Travel

#The Best South American Travel Guidebooks.

Getting the best travel guide book for any journey can be a bit of a nightmare, especially with so many to choose from. We ve tried to make it that little bit easier by explaining all the different options for South America, what regions they cover and whether they are worth investing in. Our choices for the best guide books in South America are at the bottom of the page.

Bradt

Fodor s

Fodor s only really offer a few good choices for South America since they stopped updating many of their South America guidebooks frequently with the exception of their Brazil books which were updated for 2014 instead focusing on other parts of the world. Generally, their best are some of the more specific guides, with their Argentina, Peru and Fodor s See It Brazil guidebooks all offering some different choices to the norm and which were all updated in 2013. Their dedicated South America guidebook hasn t been updated since it s 8th edition in 2008, so we would strongly recommend staying clear of that.

Rio de Janeiro Sao Paulo (UK | USA )

Fodor s See It Brazil The Illustrated Practical Guide (UK | USA )

South America (UK | USA )

Buy Fodor s South America guide books from Amazon (UK | USA )

Footprint

Without doubt the best travel guide for South America with 28 books in the region, all recently updated, including probably the best overview of the continent in The South American Handbook. which is updated annually (making it far superior to the Lonely Planet s South America on a Shoestring ). These guide books are packed with glossy photos but also plenty of details with recommendations of places to eat, drink and stay as well as good suggestions for things to do.

Their catalogue is split into two types of handbooks, the larger Handbooks which are full of detail and don t leave many stones unturned, and the newer Focus guides which actually do fit easily in a pocket and offer good solid guides for smaller regions. Their current catalogue includes the following:

Brazil Dream Trip (UK | USA )

Brazilian Amazon Focus (UK | USA )

Patagonia Focus (UK | USA )

Peru Handbook

Peru, Bolivia Ecuador Handbook (USA )

Recife Northeast Brazil Focus (UK | USA )

Rio de Janeiro Focus (UK | USA )

Quito Gálapagos Islands Focus

The South American Handbook 1924 Edition (UK | USA ) (intriguingly Footprint have also released the 1924 edition of their classic handbook in celebration of their 90th anniversary it s a great opportunity to see what travel and guidebooks were like 90 years ago)

Frommer s

Not a great guide book for South America this one. The South America handbook itself has nowhere near enough detail for any destination meaning that if you want to spend more than a night or two anywhere you will find this thing is pretty useless. Not enough budget information for backpackers, this guide is aimed at a traveller with a bit more money in their pocket. There has been an attempt to do something different with these books with a more functional display of information but ultimately due to the lack of good, quality information, as well as poor maps, they fall flat.

Lonely Planet

They ve lost a little of their buzz but Lonely Planet are still concise and informative even if they are no way near as up-to-date as you would like. This is especially the case with the South America On a Shoestring edition. Either way they are still the number one choice for many casual travellers.