Product Description

"The South American Handbook" is a legend in travel guide publishing. The one-and-only 'Travellers' Bible', has had its annual overhaul, giving you a comprehensive update of everything you ever needed to know about how to discover this fascinating continent. The new 85th edition is unparalleled in its depth of coverage and takes independent travellers away from the well-trodden 'Gringo Trail', off into the wilds of the Andes, up the Amazon River, or onto deserted beaches.It is known as 'the bible' for travel in South America. Fascinating cultural and historical insights to every country are covered. It provides accommodation listings to suit all budgets, from colonial hacienda's to humble beach huts. It includes detailed listings of each country's many fiestas. It is light-weight, durable and annually updated to provide the most up-to-the-minute information available.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #124518 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1872 pages

Customer Reviews

The best guide book to this continent by far.
I travelled extensively throughout South America for almost a year with the 2008 version. While not essential, it does come in handy from time to time.

Strengths:

- Far, far better than the ubiquitous Lonely Planet (all South American editions), which is a complete waste of space for all but the most nauseatingly banal style of travelling.
- Introduces some places a little off the beaten track.
- Gives approximate journey times and transport-company names between many locations.
- Rugged construction.

Weaknesses:

- Tries to do too much (see suggestion below).
- Could be more concise. For example, too much space is wasted waffling on about 'pleasant' (reality: dull) cathedrals.
- A little paranoid and outdated sometimes, especially with regard to some places in Colombia.
- The Galapagos section is weak and biased towards frilly cruises (it's very easy to do almost everything by oneself, and it can be cheaper).

A suggestion:

Why not have two editions - one for real backpackers and one for holiday-makers and armchair travellers? A real backpacker does not need to lug around pages and pages of information about luxury hotels and pretentious restaurants. In fact, the backpacker edition could exclude restaurant recommendations altogether - they're virtually pointless.

Summary:

Despite its shortcomings, it's currently the only worthwhile guidebook to South America published on paper. But it needs work.

All you need to know about Soth America
If you are planning a trip to South America please buy this book. Detailed writing very obviously written in a factual manner. Tells you where to go, when to go and what to do when you get there.

I was looking for a book which would not only tell me about places and events, but also guide me to which ones I should go to; this was the perfect book for me. It is also compact and easy to take with you

Once I found Michael Palin endorses what more do you want!

Not as good as The Lonely Planet
I have just returned from South America with my partner who has The Lonely Planet and we found that for backpackers, The Footprint Guide is not very good in comparison, especially for those who are travelling on a budget. The impression I got from for example, the hostel reviews were that they had looked it up on the internet and that they are all "recommended". Too much detail in expensive hotels and restaurants, not enough hard facts on what to do and must sees of city/town/places. Used The Lonely Planet 2008 most of the time, apart from when looking up prices as The Footprint Guide 2009 is more up to date on that. Was quite disappointing as a guide book in my opinion.