Reviews (1)

Devoted fan of Rough Guides
I should begin by saying that I traveled around India with the fourth edition of the Rough Guide.Though I cannot comment on how updates and revisions may effect the utility of this particular version, I feel quite confident in recommending the Rough Guide over any other guidebook in the market.
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Subjects:  1. Asia - India    2. Guidebooks    3. India    4. Reference - Guides (General)    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Travel Guides    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / Asia / India   

Reviews (4)

Lansky knows what he's talking about
I recently attended a presentation by Doug Lansky, and was bowled over by his experiences and his extensive travel. (He's been to and had experience in and covered in reporting over a hundred countries!) He really has been in all the situations he advises on. Therefore, this guide is an accurate and realistic source for anyone traveling-- a must have! Lansky's tales are amazing! And his advice even better!

best help ever--great for basics
This book covers everything you'd want to know on a trip around the world, and mostly the basics that a lot of guide books take for granted. If you've got a question about travel itself (not where you're going), the answer's probably here.

WELL DONE
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was both well-written and well-informed. It was in an easy to read and understand format. There was a lot more information in it than I thought there would be. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Guidebooks    3. Reference - Guides (General)    4. Travel    5. Travel - General    6. Travel Guides    7. Voyages around the world    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / Special Interest / General   

Subjects:  1. Asia - Southeast    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Travel & holiday guides    6. Travel / Asia / Southeast    7. Vietnam   

Reviews (3)

Excellent
All rough guides that I have encountered are chock full of great information.The Egypt guide in particular is one of the best.The number of maps is fantastic and the quality of the information is comparable to what you usually have to visit the site to obtain.

Saves money big time
I went to Egypt in February 2006 with my wife and our two boys (5 and 2.5 years).Although we took a package tour to Hurghada, we actually overnighted there only three nights of the eleven we were in Egypt.The rest we spent moving around (Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, busses, train, cruise ship, jeep).For the whole trip we spent around 1000 USD plus the package.We could have easily spent twice as much (or, more precisely -- seen twice as little because the budget was limited) if not the hints in the book.
Great So Far
I arrived in Egypt this week and have been using this guide to help me get aquainted with it.I don't have any other guides to compare it to, but I can say that the organization, writing, maps, extras, and overall quality of the book seem to be excellent.It has been very helpful so far.
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Subjects:  1. Egypt    2. Guidebooks    3. Middle East - Egypt    4. Reference - Guides (General)    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Travel Guides    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / Middle East / Egypt   

Reviews (2)

More info, easier reading
Although I always buy Lonely Planet guides to every foreign destination, I tried Rough Guide this time.I liked the format, the readability, and the information I was looking for.It is almost 200 pages larger (but because of a quality thin paper is less thick), and has less fine print.I would rate it a bit above the similar Lonely Planet guide to China, and still buy the Lonely Planet.Those two rate way above the competition such as Fodors, Frommers and the like.Of course, the China Eyewitness Travel Guide is in a different class altogether.

Nearly Perfect
Using solely this book as our guide, my girlfriend and I navigated Beijing, Xian, Guilin, Yangshuo, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong completely on our own without getting lost once. The maps are absolute life-savers (though they would be even more useful if they included the Chinese characters for the street names), the descriptions of place generally current and accurate (though they might have mentioned that, as of May of 2006, Yangshuo is no longer a mecca of calm and relaxation but rather a maddening gauntlet of pushy vendors and tourists), and it even provided enjoyable reading material on the long train rides.
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Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. China    3. Guidebooks    4. Reference - Guides (General)    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Travel Guides    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / Asia / China   

Reviews (3)

A must for a European trip
What I like best about the Rough Guides is that they give critical reviews. They will point out the tourist traps and will give negative reviews. I find that Frommer's and Fodor's rarely point out the negatives to a particular... The rough guide is very critical and is a great balance to these other guides.
A Great Buy for the Average Traveler
The Rough Guide To Europe 2006 is a great book to pick up if you're not the most adventurous but more-so the average traveler looking for a great time in some of the best known or little known towns and cities. The guide provides an easy to read and discover map legend that will help you decide what route to choose whether you're using car, train, or other means of transportation to get around. However, I do enjoy the highly detailed country maps of Fodor's Europe more for getting around country to country.
Excellent Overviews for the Business Traveler
I travel to Europe a couple times a year for business. I needed a guide book that would help me find the main sites to see in various European countries during my trips. (I rarely go to the same city twice.)
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Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. Europe - History    3. Reference - Guides (General)    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. Europe    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / Europe / General   

Reviews (8)

The best of all NZ guide books
When purchasing a NZ guide book, I wanted the best one so that I only had to buy one book.I reviewed other buyers' comments which all seemed to point to the Rough Guide as being the best one out there.They were right.This is book is extremly helpful and has all the topics covered that I was looking for.The authors' account of places/things in NZ does not seem biased, like many travel books are.The book tells me which destinations are worth going to, how to get there, how to get around, where to sleep/eat, what activities are worth doing, etc.All advice is catered to both people traveling on a budget and to those willing to spend more money.I am very happy with my purchase.

a very useful guide book
Granted, it's a large book to carry around, but with this and a few local brochures, my New Zealand trip was painless (and I was driving, not hiking). Even though I found an amazing amount of information at the information centers that are everywhere, I'm still glad I bought this guide.
Best book if weight is not an issue
I'd agree with much of what Terry Holmes says (see review below).This book is bigger than Lonely Planet and the layout is different but for me, it was the better book.
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Subjects:  1. Australia & Oceania - General    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. New Zealand    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Australia & Oceania   

Subjects:  1. Australia & Oceania - General    2. Australia & Oceania - New Zealand    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel Guides    6. New Zealand    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / Australia & Oceania   

Reviews (2)

Great map
This was the best map of Florence for our trip. It's waterproof and rip proof. The sleeve it comes in is also really helpful to carry it around in your bag or pocket. I used it in conjunction with the Florence and Tuscany (Eyewitness Travel Guides) and was extremely satisfied with both.

Like all Rough Guide maps, the Florence & Siena map is excellent
After using the excellent Rough Guide map of Barcelona, I purchase
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Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. General    3. Maps    4. Maps & Road Atlases    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Italy    8. Maps, charts & atlases    9. Travel & holiday guides    10. Travel / Europe / Italy   

Reviews (19)

Just OK
This book definitely has a lot of info in it.I took it to Tokyo and Kyoto with me.It would have been nice if it had walking tours like some other guides have because otherwise it's hard to know where you're at when you're trying to read lines and lines of text.
Thoroughly researched and well presented
The best guide to Japan, from a resident of ten years in Hokkaido. I'm not refering to the coverage of Hokkaido, which is better than most guides available, but of the entire country. Should a visitor wish to see off the beaten track destinations, this guide will helpto take you there. The information is up to date and almost any aspect of travel in Japan, and difficulties of travel in Japan--there are many--is covered.
Informative and helpful
Although I tend to favour Lonely Planet over the Rough Guide, in the case of Japan, the Rough Guide is definitely preferable, and this is increasingly the case now that the latest edition of the Lonely Planet has cut coverage of lots of off-the-beaten-track areas. The Rough Guide to Japan has the edge is conveying the feel of the places covered. I have lived in Japan for more than two years and the guide was practical and sensible on my first trips to Hiroshima and Kyoto - I still find it informative and helpful when I travel around the country now, after substantial experience of Japan. One caveat - while the coverage of such cultural sites as temples and castles is very thorough, the author is obviously not that interested in painting or sculpture. Museum after museum is dismissed for being overpriced, often when the entrance fees are, by Japanese standards, really very reasonable (600 yen or so). Some readers might be put off visiting interesting museums by this bias.
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Subjects:  1. Asia - Japan    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Japan    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Asia / Japan   

Reviews (3)

Excellent for the independent ttraveller
This book was excellent for our needs. We rented a car and drove around the Yucatan, not the Cancun strip but other less travelled areas. One good thing is that the book was recently updated, the area has changed so fast that you need a current guidebook to keep up with the rapid development. The maps were good inside the book and also the history and description was readable not boring like in some of the books. One oddity though was that the author ignored Akumal, where we spent six pleasant days at a modestly priced resort that wasn't even mentioned in the book. Don't know why the entire town was basically ignored when it is a signficant destination and other guidebooks cover it. However overall the book was quite useful to me. I also bought the Rough Guide road map which was also very helpful because the signage is often poor.

Don' tleav home with out it!
I agree with the previous reviewer.This book covers all the bases, plus has plenty of sidelights to out of the way places to keep your trip interesting. It was evident that the author has done her homework! She will lead you to some great places to eat!I also recomemend you Check out the thriller "A Tourist in the Yucatan" a great beach read set in the Yucatan!

Highly recommended-- a big help.
I don't usually bother to do this, but I just wanted to post here that this guidebook is great: full of interesting ideas, and very trustworthy.All the basics are covered, but it also includes funny and reliable tips on cool places the average tourist might not go to, like Punta Allen and Felipe Carrillo Puerto.I really liked the fact that when the book covers the crucial tourist areas, it also includes a range options for making your experience even more enjoyable and varied, like mentioning spots that the locals actually go to.You can tell that whoever wrote this book did a lot of exploring to find interesting places.
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Subjects:  1. Guidebooks    2. Mexico    3. Reference - Guides (General)    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. Yucatâan Peninsula    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / Mexico   

Reviews (1)

THE best guide on Tanzani, according to locals
That says it all. We attracted lots of attention by being the first to show up in Tanzania toting the new edition.The locals all agreed it was the most comprehensive & accurate guide available, & were really impressed by some of the things we knew from reading it. We had several offers to buy it when we left but wanted to keep it as a souvenir.
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Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Africa - East    3. East Africa - History    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. Tanzania    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / Africa   

Subjects:  1. South America    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Peru    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / South America   

Editorial Review

Jamaica is a small but complex island. Famous for her beaches and music, there is an abundance of stretches of white sandbedecked by palm trees and lapped by turquoise waters. Reggae, Jamaica's other celebrated quality, is alive and happening. It is necessary to have a good guideto find your way to the Blue Mountains and Back River, check out the wildlife, and understand the island's culture--as well as to navigate your way through Kingston to the best reggae haunts, drinking holes, and Jamaican food stands. Read more

Reviews (6)

Helped build the excitement!
We ordered this book about 2 months before our trip to Jamaica, our first trip out of the USA.This book both helped us feel prepared and helped build our excitement.Knowledge aleviated any fears we were having about being fish out of water.This book is a must have for any "first-timer".

excellent guidebook
I just returned from Jamaica.I took 3 guidebooks with me, Rough Guide, Lonely Planet and Frommers.Rough Guide blew the others out of the water, and according to the locals was the only decent guide.Lonely Planet was so poor on Jamaica, that we surmised the writer probably got hung up smoking ganja in Montego Bay and never made it to the other cities, using promotional brochures and faxed promotional blurbs to write the text.Meanwhile, Rough Guide presented a picture that fit with what the locals knew and recommended.We had a great trip, virtually skipping Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, and seeing a number of towns including Port Antonio, Treasure Beach and Runaway Bay.Rough Guide had excellent food, accommodation, and siteseeing recommendations throughout.

Everything you need to know
I have been to Jamaica many times since 1972, doing research as an anthropologist, which includes reading everything I can about its people and culture as well as traveling about and living in various communities. I picked up this book shortly before my most recent trip, hoping to get some hints on places to stay as it's been awhile since I've been back. I read it thoroughly as I traveled extensively around the island for 18 days.And I'm quite impressed.It is an extremely informative and accurate guide to the history, culture, things to see and do, places to eat and stay.The hotel reviews are brief but to the point.The advice is sound.The maps are very helpful.The only criticism I can make is that in at least two cases I found the directions to be wrong.I am most impressed with the fact that the book can really get you out of the tourist areas and into the real Jamaica.It is a great guide for those who want to EXPLORE the island and come to know it well.This takes time, a car, and money, though.Finally, I'd like to add that the book is just the right size, easy to carry, and has a very sturdy cover and binding, so it'll survive more than one trip.I suppose the greatest compliment is that a Jamaican friend wanted me to give it to her after she discovered it had information on her own town that she didn't know. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Jamaica    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Caribbean & West Indies   

Reviews (8)

Excellent content - lousy binding
though the content of this guide is excellent, the binding is absolutely apalling! i have had this book for one week and it is already falling apart! entire pages are falling out! i can only imagine what it's going to look like, once i have read the entire book.....
Overall, a well-researched, well written and reliable guide.
In the competitive world of Argentia travel guides this guide is one of the most authoritative, up-to-date and practical guides out. Rough Guide's direct competition is Lonely Planet (see my review) and, between the two, well it's almost a toss up - both have strengths and irritations, but the nod goes to Rough Guide.
Argentina Rough Guide not as a great as other Rough Guides
I've been a rough guide user since the company started, and have gone through 6 or7 7 rough guides.When this one arrived in the mail, I was very excited to get my hands all over it.While it had plenty of information, and the usual casual but informative style, we found that information in it wasn't always reliable.Prices tended to be off, which may reflect more upon Argentina's economy than the rough guides.But there just seemed to something off withthe organization of the information, some of the locations on maps were incorrectly placed, and busing information was poorly documented.Because I'm partial to the rough guide style, I would probably buy this book again...after all nobody's perfect. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Argentina    2. Guidebooks    3. South America    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / South America   

Reviews (2)

Spot On
Couldn't agree more with the first reviewer. This is a better guide book to the Philippines than any other and beats LP by a country mile. It's better written, more thoroughly researched - and actually interesting. I used it when I was there last Easter and also found it to be very up to date. But what I liked most was the honesty. It calls a spade a spade, but always remains fair. The destination summaries are spot on. Even Boracay doesn't get away unscathed.

This is my favorite because it gives frank advice.
There are several good, reliable guidebooks to the Philippines which give you basic information about places, accommodations, restaurants and so forth.Jens Peters "Philippine Travel Guide" is especially comprehensive.The Lonely Planet Guide is also very good.But, the Rough Guide does something the others don't often do; the Rough Guide gives you frank comments on the relative quality of the destinations.For example, from the other guidebooks you'll learn that Cebu City is the "Queen City of the South".The Rough Guide gives a franker description, saying, "there's history and architecture in there somewhere, but you have to look hard for it among the clutter, the exhaust fumes and the nondescript concrete malls."Don't get me wrong, I like Cebu City, but the Rough Guide lets the visitor know what to expect.If they think a place is exceptionally attractive, they'll say so.One of the most important functions of a guidebook is to help the trip-planning traveler discriminate between great places and mediocre ones.If that's what your looking for, the Rough Guide is the best.However, it does not cover nearly as many places and acommodations as does the thicker Philippine Travel Guide.I'd choose the Rough Guide to plan my trip but take along the Philippine Travel Guide or Lonely Planet guide for their more extensive and detailed travel information. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - Southeast    2. Guidebooks    3. Philippines    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / Asia / Southeast   

Reviews (5)

Nothing rought about this guide!
If you're planning a trip to Chile (or wish you were) this is the book to get you ready. Dealing with everything from money exchange to lodgings to transportation, it has invaluable information to carry you from "tourist" to "traveler." The content is divided by geographical sections (much as the country itself is) to make it easier to plan a trip or get the specific information you need on a trip already planned. If you're interested in getting away from the escorted "back on the bus in five minutes" type of trip, this guide will get you there. There are wonderful descriptions of each region and its attractions, plus names, phone numbers and prices for food, lodging, transportation...even the location of the cambios de change for changing money, ATMs, and tourist informtion centers in each town. very detailed information - but no enthusiasm
The Rough Guide is full of useful, accurate information ( a little out of date) - but the writers lack a certain enthusiasm for this country.An enthusiasm that can be found in other books such as the Open Road guide.

very useful
having spent a couple of months travelling through chile, i got to know my rough guide well, and had chance to compare to many of the other guide books out there, there are speciality books which cover other areas better and in more detail, some only available in chile. but of the mainstream guides this is definately the best. the cultural information is where the rough guides stand out, in fact a couple of our favorite places in Chile didnt even warrant a mention in one of the better known guide book series. the section on accomodation was the most lacking although occasionaly useful, as none of the guide books seem to have discovered the backpackers hostels which cover chile. but aside from this if you want a guide to chile, this is one of the best. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. South America    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Chile    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / South America   

Editorial Review

Travel guides are swell wherever, with museum tips here and restaurant recommendations there, but a great guidebook is essential in China. Independent Western travelers hang on their travel guide's every word for survival, and Read more

Reviews (11)

Best guide to China you can get, get it before Lonely planet
I can't fully agree with negative review of this book. I'm living in China for three years now. I got many guides to China I use them quite a lot during my traveling in here. Sure there is maybe a few thing missing and there are some mistakes in this book but it is still the best. I find it much more accurate and detailed than last edition of Lonely Planet. 2003 EDITION - VERY ROUGH INDEED
This book presents itself as a revised edition, but it is very Up to the usual Rough Guide stardard
The Rough Guides are considered among the "cream of the crop" in the guidebook world, and this book is no exception.I used it extensively in the planning phase of my recent month-long trip to China, and it was very helpful.Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. China    3. Guidebooks    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. Travel / General   

Reviews (4)

they could've done better
I've used rough guides before for cities, and they were very good, so I didn't even think to get a different book for Mexico.However, Mexico was just too much for this book.It got me where I needed to go for the most part, but the maps are really small and had mistakes more than several times. Often hotel and restaurant prices are also not labeled correctly. My worst experience with this book was when I got to Mexico City and discovered that there are no street names on the city map.Yeah, that was an interesting trip to find the tourist booth for another map.Basically, this book is okay, but you will have to do a lot more work than you'll want to when you get to Mexico.

The Best - Roughly Speaking
Rough guides are ideal for a certain kind of holiday. If you are planning to go to an all inclusive resort in Cancun and only venture out for arranged excursions then this book will never leave the shelf. Rough guides are for those who want to explore the real thing. That is why I won't visit any country without a copy. It's called the "Rough Guide" because it's rough.
This book was a disappointment.It's information was incomplete and uninformative (and I'm talking about the recent FIFTH Edition -- published in 2002).Even in the touristy beachy destinations, I did not find the information helpful.Many of the budget hotels listed were closed, and there were no similar alternatives provided.Very little historical background for the sites I saw.Not much value added.I spent time on the Pacific Coast (not Baja) and in the Central Highlands.For Nahrit, Jalisco, the Bajio, and Michoacan states, it's practically worthless.Some of the worst maps in the business (Lonely Planet has excellent maps, so even if its information is lacking, at least you have reliable orientation).I would be VERY CAREFUL about buying another Rough Guide. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Mexico    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Travel & holiday guides    6. Travel / Mexico   

Reviews (12)

A nice thought but completely impractical
As we flipped through the Rough Guide to Guatemala 2002 edition about a month ago, we were really impressed with the layout and the backdoor feel that the Rough Guide had as opposed to the more conventional guide books. Our only hesitation was that the practical information like hotels and transportation schedules might be out of date because it was published so long ago. We found out that a new version of the Rough Guide to Guatemala was going to come out right before we left for our trip so we decided to hold out until it was published. We were so excited when it arrived and couldn't wait to get to Guatemala. When we arrived, however, it became immediately apparent that Rough Guides had not bothered to live up to their claim of reliability. The information in the guide was completely outdated. We ran into logistical problems at every turn. I understand that Guatemala is one of the countries that is in a state of constant flux but some of the hotel recommendations in the book had disappeared years ago. On the whole, the book was good for the ideas of what to see and do and the history of the country but logistically speaking, it left much to be desired. We ended up forgetting the book completely for logistical planning and asked the locals instead.

New edition on the way
It looks like the third edition ("Rough Guide to Guatemala 3") will be released January 30, 2006. Unless you're leaving real soon, I would wait for that to be released.

buy the newest guide you can find, this one is too old.
I just returned from 2 months in Guatemala.
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Subjects:  1. Central America    2. Reference - Guides (General)    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel Guides    6. Guatemala    7. Honduras    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / Central America