Product Description

Lonely Planet knows Colombia. Whether you want to strill the cobbled streets of colonial Cartagena, bask on a dazzling Caribbean beach, sample some of the world's finest java on a coffee plantation or show off your salsa moves at a packed Cali nightclub, our 5th edition takes you there.

Lonely Planet guides are written by experts who get to the heart of every destination they visit. This fully updated edition is packed with accurate, practical and honest advice, designed to give you the information you need to make the most of your trip.

In This Guide:

Dedicated Outdoors chapter with trekking, diving and paragliding
Sizzling nightlife and dining picks for Bogota, Medellin and Cali
Revealed: La Guajira, the Pacific Coast and other emerging hotspots

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57690 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 360 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781741048278
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

Horribly innacurate, practically worthless.
After waiting patiently for the new edition for LP's Colombia to come out, I feel horribly ripped off. Locals actually laughed out loud at some of the "statements of fact" in the book and the places to stay that were recommended were hideous, nightmare, fratboy parties full of Americans and Israelis. I thought I'd give LP a chance again after many years because of the timing of my trip. (Brand new edition, trip 3 weeks later). I feel like this was not updated at all. There are several instances of unclear direction and explanations (such as the Colombian street address system) and incorrect travel time estimates (Cartagena to Bogota 7-8 hours by bus??? It's more like 20-23 you jerks).

One of the people that I stayed with in Colombia laughed when I pulled the new LP Colombia out. He said that there had been a scandal because one of the main contributors hadn't even BEEN in Colombia. I'm not sure if this true, but it certainly seems possible given the crap information and general lack of insight provided by the book.

The book also completely blows off two major cities that were slammed by earthquakes, Armenia and Pereira. It basically tells you that they're not worth visiting and not to bother. The main reasoning for this is that they were impacted by earthquakes almost a decade ago. I met a couple in Cartagena who told me they had a wonderful time in those cities, so it made me wonder. I decided to go to both and was amazed at how off and dismissive the Lonely Planet guide was. Did the writers just not want to travel to these cities? What the hell??? It made me also wonder what Lonely Planet's saying about New Orleans? I wonder if it's just dismissing it in whole because of Katrina 4 short years ago???

Do what you want, but if I had a chance to do it all over, I would save the 20 odd dollars and NOT BUY THIS BOOK! Tourist leaflets and the internet were much clearer and more informative.

Never again, Lonely Planet!

Try a different guide, totally misses the point.
I've been using Lonely Planet travel guides for over 15 years. When I read the reviews on LP Colombia, I just thought that the reviewers were being hard on Lonely Planet since it is the predominant travel guide. Since it hadn't let me down in the past, I thought I would give it a try.

I just got back from Colombia and now I know why the reviews are so bad. This guide does a good job giving background information and history but heck, I can get that from Wikipedia. As far as what to see, where to go and places to stay, it totally misses the point. For example, it almost always recommends staying in the downtown of most major cities, even though these locations are often unsafe with little in the way of nightlife and attractions. In both Bogota and Cartagena, there are areas 5 minutes away from the town center with affordable places to stay and plently of sights to see. LP barely mentions these areas.

The book told us that you need a week to absorb Cartagena when it can easily be thoroughly seen in a couple of days. Yet, other jewels like Taganga are barely mentioned at all. The book doesn't even metion some of the best hostels in Colombia including La Bresa Loca in Santa Marta and the Cranky Croc in Bogota. It felt like they hadn't done an update in years. Wish I could get my money back on this. Take a chance on one of the other guides over this one.

Good - but lacking
This book was very hit or miss - some sections were obviously well done - others included locations or sites that were closed or no longer around - just a sign that certain of the researchers were less than highly motivated.