redconley

What travel books for Costa Rica are most recommended; Fodors, Lonely Planet, etc?

shillmac

A lot of people like Moon Handbook (Chris Baker) or Lonely Planet. Fodor's is okay (and you will see some familiar names in there!), but most have said they didn't find it as helpful as some of the others.

You might also consider the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide for Costa Rica.

Pat_Hewitt

The Lonely Planet just changed authors in the last couple of years. I don't know why, I thought the first guy was pretty good. But if I read the bio of the new author correctly, she stated that this was her first international trip? This didn't sound quite right.

I have always liked the New Key to Costa Rica, and the Moon Handbook. Actually had a chance to meet Chris at a tourism convention last year. Interesting guy.

Hope this helps! Let me know if I can offer more advice.

Warm Regards,
Pat Hewitt
(Travel professional)

dariow

I have read Fodors and Lonely Planet.

The truth is that I have learned more from posts here than I did from either of those publications.

volcanogirl

We really like Costa Rica for Dummies. What does that say about us? We also use tripadvisor.com when we're checking out hotels.

allison04

I like Lonely Planet and Frommer's, but I think I have the 2004 editions.

Otis_B_Driftwood

Fodors and Frommers are good books for finding accomodations and dining but for doing things, our favorite was The National Geographic Traveler guide to Costa Rica. It's by Christopher Baker who also does the Moon Handbook.

National Geographic also has a fine map which we used during our trip. Both are available through amazon.com.

Another good one is the Footprint guide but it hasn't been updated since 2005.

netta7

We have just about every guidebook checked out from the library right now. The Moon book is good but a bit dated. The new edition is due out soon I think. We have enjoyed Explore Costa Rica by Harry Pariser. It's very detailed and the latest edition was published in the last 6 months.