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Rating: 
Summary: For more detailed information...
Review: For more detailed info, see my "Guatemala, Belize & Yucatan: La Ruta Maya" (available from amazon.com), which covers the Mexican states of Tabasco & Chiapas as well, though not the other countries of Central America
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Summary: LP - Does it again! Central Am. makes it easy!
Review: I am doing a PeaceBike trip around the world so I have read a fair share of travel guides. As I am biking I want a guide book that will prepare me for what's ahead and give me just enough tips to make the adventure fun and not a ¨wild hotel¨ chase. Lonely Planet's Central America on a Shoestring includes everything I need. It has got very detailed maps of almost every town I pass through. It has a section for every town as to where the good eats are and often reviews the vegitarian restaurants which for this vegi-biker is a real treat! I have found that other guidebook series give you just a few options as far as cheap places to stay but this guidebook gives you at least five places to stay in each town or city that are real bargains. I like to learn a bit about the country I am going to before I enter it. Central America on a Shoestring has a good little history section for each country as well as many of the sites. This way when you get to Tikal you have a map in hand to follow around the ruins. You have got a concise history of what the place is about plus if you want to stay a little longer that you thought this books adds enough Places To Stay options so that you never have to panic. One other thing I really like about this book (and this may only be of real help to other bikers)is that it often gives road and uphill, downhill information which is vital when you are planning how far you are going each day. Central America on a ShoeString and a few country maps and you are set! Their huge number of city maps, the mini Spanish language guide, the consistent and thorough sub sections all make this book a must. I might even say, the only. I used this book on my bike trip and I am writing this from Central America and I'm loving it. The book and the region!
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Summary: You can never go wrong with a Lonely Planet guide!
Review: I have just returned to Norway after a year backpacking around in Latin America (of course accompanied by the Lonely Planet books). I do not claim to be an expert, but I know what I look for in a travel guide! This edition of the LP Central America did not disappoint me. I used it, going from Panama to Guatemala by bus(!). It is up to date on the information, and as with all the other LP books it is easy to find your way around with it. It includes maps over the big cities, good information about the hotels, restaurants, places worth visiting, and time schedules for bus, train etc. You have to take into account that this is a guide that is meant to cover the whole Central America so naturally it is not as detailed as the guides for each country separate. It is good as an overall guide if you plan to go to more than one or two countries, as you would try to cut down on the baggage to carry around. As for the prices for hotels and food, the book is fairly accurate.. It is hard to keep up with all the changes, especially in the Latin American economy, where the inflation is "somewhat" higher than in the rest of the world. So, for prices - if you are on a backpacker-budget, do your own research, or at least be prepared for changes! (We usually multiplied the prices in the book with 1,5 and that gave us a good indicator of what to expect). You will find that if you are walking around with the LP book under your arm, many of the local people will approach you and ask you if you need help. Say yes - even if you don't need help! It is a great opportunity to get in contact with the local people! This book is a must on your travel!
Rating: 
Summary: Rough Guide is better
Review: I travelled around Central America last summer with this book and the Rough Guide's for Guatemala, I had access to and photocopied parts of the Rough Guide to C.A. (for when I left Guate.) and I read a good part of a few other guides while shacked up in a coffee shop in Antigua, waiting out a rain storm. I think the Rough Guide is best for Central America because the writing is better, it's more thorough, there are more goofy descriptions of little architectual wonders (like the burned out train shed near zone 4 bus station.) The lonely planets maps are inferior. (Especially for MAnagua and Guatemala City.) It is dangerously outdated, in that it fails to adequately descibe that the Darien gap is in effect a war zone now, and that if you are an American and you are caught there, you almost certainly will be killed. I met several gringos who were all excited from reading about a "jungle rought" described within it's pages -- the route from Puerto Cortes to Puerto Barrios. I've done it; you take a bus, you take a truck, you stop at a shack, you take another truck, another bus, it breaks down, you wait for another bus... you're there. Not that exciting. There is no reason to go to Puerto Cortes, unless you want to hang out with prostitutes and sailors, and watch cargo ships being loaded, and maybe get mugged. And it's the latin capital for SIDA. (But actually, I had a great time...) Anyway, the book makes it sound more fun thatn it is. So get the Rough Guide, and plan on borrowing this one from someone there. (All the tourists seem to have it...)
Rating:
Summary: Great companion for a quick journey through Central America
Review: If you wish to travel through Central America in a rush, this is the best book for you to take. As always, Lonely Planet is unbeatable. On this very region, it is only second to the other Lonely Planet guides on specific countries: Yucatán and Belize, Guatemala, etc. If you need to see it all in one go, and/or don't want to spend too much money or take too much weight, this is the book to take !
Rating:
Summary: Great companion for a quick journey through Central America
Review: If you wish to travel through Central America in a rush, this is the best book for you to take. As always, Lonely Planet is unbeatable. On this very region, it is only second to the other Lonely Planet guides on specific countries: Yucatán and Belize, Guatemala, etc. If you need to see it all in one go, and/or don't want to spend too much money or take too much weight, this is the book to take !
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Summary: Comprehensive and detailed information
Review: Lonely Planet's Central America on a shoestring takes intrepid travelers to rumbling volcanoes and rain forests teeming with wildlife, Mayan temples and bustling marketplaces, and provides essential information for a range of budgets and interests. Nuts & Bolts:
• historical, cultural and practical coverage of each country
• extensive recommendations of affordable accommodations and eateries
• thorough information on air, bus and ferry routes
• tips on the best spots for scuba diving, wildlife watching, jungle trekking and dugout canoeing
• comprehensive language section
Rating:
Summary: Travels in Nicaragua and Honduras in January 2000
Review: My father and I traveled to Nicaragua and Honduras in January 2000. This guide was helpful as a security blanket for information on the different cities and towns we visited, but we couldn't rely much on the lodging, restaurant, and/or transit information due to it being outdated and that natural disasters had changed some of the roads/cities since the book was written. The information on daytrips was great - we ended up seeing a couple of towns within an easy journey of Teguchigalpa, Honduras and Managua thanks to the LP guide. Especially like the organization of the LP books, which really helped outline an itinerary that made sense prior to our departure. With the "Getting there & away" section about each destination, it was easy to figure out how to modify that itinerary as needed "on the fly." Previously, I'd used LP for travels in Bolivia and been very impressed with the detail and level of information for La Paz (the capital). We found the level of detail a little lacking in the Central America guide probably because Nicaragua/Honduras were only two small sections of the book. So I guess I'd recommend this book for an overview, but would suggest finding a guide with more current, updated detailed information and/or an increased focus on the country/cities you're visiting.
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