Lonely Planet Central America

I'll say it again - everything to do with my purchase of this book was executed perfectly.

I have used Lonely Planet's "Central America on a Shoestring" on a couple trips to Central America. Just like every other Lonely Planet Shoestring Guide, it's been amazing. There have been some bad reviews of the book, so I think I should clarify who this book would best appeal to. If you want to stay in three and four star hotels in the tourist parts of town, take guided tours of everything you see, eat at expensive touristy restaurants, and basically don't care whether you ever encounter the "real" Central America, this book is probably not for you. If you are a backpacker, want to stay in hostels with other backpackers, experience as many "adventures" as possible, find all the sights yourself, dive deep into local culture and history, eat at authentic restaurants that attract mostly locals, ride the chicken bus, and basically wouldn't consider your trip complete unless it's as authentic as possible, then this book is right up your alley. If you are planning on visiting just one or two countries, this book will be fine. Just be forewarned that it does cram all of Central America into one book, so some of the info on sights and attractions is very concise. This book generally sticks to times, costs, and locations, plus a very brief description of each sight, with certain exceptions (Tikal has 5 pages, don't worry). If you think you'll want more than that, you might consider the individual country guides. The maps and info have all been 100% accurate. The coverage of hostels, restaurants, sights, and treks cannot be beat. And it puts all of this into one compact, easy to carry book. Highly recommended.

You can't really do better than this book if you're traveling in multiple countries in C.A. Overall, it was an invaluable resource. My complaints are that it almost provides TOO much detail, the kind of things people should find out on their own while they travel. Also, so many people use this book that you'll run into gringos every time you follow their 1st recommendation.

It's a brand new edition of this guide, so you'll have a nice guide for your travel around centralamerica.

The Lonely Planet Shoestring Guides are great for backpackers: cheap hotels, restaurants, bus schedules, etc. This book was no exception. The information included was generally very up-to-date and thorough. That said, the LP writers must have been directed to gild the lily whenever possible. More than once I decided to visit a place that LP gushed about only to find myself in either a backwater or a noisy charmless city playing cards until the next day's buses rolled out. Halfway through my trip I found a used copy of Fodor's UpClose Central America Guide (used to be the Berkeley Guide, remember those?) and bought it. The UpClose Guide, while incomplete, provided much more honest commentary on the places I wanted to visit. The book is no longer in print but you might be able to dig up a used copy somewhere.I'd still recommend the Shoestring Guide: you need to know where to catch your bus!