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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | | | | Lonely Planet knows Colombia. Whether you want to strill the cobbled streets of colonial Cartagena, bask on a dazzling Caribbean beach, sample some of the world's finest java on a coffee plantation or show off your salsa moves at a packed Cali nightclub, our 5th edition takes you there.
Lonely Planet guides are written by experts who get to the heart of every destination they visit. This fully updated edition is packed with accurate, practical and honest advice, designed to give you the information you need to make the most of your trip.
In This Guide:
Dedicated Outdoors chapter with trekking, diving and paragliding
Sizzling nightlife and dining picks for Bogota, Medellin and Cali
Revealed: La Guajira, the Pacific Coast and other emerging hotspots
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| | Product Details | | Author: | J. M. Porup | | Paperback: | 360 pages | | Publisher: | Lonely Planet | | Publication Date: | June 01, 2009 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 1741048273 | | Product Length: | 7.74 inches | | Product Width: | 5.16 inches | | Product Height: | 0.73 inches | | Product Weight: | 0.83 pounds | | Package Length: | 7.64 inches | | Package Width: | 5.12 inches | | Package Height: | 0.79 inches | | Package Weight: | 0.35 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 20 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 20 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
63 of 67 found the following review helpful:
 Try a different guide, totally misses the point. Oct 10, 2009
By Deep Nasta
"in2deep"
I've been using Lonely Planet travel guides for over 15 years. When I read the reviews on LP Colombia, I just thought that the reviewers were being hard on Lonely Planet since it is the predominant travel guide. Since it hadn't let me down in the past, I thought I would give it a try.
I just got back from Colombia and now I know why the reviews are so bad. This guide does a good job giving background information and history but heck, I can get that from Wikipedia. As far as what to see, where to go and places to stay, it totally misses the point. For example, it almost always recommends staying in the downtown of most major cities, even though these locations are often unsafe with little in the way of nightlife and attractions. In both Bogota and Cartagena, there are areas 5 minutes away from the town center with affordable places to stay and plently of sights to see. LP barely mentions these areas.
The book told us that you need a week to absorb Cartagena when it can easily be thoroughly seen in a couple of days. Yet, other jewels like Taganga are barely mentioned at all. The book doesn't even metion some of the best hostels in Colombia including La Bresa Loca in Santa Marta and the Cranky Croc in Bogota. It felt like they hadn't done an update in years. Wish I could get my money back on this. Take a chance on one of the other guides over this one.
32 of 37 found the following review helpful:
 Horribly innacurate, practically worthless. Sep 02, 2009
By Victor Pizarro
After waiting patiently for the new edition for LP's Colombia to come out, I feel horribly ripped off. Locals actually laughed out loud at some of the "statements of fact" in the book and the places to stay that were recommended were hideous, nightmare, fratboy parties full of Americans and Israelis. I thought I'd give LP a chance again after many years because of the timing of my trip. (Brand new edition, trip 3 weeks later). I feel like this was not updated at all. There are several instances of unclear direction and explanations (such as the Colombian street address system) and incorrect travel time estimates (Cartagena to Bogota 7-8 hours by bus??? It's more like 20-23 you jerks).
One of the people that I stayed with in Colombia laughed when I pulled the new LP Colombia out. He said that there had been a scandal because one of the main contributors hadn't even BEEN in Colombia. I'm not sure if this true, but it certainly seems possible given the crap information and general lack of insight provided by the book.
The book also completely blows off two major cities that were slammed by earthquakes, Armenia and Pereira. It basically tells you that they're not worth visiting and not to bother. The main reasoning for this is that they were impacted by earthquakes almost a decade ago. I met a couple in Cartagena who told me they had a wonderful time in those cities, so it made me wonder. I decided to go to both and was amazed at how off and dismissive the Lonely Planet guide was. Did the writers just not want to travel to these cities? What the hell??? It made me also wonder what Lonely Planet's saying about New Orleans? I wonder if it's just dismissing it in whole because of Katrina 4 short years ago???
Do what you want, but if I had a chance to do it all over, I would save the 20 odd dollars and NOT BUY THIS BOOK! Tourist leaflets and the internet were much clearer and more informative.
Never again, Lonely Planet!
15 of 17 found the following review helpful:
Bogota information ok, rest of country lacking Aug 27, 2009
By P. Burton
I bought several copies of this guide for use on a business trip to Colombia. While the guide has a fair amount of information for Bogota, it does not have very much for other cities, especially those the writers deem "unworthy," such as Barranquilla. I found Barranquilla to be a wholly different city than the one described in this Lonely Planet. Also, after using this guide, it became patently clear to me that the writers do not and have not lived in Colombia. Everything was written from a visitor standpoint, instead of a local standpoint. I wish that the Moon Guides had a Colombia book, because that's what I would have used instead.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 I thought this guide was great Jun 13, 2011
By Jason White
All the negative reviews posted here inspired me to write my own cause I was surprised that others were so disappointed with this book, as I was totally happy with it. As happy with it as I was with my Ecuador edition and other guides I've used in the past. I backpacked in Colombia for 3 months last year using it and found it very useful.
Colombia is just picking up as a backpacker destination and so information is changing quickly and there certainly are hostels that now exist that are not mentioned in this edition - but you only need 1 hostel per location, not 20. As well the prices of hostels and buses aren't accurate, everything has gone up, but once you get over the price increases, I found it worked well. Like the historic sites/ruins are obviously in the locations the guide claims, the major cities are all in the correct spot. The descriptions of the locations seemed fine to me, I knew where I was going and what to expect. I found the sidebars & historical info fine.
Perhaps it comes down to how you use a guidebook, I use it to browse ideas, sites, towns, and cities, to see what exists and figure out where I'd like to go. The logistics of how to get there and where to stay are important to me too - I found this guide worked fine to cover those things. Prices are off. Some hostels not listed. But the book covers everywhere you'd want to go as a traveler.
Part of the adventure of going to an up-and-coming destination like Colombia is that things are changing. If you want predictability, I suggest Ecuador, prices have not changed in 8 years, I operated on an 8-year old lonely planet and it was dead on for prices. The inaccuracies of LP Colombia to me seemed more of a representation of a changing Colombia than the fault of a book.
In my 3 months in Colombia I can't remember one incident of blaming this guidebook for my predicament. I left my glasses on the bus once, but this wasn't the fault of the book. Leaving my glasses on the bus was my worst experience in the country really - Colombia is an excellent destination. I recommend it.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Beware of Colombia "Guidebooks" Nov 05, 2010
By Snarb Snruff
As Colombia returns to the South American tourist scene all of the major guidebook companies have published new editions of their former offerings. Lonely Planet has now published a second "new" guide to Colombia that is almost completely useless. Much of the information is incorrect, outdated, or simply false. Not only this, enormous sections of the country are simply excluded from the guide (Valledupar, the wonderful city of Vallenato music, Villavicencia, Ibague, etc). Some of the information will lead tourists to the former locations of restaurants or lodgings, some to mediocre places which are simply not worth visiting. Also, the authors have included information on nearly impossible to reach areas of La Guajira (peninsula shared with Venezuela jutting out into the Caribbean) which are not exactly the safest places to visit. I have travelled widely in Colombia over a number of years but decided to update my mid 90s LP for the new version--bad decision.
Colombia is a beautiful country--do not hesitate to visit!!! But, don't waste your money on this guide. The internet is full of current and useful information. And, if you would feel more comfortable with a guidebook, I recommend purchasing one of the older Lonely Planet's from the late 90s/early 2000s. Some of the information will be out of date, but it will be a good place to begin your research.
See all 20 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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