Mexico (Lonely Planet Country Guide)

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John Noble, Sandra Bao, Ray Bartlett, Beth Greenfield, Ben Greensfelder, Andrew Nystrom, Suzanne Plank, Michael Read, Daniel Schechter, Iain Stewart

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Pages: 1048 (Paperback)

ISBN: 1740597443

Pub: Lonely Planet Publications

Pub date: 2006-09-01

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 98742

Editorial Review:

"Mexico is an experience that offers a multitude of cultures, cuisine, environments, handicrafts, art and history." This vast country covers an area of almost 2 million square km encompassing mountains, plains, deserts and beaches--7 million people of a population of an estimated 93.7 million speak one of 50 indigenous tongues. Much credit then, is due to Lonely Planet who have managed to capture Mexico's diverse offerings in one book. Starting with Mexico City and ending in the Yucatan peninsula, this reliable guide will prove invaluable to the first time traveller as well as adding a great wealth of information to the travel aficionados. In keeping with house style, the book also contains detailed information about the culture and history of the country.
Mexico has such an amazing array of things to see and do that trying to plan a trip can be an overwhelming experience--Lonely Planet's highlights sections are particularly useful here--the trustworthy authors give their pick of coasts, archaeological sites, colonial cities, small towns, nature and museums. Details of sights' opening times and entrance fees are as up-to-date as they can possibly be and readers can check for changes and update accordingly via the Lonely Planet Web site.

Guides to accommodation and restaurants cater for the bulging and slightly more depleted wallets alike with prices going from virtually nothing "up to the sky". On the subject of food, there's a well thought out food section to ensure you don't get your empanadas mixed up with your enchiladas. The maps are excellent and full colour photographs are well used. The Lonely Planet series is of a consistently high standard and Lonely Planet Mexico is no exception--a well-researched, well-written guide that will become one of your most valued possessions.

Reader Reviews:

for uni work (0/2 people found this helpful)

i used this book quite a lot during my travel and tourism course.

i found it very useful

i like lonely planet books and think they are the best explained and most useful travel guides

American Authorship Team Bias (2/2 people found this helpful)

I'm a life sentence user of LP products and generally find them an essential independent travel aid. I was disappointed in the Mexico (10th Ed)which I found to have many inaccuracies in its Oaxaca section, which have been reprinted from earlier editions without being factually updated, and in general the positive enthusiasm for Mexican food is ILL founded, as I found it, ( and confirmed with other european travellers) to be amongst the worst food anywhere, from a safety & hygiene, variety and value perspective. Usually LP is spot on, but wondering why this book was not, I realized that the authorship team is entirely American, (where ideas about food, are different from Europe) who are necessarily very accustomed to Mexican fare (and are inspired by it). Europeans by contrast may well find this to not be the case. Billy Connolly's jokes about Mexican food being just a series of names for tortillas folded in different ways is closer to the mark. Watch out for low volume eateries of all standards, it means the food has been hanging around for a long time...

Not up to the usual LP standard (7/8 people found this helpful)

Im a big fan of LP as it usually has all the info you need for transport, hotels, things to see etc
This edition was a bit a let down though. Specifically it failed to list many of the cheap hostels and many descriptions are way out. To give just one example (and there are many more that I cant be bothered to list them all), a look on hostelworld shows 4 hostels in both Playa del Carmen and Merida but LP only lists 1. The Playa hostel is decribed as "unusually quiet" - in fact it has young backpackers staying up to all hours playing drinking games and having "fun" Also a lot of the prices are way out -the back up options listed at $25-35 are all now $40-50 - not really budget. Prices were also out for everything from museum tickets to buses to food. I expect things to have changed a bit, but double is just too much
Another thing I found irritating was the way it constantly emphasised how dangerous everyhing was from taxis to nightbuses to beach resorts. Obviously if there is a problem then fair enough to warn people, but overdoing it just makes travellers paraniod and negative to the point of avoiding nice, interesting places that are in fact probably safer than your home town (Im sure San Cristobal in Chiapas or Oaxaca are safer than Miami, New York, Vancouver etc)
This edition desparately needs an overhaul - wait until it comes out or choose a different guide
Although looking at the reviews below about the old edition it seems like the writers did bugger all research in updating the the 2004 edition

dont be so pessamistic (12/14 people found this helpful)

I have just returned from mexico having used this title (and a more recent eddition than those reviewed). As with all guide books in such countries lonely planet mexico is not 100% accurate. Just because it says a room is $5 a night doesnt mean you dont have to bargain for it!! the important stuff like bus info, the maps and locations where all fairly accurate, but when it comes down to it a guide is a guide, not a bible, and you get far more out of your trip if you remember this. i tried to use the information in emergencies only, and attempted to get as much info as possible from other travellers and other sources. this seems to be the best mix, but the planet is invaluable when it comes to the important stuff- health, customs, police, boarder crossing, etc. compared to the other guides i picked up, and from the other people i talked to, the planet seemed to be the best for the budget traveller, and deffinately had the best maps of the big 3 (rough guide, footprint and lonely planet).

Needs to be updated desperately. (15/18 people found this helpful)

I have been living in Mexico City for over two years now, and a friend recently came over to visit from the UK. We set off to Guanajuato City and San Miguel with this edition of the guide in hand, only to find that a large percentage of the information regarding about this part of Mexico (Bajio) is incorrect. The hotel prices are way off and the restaurant info is completely off beam, and forget about trying to check out any of the nightlife listings. Things change fast in Mexico, amigo but not this fast.

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