Product Description

This is the market leading guide to South America. It features new 24-page colour Itineraries and Highlights section including must-see destinations and detailed itineraries. It has more off-the-beaten-track destinations and DIY features to get readers off the 'gringo trail'. There are nearly 200 pages of maps including additional maps of Buenos Aires. It places strong focus on activities throughout, from surfing in Brazil to trekking in Patagonia.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2089 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1148 pages

Customer Reviews

good place to start
I am far more positive than anyone else here it seems:
I used this book to get a better view of what the different south american countries have to offer. I did not expect a very thorough nor very detailed account of each individual country because it seems to me an impossible task to cramp a whole continent into a single book. So I agree with others that it is short on detail. But for me, not knowing much about any of the countries, it was and is an extremely helpful pointer to what each country has to offer in terms of nature, archeology and people, when the best time is to visit a certain country, how to travel through multiple countries or within a single nation and more. I now have a much more specific idea of where I would like to go (argentina or venezuala), and currently am simply looking on the internet and consulting more country-specific travel guides for more specific info. As to the style, it is very much like other LP guides (which I've used extensively in the past), lucid and very easy to navigate. Although with one that deals with an entire continent it pays to spend time on it; the info is condensed (an obvious example is los llanos, venezuela) so quickly glancing through the pages will make you miss a lot.
So if you want a thorough first glance into the south american continent, I'd most certainly recommend it.

Very Handy
I take issue with the previous critics. The writers have crammed in a lot of information into one book. Sure, the individual guides are better. However, most people don't have 100 quid to fork out for a whole Lonely Planet library. Also, how are you going to carry so many books with you when you're travelling? I'm in South America at the moment and this book has provided me with a lot of help. If you're going to stay in one country only then just get the guide for that one country. The Lonely Planet for Chile is especially good.

Lonely Planet S.America on a Shoestring
I used this book for five months of backpacking in S.America and found it absolutely invaluable. Of course it doesn't contain as much specific info on the countries as the individual guides do, but when space and weight in your pack are important you don't want to be carrying around over a dozen books. It offers a great overview of the highlights of the country but I mostly used it to find cheap accomodation and routes/times/costs of the local buses. I can't comment on any of the itineries the author recomends, but I wouldn't use them anyway - decide what you want to see and go it alone!
On a side note, this is a fascinating and varied continent, on which I will always want to return to and would highly recomend to travelers.