Lonely Planet Belize

Adventures in the wild blue underwater await off Belize's coast, while myriad wildlife-viewing opportunities lurk inland. This detailed guide leads you to it all, including ancient Mayan ruins, jungle lodges on the forefront of ecotourism and beaches, bars and resorts where you can just kick back and relax.

• details on barrier-reef dive sites, world-renowned for their beauty, visibility and variety
• coverage of archaeological sites, including Lamanai, Caracol and Guatemala's Tikal
• where to stay and eat, from charming grass shacks to luxury lodges
• 32 detailed, user-friendly maps

I spent most of my time in and around the Mayan ruins, so I didn't need the Cayes' chapters much... the background information the book provides on the Mayan ruins at Xunantunich, Caracol, Cahal Pech and others was good enough to get me started... the rest I found once at the sites from the tourist booths... I also appreciated the fact that the last chapter of this book gives info on Tikal in Guatemala... The ride from the border into Guatemala and on to Tikal was just as the book described... dusty and bumpy and lonely! It does warn of the dangers in and around the Tikal area, but I found these spots to be safe and friendly. Overall, a good guide book with lot's of maps!


For those traveling to Placencia   April 1, 2003
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

For those people planning on traveling to the southern parts of Belize, be forewarned that the Lonely Planet guidebook has not been updated since the hurricane destroyed much of Placencia a year and a half ago.

We stayed in Placencia for a week using the Lonely Planet guide, and some of the restaurants and accommidations listed no longer exist. The places that do still exist have been totally rebuilt since the reviews were written.

Finally, the activities listings were generally accurate but the reccommended guides no longer offered the services described in the book. We went out of our way to find the reccommended guide only to discover he no longer gave tours!


Most updated, cultural   May 13, 2003
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

We used this and while, yes, last year's hurricane did make some of the information less relevant, this was still the most up-to-date guide in our party. I particularly enjoyed the cultural focus, which is really why I travel, anyway.

The book is colorful, contains lots of interesting details, and was actually easier to read than some of the others we had. I had no trouble with the hotel listings.


Good overview of Belize   September 20, 2004
Amber
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I thought this book was very helpful...my sister and I traveled throughout the country (with the exception of Placencia and the southern part of Belize) and over to Tikal, Guatemala and the info was pretty accurate. For a boat trip to Lamanai, the pricing was actually cheaper than what was listed in the book, and other prices were fairly consistent despite the book being a couple years old. The best advice if you are thinking about staying somewhere that is listed in the book is to check out the website (which is one of the best features of the book....many others I looked at did not include website information) and see pictures for yourself. If a website is not listed, it is often because it is new - I did a google search and was able to find a website or info for every place we stayed in Belize. We stayed at four different places during our week stay, all listed in Lonely Planet, and I was happy with each one. Another big plus to this book (particularly for me) was the info on precautions to take, and the full page warning on the botfly. A couple weeks after returning and after several doctors misdiagnosing it, I had a botfly larvae in my head, and it was something I read about in LP that I alerted the doctors about. It took a week and a hospital stay until I could find someone who would believe me, but I can't imagine how long it would have taken if I hadn't had this info beforehand! I was very happy overall with this guidebook and despite the botfly, would return to Belize again.