Lonely Planet Costa Rica (Country Guide)
by Guyan Mitra, Matt Firestone, Wendy Yanagihara
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Book Reviews of Lonely Planet Costa Rica (Country Guide)
Book Review: pretentious and insulting
Summary: 2 Stars
By the end of my wonderful trip, I was ready to toss this garbage in the fire...What reader enjoys being lambasted for wanting to *horror of horrors* travel? Every other entry was a diatribe on how tourists are ruining the Costa Rican landscapes. Well guess what, Dear Authors, without us pasty and slobbish turistas, you wouldn't have a job! Being in my mid-20s with decent experience in eco-friendly, leave-no-trace travel, I am well in the targeted demographic, but that fact certainly didn't endear me to these authors and their high horses. Tell me where to go and how to get there, but check your snobbish attitude at the door. Alienating your audience is never, ever the right path.
The only reason I gave it two stars instead of one is because it was the only guide I brought, so by default, I was forced to rely on it.
Book Review: THE Go-To Guide for Costa Rica
Summary: 5 Stars
My wife and I recently took a trip to Costa Rica. We packed light, deciding not to even take any checked bags- but we decided it would be worth it to take two guidebooks. After reading reviews online, we bought the Lonely Planet guide, as well as the newest guide from Frommers. After about day one, we barely even opened the Frommers guide. LP had more places, more information about each place, and better recommendations. A fellow traveler had brought a Moon guide, and had to ask to borrow our LP to look up some places he was thinking of visiting.
One caveat, however- we traveled during the rainy season, and didn't have to battle crowds. If you're traveling in the thick of high season, using a non-LP guidebook might be worth it, simply in order to avoid the LP crowds. But for our trip, it was LP all the way.
Book Review: inaccurate and seems that they phoned it in
Summary: 1 Stars
I have used many LP books for different locations and they were great. This one however left me totally disappointed. The best example was that they failed to mention that to get to the most beautiful beach (playa conchal) from Brasilito you have to ford a river. Not a big deal if you are expecting it and know when the tides are. The authors failed to give any relevant information about any of these. Crossing the river during the rainy season is often impossible.
Most of the hotels did not live up to the descriptions- either they were not right on the beach, not right downtown, or not so clean.
These are just a few examples of many, and I was left with the feeling that the authors just phoned this lonely planet guide in.
Book Review: GREAT!
Summary: 5 Stars
I listened to some of the reviews on here and ended up passing up on the Lonely Planet (mistake) and going with Fodor's. After reading Fodor's, I discovered that it sucked and was really for travelers with LOTS of money. Two days before my trip I went to B&N and bought the Lonely Planet. I wish I had bought it here and saved the money. Lonely Planet Costa Rica is awesome. It really is up to date, I found no issues with the authors, and it had all the recommendations I could have wanted -- from the very cheap to the very expensive -- and it's all categorized. If you're going to Costa Rica get this guide and have a blast!Book Review: Travel suggestions for all types of travelers
Summary: 4 Stars
In a huge (600-page) guide to Costa Rica, Lonely Planet's newest edition (8th) includes more information on green travel, the latest hot spots, and many of the old favorites of previous editions. While, at times, preachy about the need to reduce ecological damage in adventure travel (zip lines - bad), the increased emphasis comes at a time when more
tourists are looking to both travel and leave as small a footprint behind as possible. Travel suggestions for all types of travelers, from parents with children, to retirees, to the perpetual backpacker always looking for a new place to visit.