The India Handbook (Regional Handbooks of Economic Development)

Rating:
Summary: Could not be better
Review: I spent one month travelling all over India with the 1999 edition of the India Handbook and what a life saver it was. The book was fantastic with its information and right on the money everytime with hotel rates, ferry schedules, etc. The brief anecdotes were especially helpful and I really appreciated the open mind the book had quick not to judge a country full of many different aspects. The book was enlightening and in my hand all the time, but my mind was still open to new experiences which were not preconceived by the authors. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to anyone who really wants to experience India in a different light!

Rating:
Summary: A thoroughly well-researched guide.
Review: The India Handbook is a thoroughly well-researched and detailed guide. The most informative guide on the market, it provides invaluable information which is useful to both the short and long-term visitor to India, particularly by the inclusion of accurate large and small scale maps. It is also strong and compact. However, perhaps the most appealing feature is it's direct and non-chatty text, packing important and need-to-know facts into a notey yet precise format, leaving the reader to form his/her own opinions on people and places.

Rating:
Summary: Bye-bye Let's Go, Hello Footprint
Review: We started our five week tour of India with Let's Go India Nepal, and found the Footprint guide four weeks into our tour. After looking it over, we quickly realized how much detail, clarity, and completeness we were missing. We didn't open Let's Go again, other than to retrieve our bookmark.

Some of the telephone numbers were slightly off, but that is par for the course in India. The correct numbers were easily located via directory assistance, which the book informed us of.

We stayed at two of the highly recommended hotels between US$5 and US$6 a piece and were delighted by the overall quality and cleanliness we found.

Its descriptions of some of the sights surpassed even that of our tour guide.

We liked this guide so much that we now use Footprint guides for our travels wherever they are available and up to date.

WARNING: The guide warns that the prices for many tourist attractions will go up on Jan 1, 2001. They actually went up on October 18, 2000. Now at most major tourist sites in India, foreigners pay the same number of dollars as Indian's pay rupees.