Product Description

Challenging? Check. Rewarding? Beyond your wildest dreams. South America is made for travel-the gripping, spine-tingling, adrenaline-charged type of travel you live for. Tred the Cordillera Blanca, glide along the Amazon, explore lost cities and samba up a storm. For backpackers, by backpackers, this best-selling, unbeatable guide gives you the tools you need to create your own adventure.

GET OFF THE TRAIL-emerging hot-spots, overlooked attractions, alternatives to the Inca Trail-our authors go beyond the obvious, and show you how to do the same.

LIVE ON THE EDGE-the best spots for hiking, skiing, diving, surfing, rafting, paragliding, and other thrills.

STRAIGHT TALK-opinionated reviews ensure you won't waste a precious peso.

TREAD LIGHTLY-make a positive impact with sustainable-travel tips and volunteering opportunities.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62899 in Books
• Brand: Lonely Planet
• Published on: 2007-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1148 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781741044430
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
Best for curious and independent-minded travelers' --Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher
Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Customer Reviews

Must have companion ...
A travelers life support system. The consistency of the LP series across various continets is amazing. Some information in the SA edition is a little dated, but the locals indicated that small hostels and food places go in and out of business faster than the book can keep up. I particularly liked Argentina section (I just came back from a wonderful trip), the information was very correct and some of the prices accurate to the decimal. Needless to say, the maps and orientation information was extremly helpful.

Some readers have indicated that it is for gringos and doesn't cover small cities at all. I think a 700 odd page book devoted to a massive diverse continet can only cover so much. Books dedicated to a specific country are very very detailed and should be be able to satiate anybody's wanderlust. This book is supposed to help you with a basic map, transport information and budget accomodations. Once you've arrived and have sorted out the bearings, the book should rest in the backpack.

Eat with the crowd, follow the young locals for the best watering holes after dark and catch the morning bus back to the hostel.

Must have for people with itchy feet ...

Fine, but there are better
Used this book for a three month trip through Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. A friend who travelled with me had Footprint's guide to South America. While Lonely Planet had far and away the better maps, everything else about the Footprint book was better -- more information, more current information, and most importantly, broader coverage! There were many small towns that were not even included in the LP book. Even in the major cities, Footprint covered more sights and did so with more detail. If you are picking up a second book for a trip, by all means get the LP. But if you are only buying one, go with Footprint until LP seriously expands this edition.

Practical but imperfect travel guide
This is a useful if flawed guide for backpackers and other budget travelers. This thick book (1,150 Pages) covers lodging, conditions, airports, regulations, and other vital information for 13 countries. The information is practical, useful, and substantial, and one can travel South America with this guide. But in trying to cover 13 countries the book is unavoidably limited on information for any one nation, city, or place, and the maps are at times less than adequate. There is also some out-of-date information (Argentina's Peso is NOT equal to one U.S. dollar) so travelers are advised to check other sources.

If you will be traveling to only a couple nations in South America you would be better advised to buy a travel guide for each country. However, if you will traverse through many countries in this fascinating continent, this book is still a valuable reference tool.