I would follow Schlecht's advice and get off the "tourist trail", into the north, the central highlands - the Mantaro Valley, Tarma, the Chanchamayo Valley for a taste of the *real* Per�, not yet the flavours of the month.

Good for you, Neil Schlecht and good for Frommer's. I hope that you will continue to publish Frommer's Per� and update it frequently.

I was really disappointed with this, the most 'recent' book about Peru. I have recently moved here, and was looking for some information about places to go and things to do when I had holiday time. The information is often incorrect, the prices are exorbitant and the whole book reads more like "go where I suggest because they let me stay here free in exchange for a promotional blurb" than a truly objective presentation of options.

The whole book is skewed towards the requirements of people who are going to use their two weeks holiday to come here and spend all their money with people who will tell them what they should and shouldn't see, (and screw them on the prices in the process), and really only see the Peru that they could have just as easily seen on the Discovery channel for 1000th of the price!

Prices quoted mostly all pander to(and therefore legitimise)the inflated prices that the tourist industy sharks try to inflict on travellers. General rule - take prices quoted and reduce them by a third, and you are still being generous.

Travellers here should try to ensure that their money is going to the people who actually work for it and need it - not to those who live in the top 15% of the income bracket - and Frommer's Peru is just helping the rich keep the poor down.

I say go with the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide, and buy the "Inca Guide to Peru" when you get here (if you can't buy it elsewhere). It is a little older now, but the maps are excellent.

Frommer's Peru, First Edition; is a comprehensive and informative guide covering all the main tourist destinations in the country. The new star system helps in zeroing in on the best hotels, restaurants and attractions. I particularly like Chapter 3, The Active Vacation Planner. It lists the best places to go according to various interests. The book also lists various tour companies which specialize in that area. Highly recommended.

This is not it. Sorry. Not that it is an aweful book, but hardly comprehensive. Lonely planet's individual guides are passable, but what little savve they have is sadly editted out in this oversized under norished number. Having travelled in a good few of the countries mentioned here, I eventually ended up ditching the book and using photostats of the South American handbook, a vastly better publication. Remember that a guide book defines, to no small degree, how you see the places you visit. Following the lonely planet guides gives you great generic lonely planet experience. But if you want something more or different, the options aren't there. Sure, its colorful, and yes, it is useful as a map book, but as you only source of information on vast continent, follow the footprint

The book wasn't updated, the bridge over Suriname river in the capital Paramaribo of Suriname wasn't mentioned instead they recommend the ferry! Good for the beginner to find a place to
stay but otherwise not so good....

Just got back from 3 months with this book in SA...

Plusses:
Great Maps...LP maps are the best guidebook maps
Lots of Choices for Hostels/Restaurants...they aren't too detailed but do typically offer a lot of places, while Let's Go will offer 4 or 5 per city.
Everyone has got it, you'll find a lot of people to hang out with when going to their recos.

Minuses:
Everyone has got it, perhaps you don't want to run into a lot of gringos.
Doesn't cover lots of small towns which are great to visit...yes of course this is a book that tries to cover a CONTINENT so it's not going to have everything, but I found Footprints SA book to be significantly more comprehensive.
A bit out of date...new one is forthcoming, I believe.

Overall I would recommend Footprint's SA Handbook instead, although the maps do leave a bit to be desired.