Colombia Handbook 3rd Tread Your Own Path Footprint Travel Guides

Posted In: Colombia

Krystyna Camejo says...

This is a valuable book."Footprint Colombia Handbook: The Travel Guide," highlights Colombia's many wonderful assets.It also warns of its potential pitfalls.

In regard to travel...this book covers all the bases.Colombia is an immense nation with outstanding hotels, magnificiant places to eat and wonderful people.Moreover, its parks and natural beauties can hardly be matched anywhere else in the world.

However, one must not ignore the subtle warnings in this text.Colombia must be approached with open eyes.It can be a wonderful experience and this book allows one to take a bite of the best the nation has to offer.

Posted on October 4, 2010

Laverne Zarcone says...

I bought this book previous to my first vacation to Colombia to visit my wife's parents this year.This book is truly amazing because it explains the social and economic climate as well as providing detailed listings of destinations throughout the book, including small towns and remote destinations. Pollard's book does not ignore the fact that using common sense is important when visiting this beautiful country, but contrary to the US State Department warnings, he reminds us in his own words that this is indeed a wonderful country to visit and the people are as open and friendly as anywhere in the world. My friends and family who live in Colombia were truly impressed with the wealth of information presented in this book.The only criticism is that the book is now over three years old and some of the information regarding specific locales need updates.Overall, this may be the best travel book I have ever used.

Posted on October 4, 2010

Hortencia Sobczyk says...

In my copy of Footprint's Colombia Handbook, virtually every page of the sections "Southern Colombia" and "Los Llanos and Amazonia" were missing.The reason was that somehow they reprinted the information from "Cartagena and the North Coast" in its place.That's right - in this book, you have **no** information on the entire southern half of the country, but **two** copies of the Cartagena section.



Because the book is incomplete, I am giving it the lowest possible rating.There really is no excuse for selling an incomplete book.



There are a few other things worth mentioning:



-The author seems genuinely enthusiastic about Colombia, and that's good.I think his heart is in the right place and he dug up a lot of interesting places.However, there are times when his opinions on styles of tourism bleed into his writing and turn this away from fact and into essay.In some instances the author was less journalist and more evangelist, and this sometimes felt off-putting.



-The layout and style of this book are a lot less intuitive than Lonely Planet or even Rough Guide.Maps in particular are much less accurate and useful than Lonely Planet.



-The hardcover and sturdy pages are much better than you get with flimsy Rough Guide or Let's Go.In terms of physical durability, this is the strongest guidebook I've ever used.



-There were fewer restaurant and hotel listings in this book than what I am used to reading in other guidebooks.Also, many restaurants (perhaps 1/3 of those that I tried) were already closed within a few months of the book being published.



Taken as a whole, I considered this book to be below average even before I discovered that it was missing about 1/4 of its content.I therefore cannot recommend this guidebook to travelers planning a vacation in Colombia.

Posted on October 6, 2010

Terisa Markman says...

I was in Colombia in 2000 and will go back next year. I checked on the places I know and really liked the stile and information provided. I liked the positive outlook, it warns of dangers but also makes you feel comfortable of going. I liked that. The book is compact, well organised and includes lot of unlikely and not too obvious places. It also hast lots of tips and adresses for nature travel, trecking, rafting etc.

Posted on October 7, 2010

Mao Montilla says...

The few good aspects of this book are completely overshadowed by the false and frustrating information that fills the gaps.Just a few of the many inaccuracies we found:

-The book says money can be exchanged easily in banks.Of the many banks we went to and asked they all said that it is "very difficult" to exchange money in banks. (some do however).

-Prices for sleeping and eating were way off!!Restaurants that were one fork ended up being the most expensive (and in most cases had the worst food for the price).Some restaurants listed were not even there.

-At least one "typical dish" called Rondon that was listed in the book was not known by any locals.

-Maps were inaccurate.Addresses were wrong and locations on the maps were usually on the wrong streets.

-Bus information-There are no direct buses from Salento to Medellin.

We used the book for three weeks around Colombia.It was helpful, but I expected much more from a book published in 2009.

Posted on October 8, 2010

Francesca Deblanc says...

The old adage rings true- Never judge a book by its cover.This is the worst travel guide that I have ever bought. After travelling for 2 weeks in Colombia, I must say that i got increasingly frustrated with the guide that i eventually asked locals for information. Some problems with the books:

- Maps are really really BAD. Some attractions are listed wrong on the maps, and what's more, most of the maps are incomplete references of the city. Take Cartagena. The book only gives you the old city map, but not that of Bocagrande or other parts of the city. What is the use of listing sleeping, eating, and sites if you don't even know how to get there?

- Nothing in this book raises an eyebrow. Please.. there must be someway of deciphering which are the more popular attractions from the ordinary ones. The book always has this long drawl about this church and that plaza but never tells you what is appealing historical, culturally or perhaps even visually.

- NOT Helpful for finding convenience services. The book rattles on about all the Colombian banks in town. But do foreigners really want to go to a local bank? Wouldn't listing HSBC, Citibank and other global banks be a much more appropriate choices because the familarity of the banks, and possibly even having an account with them might help solve financial issues??!



Don't pinch the money and buy this book. Lonely Planet is way better value for its content.

Posted on October 9, 2010

Santo Michelena says...

I have just moved to Colombia and was really looking for something that would give me ,ore ideas of what to do around Bogota and surroundings as domestic flights are expensive for the whole family. Wish someone would write a book about more local travel within driving distance of Bogota.



I actually meant to buy the new Viva guide but somehow got them mixed up. It adds a few different things to the Lonely planet book and the Bradt guide, but they're all same same really. I don't like the small format, but if you're backpacking it may be an advantage. Info and numbers appear accurate.

Posted on October 11, 2010

Tanya Michitsch says...

I have used this guide in Colombia for more than a week and found it to be an absolute disaster.And I very much doubt the writer(s) actually visited many of the places they reviewed.



Problems so far:

-The majority of the web addresses listed for hotels are seriously outdated and non-functioning, this from a book which was published only a few months ago.Suspicious?

-No TransMilenio (Bogota Metro) map?What???

-Restaurants in the cheapest category turned out to be more than twice the price that was listed in the book, once again from a very recently-published book.Come on guys, you actually ate at these places?

-One of the restaurants listed in the Bogota section, in this brand new of brand new editions, has been closed for a long time.

-No section on culture and etiquatte

-There are dozens upon dozens of restaurants in Bogota's Zona T.You reviewed TWO???From where, their websites?

-The Bogota maps are a disaster.Why wouldn't they think to include a map of Chapinero, one of the most popular neighborhoods for tourists?

-A number of addresses for businesses listed in the book are incorrect.

-The symbols used to denote prices for hotels and restaurants are needlessly confusing (not to mention the fact that the prices themselves are inaccurate).



Unfortunately, we have only this and the Lonely Planet to choose from, written by someone who admittedly never visited Colombia.



Maybe the LP coming out in June will be better?

Posted on October 11, 2010

Laverne Ramroop says...

I was in Colombia for three months and used this guide continually.

Peter Pollock writes for a broad audience, but he excels in providing insightful caveats for the adventuresome and ecologically focused traveler.He has information on shipping motorcycles and automobiles to Columbia.He has an excellent section on health, and his 'Background' section is succinct and informative (History, Culture Etc.). He covers the normal tourist destinations and encourages exploration of places that 99% of visitors to Colombia would miss (Tayrona National Park, Ciudad Perdia, etc.).

His accommodations and dining recommendations are adequate, generally accurate, reliable but are becoming outdated.Luckily, although this guide has been out for three years, the prices for lodging in Colombia have stayed relatively stable and accurate and eight out of the ten hotels I selected to visit in Bogota were still open.

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT: A serious omission for this 2000 guide is the absence of hotel web pages and hotel email addresses.Electronic addresses have become a "must have" for any competitive guide book. A good hotel web page allows you to view the property, get current rates (and specials), view the
property and rooms and make an on-line reservations.This is a must for the next edition.

Good maps are essential in a guide.Bogota, Cartagena, Barranquilla, Cali and Medellin are sprawling cities that desperately need good maps. Bogota has four maps, but they are upside down!Normally maps are oriented with North at the top of the page, not so here, North is at the bottom and South at the top. I had a hell-of-a-time orienting myself, until I got my compass out and discovered this wacko lay out.

Also confusing arereferences to map numbers that don't exist. Pollard mentions a number, IE in the Bogota section, 'Hacienda Santa Barbra #3 on the map', but the publisher did not print the numbers on the map.His recommended sleeping locations are noted on the maps, but not restaurants. Needless to say, this is an important area that needs significant improvement.

The above shortcomings notwithstanding, you will not want to go to Colombia without this guide.I strongly Recommend it.

Posted on October 13, 2010

Bronwyn Fugle says...

I bought this book previous to my first vacation to Colombia to visit my wife's parents this year.This book is truly amazing because it explains the social and economic climate as well as providing detailed listings of destinations throughout the book, including small towns and remote destinations. Pollard's book does not ignore the fact that using common sense is important when visiting this beautiful country, but contrary to the US State Department warnings, he reminds us in his own words that this is indeed a wonderful country to visit and the people are as open and friendly as anywhere in the world. My friends and family who live in Colombia were truly impressed with the wealth of information presented in this book.The only criticism is that the book is now over three years old and some of the information regarding specific locales need updates.Overall, this may be the best travel book I have ever used.

Posted on October 13, 2010