Lonely Planet Argentina 5ed 5th Ed.: 5th edition [Paperback]

My husband and I have now traveled for three weeks around Argentina, and we have found this book indispensable. Specific comments:

-The maps are fantastic (occasionally slightly inaccurate, but overall much better than any other maps we've found down here!).

-Hotel information, while pricing is already out of date (trouble with books) has been accurate, and we've been very happy with all the hotels where we've stayed in Buenos aires, Córdoba, and Mendoza.

-Restaurant recommendations have helped us venture out of the area where our hotel is and find some real treasures elsewhere. If you're wondering how their recommendations would compare to the locals, well, everytime we ask a local for a recommendation of a great restaurant, we find out it was in "the book".

-Travel recommendations: how to get around, things to remember, explanations of "tango", etc. are invaluable, witty, and as far as we can tell, accurate.

I cannot give the book 5 stars, and it is not the book's fault. Travel books simply cannot stay completely up to date (esp. with such volatile exchange rates), and three months after publication, this already applies to this book. Also, given the relationship between Uruguay and Argentina, I would have loved for this edition to include Uruguay (though I was under no illusions when I bought it!).

Lonely Planet has broken down Argentina into nine geographical areas and the guide is at its best outside of Buenos Aires. The guide excels at providing you with insight into the culture, history and uniqueness of the wonderful countryside of Argentina. But, in Buenos Aires it falls short.

In three years much has changed in Buenos Aires' hotel prices. Though Lonely Planet has a published date of 2005, the prices the guide quotes for accommodations go back to 2003/2004. For example, the Howard Johnson's Hotel in Microcentro, is quoted in the guide as $51 a night; now (3-2006) the price now is $113. The Hotel NH Jousten is quoted at $129, now it is $210. Everything, except for the dorm rooms at youth hostels, has doubled, or even tripled, in price..

Also, Buenos Aires is a place to die for when it comes to great restaurants. Sadly, this guides misses many of the best. For example, of the thirty or more restaurants on the Puerto Madero waterfront, Lonely Planet lists only three, and two of these were sub-par. Also, though restaurants prices have not tripled in three years, they are about 30 to 40 % higher than quoted in the guide. The guide does not give what time the restaurants open; so take care, especially on weekends, or you can show up and find the doors locked.

Maps, and their quality, are very important. A map should tell you where to eat, sleep, what to visit, and do so quickly. Lonely Planet makes this difficult; these maps are cumbersome to use and hard to read.

Where this guide shines is its coverage of the rest of Argentina. The recommended accommodations and restaurants are very good and the prices quoted are reliable. Lonely Planet is one of the few guides that will give you the population and altitude (in meters) of major cities and towns. Kudos! You will find the descriptions of the towns and cites are top rate, and of course, all the "must see" sights are listed and explained. Each region has a good historical sketch and many great tips.

This guide goes head-to-head with Rough Guide, and between the two, I would take Rough Guide. However, if you are skipping Buenos Aires and going to explore the countryside, then consider Lonely Planet. Best yet, take both guides.

I recently visited Argentina for work andtook both the Lonely Planet and Rough Guide. I usually take a couple of guide books on trips to compare different team's notes and hopefully gain extra coverage and added perspective.

Both books were published relatively recently in 2005. I left my older 2004 Footprint guide at home though it's very informative. Inevitably with Argentina's high inflation, prices listed are obviously quickly outdated. It's a fact of life there and obvious to the visitor but also referred to in the texts of both books as if that were necessary. Every guide books suffers this same problem but of course this is especially so for a country in economical turmoil. That's hardly the fault of the books! Some of the reviews that whine about the obvious are so tedious! It takes a few days to recalculate the general shift in prices and apply that loosely across the board.

I think the experience is a fascinating one for people visiting from countries with stable economies (that of course themselves have suffered from high inflation at one time or another). To compound the silliness of many of the reviewers, they're mostly converting hard western currency (US$ and Euros) which not only insulates them to a large extent from the disastrous effects of inflation (loss of spending power) but has created some incredible bargains for them because of it.

Also none of these new guide books state anywhere on their covers or in the Amazon listing that they cover any country other than Argentina! So it's incredible to read some of the stupid complaints criticising Lonely Planet or Amazon!

Focusing on the other essentials of a guide book (besides price - always a loose guide to comparative values and not specific up to the minute quotes!), the recommendations in the Lonely Planet were very good. I agree with the comment someone else made about local recommendations - these were listed in LP on several occasions and quickly encouraged me to trust the book.

Maps, political, historical and general narrative were all relatively easy to read and by comaprrison with local maps and other guide books, very good. I'd recommend the Lonely Planet as a good reliable travelling companion along with an ounce of good sense!