Travel to Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico Off the Beaten Path, 3rd: A Guide to Unique Places

Format: Paperback
Author: Tina Cohen
ReleaseDate: 01 October, 2003
Publisher: Globe Pequot
Rating:

The Path Beaten to Death
All the spots mentioned were pretty much the standard found in any other guidebook. Perhaps in the San Juan area, where I have not stayed, this book provides "off the beaten path" places to visit and sights to see, however, for Ponce and south Puerto Rico I was sourly disappointed.

Furthermore, there is much to be said for the writing style. As others have mentioned, the book is a long essay that needs to be read at least in chapters. So you cannot just use it as a quick reference, which is really difficult while on the road.

Lastly, it is near impossible to find anything using this book alone (and not that I as a woman am bashing a woman writer), BUT the book comes without MAPS or any other helpful directions about how to get even to the most popular touristy places. Basically, the directions that go something like: "On the way from Boqueron beach, make a quick right by the giant cactus and the rock and the what-is-it will be right there" JUST DO NOT WORK.

Plus, it misses some really phenomenal things such as cock fights (Salinas) or how unbelievably BAD Puerto Rican food is and where to go to find pretty decent international food.

For better guides and less headache, pick another.

not helpful at all as a guidebook
The format of this book is like a long essay, which makes it difficult to read, and not very useful as a guidebook. In general, I like to avoid touristy spots, and bought this book in the hope that it would recommend places to visit. It goes something like: "if you take this street, first you'll pass this restaurant, which some people like for the chicken, and then this museum, etc" without giving definitive recommendations and must-sees for the tourist with limited time. I'm glad that my boyfriend brought a Fodor's, which was pretty comprehensive. But the best part of our trip was at an ecolodge that was very much off the beaten path (45 min on a narrow dirt road, up into the El Yunque rainforest), which I found by doing good old web research (search "elena el yunque").

Great Motivation to Explore More
We both enjoyed reading it for its combination of listings and colorful background notes. Noticing this book was a recent guide to Puerto Rico written by a woman, my wife insisted on buying it. It makes you realize there is an island and culture worth exploring. We liked the descriptions that helped us better understand the way of life and why things are what they are. We decided to stay at smaller hotels where we heard Spanish and could eat local food. It let us appreciate what a fascinating and friendly place the island is. This book really did encourage us to get "off the beaten path. ".

Related products:
click image or link for details on these Puerto Rico travel books.

	Lonely Planet Puerto Rico
	Insight Guide Puerto Rico (Insight Guides)
	Rand McNally Puerto Rico Easyfinder (Rand McNally Easyfinder)
	Fodor's Puerto Rico, 3rd Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides)