Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I recently returned from a 16-day trip to Peru. Before I left, I was delighted to see that Lonely Planet had a new edition of their Peru guidebook, as I frequently use their guides for my travel. This one was strongly disappointing. Although there were some good tips, much of the information was inaccurate or misleading at best. My trip involved travel to a rural area of the North Coast (not covered in the guidebook, which was completely expected and understandable; I was visiting my sister who volunteers there), Trujillo/Huanchaco, Lima, and Cusco/Sacred Valley. The overviews and basic information about each region were helpful. I enjoyed the self-guided tour of Lima's historical center, information about the Ollantaytambo ruins, and rough guidelines about taxi/transportation fares. Some of the most glaring inaccuracies and disappointments are as follows: 1) The book says tickets to Machu Picchu cannot be purchased online and must be done through a separate travel agency. Our entire travel group of nine people purchased tickets online before we left. The website is in Spanish, but it's easy to follow. As Machu Picchu is a must-see for many travelers, this erroneous information is highly surprising. 2) Buses to Machu Picchu from Aguas Calientes have nearly doubled from what was written in the guidebook. For a supposedly "updated" guidebook, I find it hard to believe that they weren't at least in a rough ballpark on this figure. 3) The Lima Cathedral is not free as mentioned in the guidebook (which says only the museum costs money). It costs 10 soles for entrance and has for a while, according to the worker I asked. 4) Numerous prices for entrance tickets, meals, etc. have changed drastically from what is listed in the guidebook. Some price fluctuation is understandable, but many of the prices were unbelievably different than listed. 5) The guidebook recommends procuring a guide for the Cusco Cathedral. However, a comprehensive audioguide is available for free with an entrance ticket. At least mentioning this would be helpful for budget travelers. 6) The Spanish phrasebook at the end is very skimpy. I would expand this section somewhat to include more relevant phrases for travelers. And I certainly recommend that non-Spanish speakers bring a separate Spanish-English phrase book or dictionary; this is not going to get you very far. 7) The restaurant recommendations were heavily skewed toward non-Peruvian cuisine in establishments run by expats. I understand that after traveling for a while, you might get a hankering for some Chinese food or Italian cuisine. However, the restaurant recommendations (sections for Cusco, Lima, and Huanchaco were especially guilty of this) had just a few Peruvian options scattered among American-style cafes, Chinese joints, and pizzerias. Perhaps this is my own personal prejudice, but I didn't travel to Peru for a "concoct-your-own-pizza" experience (Huanchaco) or "huevos rancheros to target the gringo palate" (Ollantaytambo). Tell me where to get some fantastic ceviche or the best aji de gallina. I found the Moon Peru (Moon Handbooks) book to be much more helpful with restaurant recommendations. 8) I found the accommodations recommendations to be almost completely unhelpful. Lonely Planet seems to have lost its roots as a budget-minded travel guide in this regard. I ended up using TripAdviser and HostelWorld reviews for all of my accommodations bookings. I should also note that I do not envy anyone who writes guidebooks for South American countries, as prices, hours, and regulations change regularly. I understand how difficult it must be to keep this type of guidebook up-to-date. However, the gross inaccuracies for a supposedly "new" guidebook were unacceptable. From reviews I have read, past editions have been disappointing as well. Lonely Planet needs to start from scratch and completely rehaul this guide. Overall, the Lonely Planet Peru guidebook is disappointing and full of inaccuracies. However, I didn't find any alternative guidebooks that completely met my needs. Combined with Moon Peru (Moon Handbooks), this was adequate for my trip. My brother and sister-in-law, who also traveled with us, had some success with The Rough Guide to Peru but also found it inaccurate in many ways. Unfortunately, you'll probably have to cobble together information from two or three books (plus other online sources) to get the information you need for a fantastic trip to Peru.