Travel to Latin America

Mexico (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

Format: Turtleback
Author: DK Publishing
ReleaseDate: 21 August, 2006
Publisher: DK Travel
Rating:

Comprehensive Guide to Mexico
I quite like the way they are organized. I've used Eyewitness guides for about 10 years. Strong points of these guides include:
(1) Historical timeline; key points identified with good breadth & depth
(2) Traveler's Survival Guide section has accurate & helpful information
(3) Wonderful walking guides with three-dimensional maps so that one does not overlook the not-to-be missed sites, monuments, buildings, works of art, cultural highlights, etc.
(4) Well-organized into provinces and major sections of cities that help trememdously in mazimizing time so that one is not back-tracking or wandering hither and yon.
(5) Many good color photos and illustrations of major attractions
My one major dissatisfaction is that no phonetic pronunciation of cities, attractions, historical figures, etc. is included. That one small feature would be tremendously helpful and appreciated.
.

The best I've seen
I was planning a special short trip on Easter week this year, but because of personal reasons I couldn't go. I've been to Mexico twice, and I'm in love with it. In my frustration, I went to the book store and looked at every guide about Mexico, and to my surprise, this was the most complete. The rest were just text. I bought it inmediately, and while I read it I traveled without leaving home. The most importante feature is the abundance of pictures.

If you are planning to travel to Mexico, or just enjoy learning about other countries, this book should be part of your collection.

Great Travel Guide, Beautiful Coffee Table Book!
.
Summary:
Every Dorling Kindersley Guide has been a great and interesting book. . . and delightful to have and use, even if you are not traveling to that location, but are only interested in learning more!

The Guides are well organized in a logical and easy to follow manner. They are beautifully illustrated, well developed with accurate information (it is unusual for hotel and restaurant information to be that accurate), have enough history to help the reader understand the people and cultural background, and have a lot of useful travel information and useable maps in the appendixes.

But, the really great attraction to this book is several fold; it is:
. . . . . . . . . . . . Very complete
. . . . . . . . . . . . Easy to read
. . . . . . . . . . . . Beautifully and artistically completed
. . . . . . . . . . . . Good shopping, safety and other tips
. . . . . . . . . . . . Gorgeous photographs too numerous to list.

Summary Negative:

The country books are too general to really satisfy all your needs in any given location. So, if your entire trip is spent in Puerto Vallarta, for example, you will also want to get some other books on your specific location.

Guide Specifics:
The guides are organized as follows:

How to use this guide
Introduction to Mexico
Portrait of Mexico
Mexico Through the Year
History of Mexico
Mexico City
Mexico by Region
. . . . . . . . . . . . Introduction / History of Regions
. . . . . . . . . . . . Specific Cities / Towns
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Introduction to Towns / Cities
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Map of specific Towns / Cities
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tour of Area of Towns / Cities
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Specific stops, historical monuments, churches, buildings, etc.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Filled with great maps, architectural drawings / cutaways)
Travelers Needs
. . . . . . . . . . . . Hotels
. . . . . . . . . . . . Restaurants
. . . . . . . . . . . . Shopping
Survival Information
. . . . . . . . . . . . Practical Info.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Police, safety, buses, trains, etc.
. . . . . . . . . . . . Travel Info.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maps, tours, currency, etc.
. . . . . . . . . . . . General Index
. . . . . . . . . . . . Phrase Book

Discussion:
The book begins with "A Portrait of Mexico", including a complete map, a review of Mexico, it's history, and Mexico thought the Year - including events, etc. , and Mexico's History, which is very interestingly presented.

Region with an "At a glance" overview, then has subsections of Cities / Towns, then specific locations, churches, historical monuments, bridges, galleries, beaches, etc.

Architectural reviews include various views, and cutaways; given greater understanding and better perspective. They are all attractive, if not works of art - honestly.

The travelers' Info. offers good and valid info. on prices, currencies, customs, important words, etc. I used the reviews on resorts, hotel's restaurants and nightclubs, etc. and found they were useful and accurate, and helpful with my touring and site decisions

The books are so well thought out that it has multiple maps, with various lookup tables, and the book's flaps are designed to be used as bookmarks for map pages.

Negative:
The country-wide guides are by definition more general than the specific city guides. So, if you are going to Puerto Vallarta, get a specific "Puerto Vallarta" guide. If you decide to get the "Mexico" guide for your 3, or 4 city tour of Mexico, understand that this guide may be a little to general for all your local travel needs.

Conclusion:
As the President, CEO of an International Meeting Planning Corporation we have many resources and techniques to learn about places we have meetings / groups at as well as the cities and sights. But, as a traveler, this book really is top notch and I would recommend it to anyone going on a personal trip, or wanting to learn about a city, or location.

Related products:
click image or link for details on these Latin America travel books.

	Fodor's Mexico 2007 (Fodor's Gold Guides)
	California (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
	Lonely Planet Mexico
	Alaska (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
	Spain (Eyewitness Travel Guides)