Lonely Planet Belize

Greatly enjoyed this book. Filled with useful information, but not so huge that its to heavy for the packpack.

I thought this book was very helpful...my sister and I traveled throughout the country (with the exception of Placencia and the southern part of Belize) and over to Tikal, Guatemala and the info was pretty accurate. For a boat trip to Lamanai, the pricing was actually cheaper than what was listed in the book, and other prices were fairly consistent despite the book being a couple years old. The best advice if you are thinking about staying somewhere that is listed in the book is to check out the website (which is one of the best features of the book....many others I looked at did not include website information) and see pictures for yourself. If a website is not listed, it is often because it is new - I did a google search and was able to find a website or info for every place we stayed in Belize. We stayed at four different places during our week stay, all listed in Lonely Planet, and I was happy with each one. Another big plus to this book (particularly for me) was the info on precautions to take, and the full page warning on the botfly. A couple weeks after returning and after several doctors misdiagnosing it, I had a botfly larvae in my head, and it was something I read about in LP that I alerted the doctors about. It took a week and a hospital stay until I could find someone who would believe me, but I can't imagine how long it would have taken if I hadn't had this info beforehand! I was very happy overall with this guidebook and despite the botfly, would return to Belize again.

We used this and while, yes, last year's hurricane did make some of the information less relevant, this was still the most up-to-date guide in our party. I particularly enjoyed the cultural focus, which is really why I travel, anyway.The book is colorful, contains lots of interesting details, and was actually easier to read than some of the others we had. I had no trouble with the hotel listings.

The information on crossing the border into Guatemala was sparse, but the book provided most of the information I needed to get around. It was clear about how to get from Belize City to just about anywhere else in Belize. This book did forget to mention about 1/2 a dozen cool spots to stay in San Ignacio, and left out a couple local restaurants in the area that are far superior to Sol, but other than that I found the book to be very helpful... besides, if it listed everything, everything would be overrun by us tourists!!I spent most of my time in and around the Mayan ruins, so I didn't need the Cayes' chapters much... the background information the book provides on the Mayan ruins at Xunantunich, Caracol, Cahal Pech and others was good enough to get me started... the rest I found once at the sites from the tourist booths... I also appreciated the fact that the last chapter of this book gives info on Tikal in Guatemala... The ride from the border into Guatemala and on to Tikal was just as the book described... dusty and bumpy and lonely! It does warn of the dangers in and around the Tikal area, but I found these spots to be safe and friendly. Overall, a good guide book with lot's of maps!