National Geographic Traveler: Costa Rica, 2d Ed. (National Geographic Traveler)

This book was like a first-rate advertisement that helped me figure out where I'd like to go in a foreign country.

The pages hold a variety of images from a magnificent beach and napping monkeys to a lush jungle, or smiling villagers. After perusing the photos, I went back to the ones that caught my attention the most and then I read the information on those places... And that was how a good portion of my trip was planned.

Does this book have good info? Yes

Does this book have magnificent photos to show you the potential of your destination? Yes

Would I use it as my singular guide? No

In my opinion National Geographic is geared slightly towards the adventure traveler, therefore I recommend supplementing this book with another guide such as Frommer's or Dummies.

Before my trip I was weighing the costs ($$$) of all the guidebooks and I almost put this one back in order to save a few bucks - but it really came through for me on the trip. When you don't know what a country has to offer, a visual guide is amazingly helpful. In retrospect it was definitely worth the cost because it's such a complement to the other guidebooks that are lacking in images.

I'm traveling to Costa Rica and I'm interested in well-rounded traveling advice; this book had some pretty pictures but fell short of the necessities for planning a trip. It explored cultural, political and economical conditions of Costa Rica but didn't provide the details pertaining to areas of interest, hotels, restaurants or local perspectives - all things I find valuable before and while traveling. For instance, I'm flying into Liberia and need to book a hotel. Chris' book had less than 2 pages ( factual revealing, but not practical) on the city, didn't provide maps, hotel reviews or relevant information for getting down and dirty or just around town. Sorry for the slam brother - stick to the shutter.

This book is very beautiful, the pictures are all in color and amazing. But, if you want to truly use this book as a travel reference while on the road you're going to have a hard time. There is no index in this book...I just can't understand why. I was so frustrated when trying to find information that I bought a far superior Frommer's and I no longer reference the N.G. book. But again, the pictures sure are pretty.

I read this book cover to cover before my first trip to Costa Rica and had highlighted a number of places I intended to visit. This book was EXTREMELY helpful in giving an accurate description of geographic regions, landmarks, customs, and general travel information. It made my trip much easier knowing what to expect. In addition, after returning, it was fun to compare the photos in the book to the ones I had taken. The beautiful photos in the book were not just "travel" photos to entice you to visit, but accurate photos of how beautiful and incredible Costa Rica is!