Lonely Planet Peru (Lonely Planet. Peru, 5th Ed)

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Summary: lonely planet peru
Review: My wife and i were pen pals. when i wanted to make the trek to meet her.I was nervous. This book acurately descibed all of the various aspects of the country.This book helped prepare me and also get the right hotel. I LOVE PERU. One day i want to live there. the food is fabulous.the beer especially cuzquena is the best. also drink some inca kola if you get the chance. the churchs in lima are out of this world. A must see. Breath taking.

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Summary: best mix of info, pictures & maps.
Review: No comments on accomodations info, I don't think one should ever rely on a book for this kind of info, things can change to quickly, especially in a country like Peru. This book had the best mix of pictures, maps, and tourist info. Insight guides has more pictures, but I'd take this and leave the larger, heavier Insight at home. also reviewed, Insight guides Peru, Rough Guide Peru, and Peru Handbook by Alan Murphy.

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Summary: good but not quite as good as I was expecting
Review: Overall, Lonely Planet is my favorite series of travel guides. In many ways, the Peru 2000 edition is excellent. It covers a lot of secondary tourist destinations, and its maps are definitely better than what you find in other guidebooks. But, and this is a big but, there isn't much difference between this version and the previous one. I expect a new edition to cover new territory but this one is basically a repeat of the previous one; the only notable difference is that the author has added a bunch of e-mail addresses for hotels.

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Summary: great country, good book, watch the altitude
Review: Peru is a remarkably interesting country. This is a pretty good guidebook. One area where the guide could be improved is advising tourists on itineraries that work up to high altitude gradually. The easiest trips to arrange go straight from Lima at sea level to sleeping in a hotel in Cusco at 11,000' above sea level. At best you won't feel good and at worst you could get acute altitude sickness. A bit of planning, however, and you can either zip straight from the airport at Cusco to Aguas Calientes below Macchu Pichu (about 8000') or work your way up to Cusco from some towns that are at 7000'. Simply by reshuffling your itinerary you can have a trip where you are feeling good and strong all the time rather than a trip where you stagger around breathlessly and suck down aspirin for the pounding headache.

Rating:
Summary: great country, good book, watch the altitude
Review: Peru is a remarkably interesting country. This is a pretty good guidebook. One area where the guide could be improved is advising tourists on itineraries that work up to high altitude gradually. The easiest trips to arrange go straight from Lima at sea level to sleeping in a hotel in Cusco at 11,000' above sea level. At best you won't feel good and at worst you could get acute altitude sickness. A bit of planning, however, and you can either zip straight from the airport at Cusco to Aguas Calientes below Macchu Pichu (about 8000') or work your way up to Cusco from some towns that are at 7000'. Simply by reshuffling your itinerary you can have a trip where you are feeling good and strong all the time rather than a trip where you stagger around breathlessly and suck down aspirin for the pounding headache.

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Summary: another fantastic lonely planet guide
Review: Superbly written guide which overflows with the author's obvious love for this country, don't leave this on the bookshelf if you are going to Peru.

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Summary: Lonely Planet is the traveler's encyclopedia
Review: The best reference to plan your trip; everything is included. It's so inclusive, you'll probably decide to take notes and leave the book at your hotel when you hike about the ruins of Machu Picchu (for example).

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Summary: Out-of-date book
Review: The information in this book may have been accurate when first published but now (April 1999) it is well out-of-date and consequently the book has limited value. There is a new edition coming out later this year.

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Summary: Useful, informative, simple format
Review: The Lonely Planet Guide to Peru was the most useful travel book I purchased before my visit to Cuzco and Lima. The cultural and more prosaic travel information in it was invaluable, and the excellent index made it possible for me to access all the facts that I needed easily and completely. If I were to take one travel guide with me to Peru, this is the one I'd want at hand.

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Summary: Still the most popular
Review: The most up-to-date on Peru when it was published, it remains the most popular, readable & user-friendly guide book on Peru for indicating highlights, cross-referencing & being available in English, French, Italian & Spanish.
You do not have to spend all day in your hotel room figuring how & where to go, & it is compact enough to carry everywhere. It is not just for backpackers but has matured with Lonely Planet's original customers to continue to serve a variety of generations.
For whatever reason you go to Peru, be prepared to vary your itinerary to integrate new interests that Peru's diversity awake.
I agree that is better to start in the north coast with the oldest sites like El Brujo, Caral, Sechin, Chavin; the most interesting cultures like the Moche, Chimu & Chachapoyas; then the South Coast for Nazca & Paracas; before rising through Arequipa & Cuzco to appreciate the Incas & finish in the Altiplano having had some time to prepare for the altitude.
Site Museums & the Museo de la Nacion are the best, leave the more complicated Lima Museums till the end when you have some understanding of the cultural diversity.