Lonely Planet Argentina, Uruguay & Paraguay (2nd Ed.)

Rating:
Summary: Not that great
Review: It is certainly a useful book to have with you when travelling in these places, but I was a bit disappointed on the "opinion" side of it. I.e. it's a very useful reference resource in your backpack, but it's rather hard to plan a trip relying on it. In city desctiptions, the author tends to get carried away by colonial history and gives hardly any insight at all WHY would someone want to go to these places. So: have one with you when you leave home, but get some others to back you up before you decide where to go.

Rating:
Summary: the best is yet to come
Review: It's true, this book is not the best LP has to offer, with somewhat pedantic, bone-dry descriptions and overly-detailed town histories your average traveler could care less about. It still offers your basic traveler's information, though, and you won't miss much with this complete tome in your hot little hands.
A promise, however: the next edition will arrive spicier and cutting-edge fresh, with beefed up entertainment sections and wittier town introductions to boot. It will also be more fun to read (same goes for the Buenos Aires guide). I personally guarantee it.

Rating:
Summary: so where is buenos aires????
Review: LP guides are usually complete and thorough. so why is the section on buenos aires in this one so carelesly researched? is it because LP wants us to buy their book on buenos aires or because their researchers didn't visit the city at all? i've been to buenos aires countless times. reading the LP guide, one would think that it is just a hamlet not worth wasting your time on. buenos aires is one of the most exciting and mysterious places in the world; a european outpost in south america, full of chic decadence and a lot more than just beef and tango. entire districts are overlooked by the guide, descriptions are misleading or incomplete and uninviting at best. one wonders why. if you're looking for a guide to buenos aires, buy yourself a plane ticket and a map. once in the city, meet the locals. this is one city you need to explore and understand rather than just see. as jorge luis borges once said: ''it would seem that buenos aires has existed forever.''

Rating:
Summary: Not that great
Review: The information on anything but the major cities was fairly skimpy. It was organized reasonably well by geographic location, but within a location was difficult to use. The maps were decent and conveniently placed. Recommendations on restaurants were sparse and inaccurate.

Rating:
Summary: Skimpy info
Review: The information on anything but the major cities was fairly skimpy. It was organized reasonably well by geographic location, but within a location was difficult to use. The maps were decent and conveniently placed. Recommendations on restaurants were sparse and inaccurate.

Rating:
Summary: Lonely Planet Argentina Uruguay & Paraguay (2nd Ed.)
Review: This guide badly needs updating! I found that a lot of addresses for museums and tourist information have changed (I visited Argentina in October-December 1999). Though the included local maps are usually very good and easy to read a first stop should always be the tourist office (ask locals for present address) for more up to date information. Background information on history is excellent. Generally I found the guide very helpful but it lacks enthusiasm for this beautiful country and does not really entice one to go. More descriptions about the essential character of individual towns would help.

Rating:
Summary: Lonely Planet Argentina Uruguay & Paraguay (2nd Ed.)
Review: This guide badly needs updating! I found that a lot of addresses for museums and tourist information have changed (I visited Argentina in October-December 1999). Though the included local maps are usually very good and easy to read a first stop should always be the tourist office (ask locals for present address) for more up to date information. Background information on history is excellent. Generally I found the guide very helpful but it lacks enthusiasm for this beautiful country and does not really entice one to go. More descriptions about the essential character of individual towns would help.

Rating:
Summary: LP Guide Slights Buenos Aires
Review: Though I had this book when I visited Buenos Aires, I found it utterly useless. I stayed with a group of friends who are natives of this incredible city and so I was able to rely on their information about cool neighborhoods and off-beat places. Though LP prides itself on offering this kind of information, this edition has little that allows travelers to discover the city's uniqueness. Instead, I used this guide to find museums and other basic info that I could have gleaned from ANY guide. It's hard to believe that LP included hardly any information about Palermo, one of the city's most charming neighborhoods, or failed to mention the tradition of Milongas, which are "local" dances in venues such as community centers where everyday Portenos dance the tango with more grace and passion than you will find in the expensive, touristy shows. It's rather disappointing considering that the LP published an entire city guide on this capital.

Rating:
Summary: Very informative for non-Buenos Aires destinations
Review: Used this guide for all three countries - Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The information for the latter two countries was the most detailed and reliable (maybe because things don't change there as fast as they do in B.A.). It was especially good for hotels/restaurants in Montevideo; the region around Igauzu Falls (including Foz de Iguacu and Ciudad del Este); and Bariloche. Travellers going exclusively to Buenos Aires might want to get a more cosmopolitan book (it is impossible to distinguish good hotels from bad, good cultural events, etc. using this book). The whole lonelyplanet shoestring/adventure "feel" doesn't mesh well with a city as culturally rich & refined as Buenos Aires.

Rating:
Summary: Review of Lonely Planet's Guide to ARG, URU and PAR.
Review: Written for Lonely Planet, Bernhardson's book is, like most LP books, a thorough guide to a region of the world. Numerous places to stay and eat from a variety of price ranges are listed, and the LP tradition of offering extensive historical and cultural background along with dozens of activities appealing to all interests is maintained. This book, as is the case with most LP publications, has as its target audience the "respectful" traveler, who is seeking to gain a deeper understanding of the places he or she visits than the tourist who simply stays in four or five-star hotels and sees travel as one big shopping spree. Nevertheless, all audiences are well served by the enormous quantity of material present in Bernhardson's book, especially the parts dealing with rural/small-town Argentina and the Falklands/malvinas. Therein lies my sole complaint about the book. The section on The Falklands/Malvinas Islands is enormous, in comparison with the section on Buenos Aires. One would get the impression that the Falklands/Malvinas are the center of all Southern Cone activity, while Buenos Aires is at best a second-class city. The section on Buenos Aires is somewhat impoverished in comparison with write-ups on huge cities in other LP books; it seems one almost HAS to resort to buying the LP Buenos Aires book in compensation. The main scarcity is in the area of things to do in Bs. As.; Bernhardson does well in his list of hotels and restaurants, but really doesn't describe the city in any striking detail or provide a very adequate rundown of what there is to do there (unless all that is mentioned REALLY IS all there is to do in Bs. As., in which case I recant my criticism). Overall, the book is well researched and up to date. To reiterate, the only area in which the book appears unbalanced is in the wealth of information on the Falklands/Malvinas alongside the skimpy information on Buenos Aires. The section on Montevideo, on the other hand, was very informative and complete. I can't speak on the quality of the sections on paraguay and rural Uruguay, because I didn't make it to either place on my trip. Overall, this book is a fine example of the Lonely Planet tradition of top notch travel guides