<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Traveler's bible to Venezuela
Review: If you are traveling to Venezuela, this is the book that I recommend you buy. Unfortunately, I did not buy this book before I moved down there. I went down with two other travel guides and threw both of them out. I met some ex-pats down there and borrowed their copies until I could get my own copy down there. It is true that the prices have risen. The tourist industry, also, charges more for foreigners. Once people starting recognizing my speech as a Venezuelan, I got much cheaper deals on trips. It is a good idea to talk to locals, too. They can tell you of great places to stay and give you invaluable information, plus they are really friendly. Some of the information will be outdated, especially since the mudslides in December. I recommend visiting Venezuela to anyone who is considering it. The country is beautiful and full of wonderful people.
Rating: 
Summary: This book left a lot of important information out!
Review: My first complant was that the prices, especialy for hotels, were off by as much as 50%! I late checked in to it and found that price indexes had risen in Venezuela by neary 30% so I guess I can't blame Krzysztof, but other things were way off. He faided to mention the new bus West bound station in Caracas. The old one ha been completely demolished and it took me about 30 an hour to figure out that the book had no idea what it was talking about. Also his sugestion that tour guids in Merida would give you hiking maps of the near by mountons was completely unture. I tried for almost a full day to just get several tour componies to at least tell me where a trail started... In part I understand they're reluctince because they're in business to sell tours but the book said they would be more than happy to give out maps. There's more but I can't list all of it here. Unfortuatly I think the Lonely Palnet is dispite its many falt still the best one out there on Venezuela. If you plan to go to Venezuela (and you should it's a wonderful and exciting country) don't count of The Lonely Planet being very acuate.
Rating:
Summary: I wish I had bought this book.
Review: No- I did not buy this book. I bought and read two others on travel to Venezuela. If I had, I would not have been the victim of pickpocketting in Caracas. As a fellow traveller in Venezuela pointed out, this book describes verbatim my experience of "being setup" at an escalator in one of the metro stops specifically mentioned. For whatever reasons other reviewers may have for you not to buy this book, I can simply say: this book was right-on regarding crime in Caracas. The price of this book may save you $500 in cash, $1300 in fradulant credit card charges and alot of bad feelings toward a vacation you should not miss.
Rating: 
Summary: Lonely Planet Guide - Venezuela
Review: The Lonely Planet guide to Venezuela had a lot of inaccurate information! The prices quoted in the book were way off. The budget hotels they recommended were very dirty and usually had a "bad reputation" amongst the locals. I would not recommend this book to people traveling to Venezuela. There are better guidebooks out there. Basically, we threw out the book after 3-4 days as everything in it seemed to be outdated or grossly inaccurate. For very general information, it's ok - but take it with a grain of salt.
Rating:
Summary: Traveler's bible to Venezuela
Review: This guide has superb maps that are invaluable in a country that does not believe in signs. Unfortunately, that is about all the positive press I can give it. First, it is out of date and many of the hotels and resturants it recommends no longer exists. Second, the index is horrifically inadequate. Third, many of the descriptions are down right wrong. The Hotel Colonial in Ciudad Bolivar, for example, was called "Old World" and the "the best in town". Hardly, the places is overpriced and poorly decorated. The "Gran Hotel Amazonas", however, in Puerto Ayacucho, which is most likely the most beautiful hotel in Venezuela and only 20 per night for a double, is hardly credited a mention. The coverage of the Amazon and the Gran Sabana is much better in the Bradt guide, especially if you are taking a car. In the abscence of a solid Venezuela guide, we recommend a combination of Lonely Planet and either the Bradt or another guide. One last note, this book, like all Lonely Planets is quite well made and can be trusted not to fall apart, not something that can be said of most budget travel guides.
Rating: 
Summary: Invaluable for the maps, but little else!
Review: This guide has superb maps that are invaluable in a country that does not believe in signs. Unfortunately, that is about all the positive press I can give it. First, it is out of date and many of the hotels and resturants it recommends no longer exists. Second, the index is horrifically inadequate. Third, many of the descriptions are down right wrong. The Hotel Colonial in Ciudad Bolivar, for example, was called "Old World" and the "the best in town". Hardly, the places is overpriced and poorly decorated. The "Gran Hotel Amazonas", however, in Puerto Ayacucho, which is most likely the most beautiful hotel in Venezuela and only 20 per night for a double, is hardly credited a mention. The coverage of the Amazon and the Gran Sabana is much better in the Bradt guide, especially if you are taking a car. In the abscence of a solid Venezuela guide, we recommend a combination of Lonely Planet and either the Bradt or another guide. One last note, this book, like all Lonely Planets is quite well made and can be trusted not to fall apart, not something that can be said of most budget travel guides.
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to the expected standard, and out-of-date !
Review: Venezuela is quickly changing. Prices one day may double the next day. Politics and society are in fervid change. All in all, Lonely Planet has not managed to produce a guide up to the standard of other Lonely Planet guides. Having said that, I do not know of any better guides on Venezuela, and this is still a book worth taking with you. Though you will have to take all its advice and contents with some care, not for granted.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to the expected standard, and out-of-date !
Review: Venezuela is quickly changing. Prices one day may double the next day. Politics and society are in fervid change. All in all, Lonely Planet has not managed to produce a guide up to the standard of other Lonely Planet guides. Having said that, I do not know of any better guides on Venezuela, and this is still a book worth taking with you. Though you will have to take all its advice and contents with some care, not for granted.
Rating:
Summary: What a joke!
Review: We normally swear by Lonely Planet guides (to southern Africa, Central America, SE Asia), but this one to Venezuela is far and away the most inadequate: Sometimes I wondered if the author had even set foot in the country, or if he just called up his buddies who in turn passed along 2nd-hand information. For starters, many of his write-ups are meant for people traveling in private cars; this is by no means a "back-packer's" guide. Sometimes, for example, we'd be interested in a particular place the author described, only to be disappointed that the place was accessible only by private vehicle or you could walk to it but had to cross 6-lane highways (quite common in Caracas). Furthermore, this guidebook provides nothing that other guidebooks on the country provide: in sum, Lonely Planet Venezuela rides on the otherwise strong LP reputation; it's of no merit and could actually be the source of a lot of headaches. I hope for the upcoming edition the author actually visits Venezuela! LP should know better...
Rating:
Summary: Too snobby for the budget traveler
Review: What ever happened to South America on a shoestring? Dydynski often sounds like he holds Venezuela in disdain as a dirty, dangerous, and messy little Third World backwater rather than someplace somebody might actually want to visit. He comes off like a gringo snob, and his personal hotel preferences obviously lean towards the five-star end of the spectrum. Missing here are all the excellent low-cost, unique, and out-of-the-way options I used to turn to Lonely Planet to find. No descriptions of night life or fun things to do, heavy on the historical landmarks. Here and there the book waxes useful when the location in question is someplace Dydynski seems to have liked, the rest of the descriptions are not helpful. Also: many of the phone numbers I have tried from the book are incorrect. I haven't compared this book to other Venezuelan guides, so can't truly make a comparison -- but I suggest you start with another guide first.
<< 1 >>
|
