Lonely Planet Chile & Easter Island (Travel Guide) Paperback – October 1, 2012

This is a fine guidebook for Chile. It's not as physically large as some guidebooks, but the font size, accordingly, is a bit small.

Maybe I just dont know how to use it but when I am trying to plan and with a book I would flick through, the fact that there are no page nos I cant always get back to the section I wanted. I cant go forwards and backwards easily from accomodation to map and back for instance. So I bookmark them but then the page is labelled with the top words and the section is half way down the page and you wouldnt ever find it by the way it is labelled in the bookmark! I needed an index or better list of contents and some good way of knowing where I am so I can find it again easily. And maybe I need lessons on bookmarks? Can you write your own title for the bookmark? But will be lighter to carry around altho wont be getting my ipad out on the streets of Valparaiso to look at the info!

Great book. Well written. I used this to plan a trip in lake/volcano district surrounding Puerto Varas and Chiloe. I used it quite a bit as a reference of sights to see and also as a historical reference. The funny thing is, I got to meet one of the authors, Kevin Raub. He happened to be in our small group to go Kayak the Reloncavi Fjord. In the van, I pulled out the book to comment on something and he's all, "oh yeah, I wrote that section."

This book gives you great ideas to plan your trip. Overall it's pretty accurate, although not the most updated with hotel/B&B/winery locations. Use this as one of the tools to use to plan your trip. I would recommend using online hotel booking sites for most up to date and frankly better recommendations that the book gives. I caution you to travel with a detailed map of each area and the country overall as the maps in this book are minimal and the directions aren't always clear or straightforward. Our GPS was unreliable in Chile and you may not always have service so you will need to travel with a detailed map that you buy ahead of time. The maps made in country aren't detailed, lacking road names and directions.

I'm Chilean and bought the book as I was travelling to the south where I've never been before. The book is very useful but it still misses a lot of information. It is good how it narrates things that happened and not only what you can find right now. Some things are outdated as it is not really an updated 2012 edition, but rather a reprint. So food and hostel prices might be different as well as buses and boats fares and schedules.I traveled with another guide that you can buy in almost any Copec gas station and this lonely planet seemed to be a good companion, as it focuses more on hostels and food. But if you prefer to know more about what there is to visit, the Copec Chiletur guide is a better option for the same price.

I've traveled all over the world, and years ago I considered Lonely Planet the very best for those traveling "off the beaten path." I'm sorry to say that this book is the worst LP book I've ever read. The information it gives is no better than reading a web site: no personalized details, no invaluable advice, no descriptions that would help you choose one hotel over another, one attraction over another, etc.I'm going to Chile and Easter Island in three weeks and I've gotten very little helpful information from this guide. For example: I want to know the best way to see Easter Island... car, horse, foot, bike, or motorbike. This book simply states that these are the ways to explore Easter Island, but doesn't recommend which might be better for whomever for whatever reasons. The most it does is to say that if you rent a bike, be prepared for some steep hills and twisty roads. Another example: I want to take buses from Santiago to a couple of different places. The book just gives a confusing list of bus stations and the bus companies, with some examples of where they go, but makes no recommendations on which is best to use. This is information I can get from a brochure. I was also trying to find out a way to get a less expensive fare to Easter Island. In the old days, I could count on an LP guide to tell me the best and absolutely cheapest way to travel. This book just lists LAN with its web site info. I found better advice going to the LP forums. I also found better hotel info on Booking.com.In my opinion, the value of a good travel guide is personal recommendations from people who have traveled to the place, particularly those traveling off the beaten path. In the old days, LP guides gave really great advice, personalized recommendations, on the best places to stay, out-of-the-way places to eat and visit. This is the first LP book I've bought in about 15 years. I hope they're all not like this now.

Having used LP guides for other countries we had visited I was expecting the same standard from this book. I was disappointed. Have the LP team even been to Chile? This book is full of errors both in the writing and on the maps things are in the wrong place so you can turn up where it is supposed to be and it won't be there. Our most recent, but not only, experience of this was of a museum we wanted to visit so we followed the map to where LP indicated it would be to find it not there. Research later found it to be TEN BLOCKS future away. This is unacceptably bad for a travel guide. My advice save your money.

I may be being a bit harsh but I am a huge fan of the Lonely Planets and have a whole shelf full. However this LP edition is Okay but not brilliant because somehow it did not seem to have enough of the right information at the right time. The best thing about LPs is their ability to point you at the things to see and do very quickly and easily. At their best they help you find the little gems you would not have found otherwise. This had the basics but did not lead us to the gems (it may however just have been luck we were on a short touring holiday).

Very useful guide to planning and carrying out visit to Chile.Well structured for easy access to infoGood detail on places to see, stay, eat at travel etcI had one problem with a map which showed a museum n the wrong place but this should not deter you!

A good starting point for research. Cons.... A little too vague about inland chile like travelling in to the national parks etc and Patagonia. Tends to make ambiguous remarks about chile in winter too. You will nee to do additional research.

usual Lonely Planet standardPacked with lots of useful information and helpful tipsIdeal for all travellers to use before & during a trip.