Fodor's Costa Rica 2012 [Paperback]

The writers at Fodors say that they spend lots of time finding the best places in a destination "so you don't have to." Having used several of their guides for vacations, I believe that their claim is largely true. Fodor's guides are solid, reliable, comprehensive, and not terribly entertaining. They are more reliable than Lonely Planet, and more comprehensive than Frommer's. If you are part of their intended audience, which implies being over 30, financially secure, and not too adventurous, these are the best general guides for travel.

I read Fodors to extract information, not for pleasure or deep insight. This guide will provide needed information before a trip to the Costa Rica, including broad overviews of the country's regions, hotels and restaurants in every price category, details on major attractions, and a few "Fodor's choice" highlights.

I recommend this guidebook, although the suggested retail price, $21.99, may be a bit steep for your wallet. I received a free copy through the amazon vine program, and I am glad to have it, but I often wait for sales to buy last year's book. Things don't change too much from one year to the next. For the best up to date information, especially on hotels and restaurants, you should look at online sources. Some people insist that you don't need a book at all, since there is so much information online. That is true, but a book presents the information in a more useable format, one that you can access without batteries, cell phone signals or wifi.

Overall this guidebook provides a great overview of the entire country and will be especially pleasing to travelers who design a trip around the activities they want to experience. Other highlights include a map featuring Costa Rica's Eco-zones and National Parks that is helpful for vacationers wanting to pick their micro-climate. There are nice color photographs in the flora and fauna section which includes marine life.

Major thumbs down on the book's use of quotes from website users. Do the publishers at Fodor's realize how many fake reviews are on the internet? This is quite lazy on the part of the publisher. Am I really going to take seriously a comment by "volcanogirl" (pg. 311, 499)or "owlwoman" (pg. 486 who comments on her stay at the Iguana Lodge). owlwoman could own the Iguana Lodge! I would rather the guidebook author, not any old random, comment on lodging and restaurants. Isn't that why I'm buying a book to plan a trip instead of just reading online reviews? I thought guidebooks would provide their own discerning opinions.

The other negative is the book is organized around itineraries and activities and not by location or town. This makes planning a trip around activities like scuba diving really easy, but it makes planning anything around a location much harder. I'm not a fan of guidebooks with itineraries. I would rather have easy access to information rather than hand holding. Each "town" section is quite brief with little info, which makes finding what you may need difficult. This makes the book perhaps most appropriate when first researching a destination, but not so handy when on the ground and traveling.

I was in Costa Rica earlier this year and wish I had this book with me when I was there. It is jammed packed with information on every aspect of Costa Rica and its warm welcoming people. Its coverage of tourist attractions is simply second to none, and I found it to be very accurate in regards to places I visited. I would only take exception to its comments on coffee which it says the best is exported and what is left is not that good. I disagree, I tried several local brands and brought back a suitcase full and everyone who tried it begged for more! Also, the tap water is safe and good tasting and the locals drink it. I visited several houses and none used bottled water!
This wonderful country felt more like a small European country in some ways and was absolutely safe. The book comes with a superb fold-out map in the back which itself is worth the price of the book. It is full of quality color photos. It's print is large enough for me to read comfortably yet the book is travel sized.
A simply excellent product about a fantastic country, I just have to return there and will take this little gem with me!