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Books : Footprint Nicaragua (Nicaragua Guidebook) (Nicaragua Travel Guide)
Rating: 
- good way to get lost
Having just gone to Nicaragua, and relying solely on this book, I would recommend any other book, but don't confuse the trip with this one. The maps in this book are useless. Luckily we were able to pick up a Lonely Planet book, or we would have never found anything in Managua. Their Hotel rating system is nonsense, and I wonder if they just drove by and guessed at the quality of the accomodations. We looked at every room before we booked. We were shocked at the lack of information contained in the book. Actually, I got the impression they might have just called the hotel and asked them to describe it themselves. Here is a piece of advice for them. When putting a street map in your book, of a city that has no posted street names or house numbers, it is important to place the landmarks on your map, and actually include all the streets. The maps in this book would actually cause you to get lost if you treat them as accurate. I have traveled extensively, and know well how to use a map, but the map must be accurate. Having a guide book that will get you lost in a place like Managua, well, it could be dangerous.
Get a serious book, not this one.
Rating:
- Required for a trip to Nicaragua
This was an excellent book!!! Went on our first trip to Nicaragua and this book was invaluable!!! It is so well written that we read it cover to cover and is organized in such a manner as to make it very easy to find what you're looking for. Would highly recommend it!!!
Rating: - Best Guidebook I've Read
This is easily the most entertaining guidebook I've ever read. I found myself reading entire paragraphs or descriptions out loud to my fiance. The problem with most guidebooks is that they're incredibly boring to read and often leave out the most useful information. This book is the exception! Leonardi tells you exactly what you most need or want to know--such as how quickly you'll want to get out of a particular town you can't avoid passing through, at which hotel you might want to keep your shoes on when walking across the floor at night (yikes), or which local hotel offers the best boat rentals. This book is incredibly useful and a real page-turner--I actually read it almost cover-to-cover.
Rating:
- This is a very impressive guide which I strongly recommend.
I used this guide during my three weeks in Nicaragua and enjoyed Leonardi's informative writing style. This handbook is more exhaustive, and more up to date, than "Footprint's Central America & Mexico Handbook".
This handbook's recommendations for accommodations/restaurants are right on the money and valuable. This guide is up-to-date and I found his recommendations to always be valid. In fact, his is one of the few guides that will tell you, candidly, no punches pulled, what he thinks: very good seafood, bad paella", "attentive service, mediocre food".
Richard Leonardi's writing is succinct and unencumbered by the superfluous. He gives you a solid mental picture, within a paragraph or two, of what to expect and how you can enjoy it.
I really enjoyed his "Further Reading & Cinema" and the history, economic, culture and environment sections are sufficient, but I would encourage you to also take with you the excellent book, "In Focus Nicaragua" (see my review).
Frustrating, and found in all Footprint guides, is the cost guide they use for accommodations. Instead of just stating what the price per room is, in dollars, they complicate it and give you a code table that you will often have to flip back and consult to remember what the cost represents. For example, a hotel that is LL=$150+, A=$46-$65. There is a better way than codes.
Leonardi mentions safety in his introduction to Nicaragua, but I found no mention of the rising problems with crime and gangs in Managua (Capital of Nicaragua). For the past few years... the area around `La Catedral Vieja' has become dangerous, an area for violent crime. In fact, when I asked to go to this area in the daytime, the taxi drivers told me be careful, using the words: "peligroso, peligroso". While I at the Old Cathedral's I talked with the resident shoe-shine man, and he also told me that this area was now very dangerous at night. He said he leaves every day at 5pm because, "me gusto mi vida."
That said, this is a very impressive guide which I strongly recommend. For those going to various Central American countries I would recommend "Footprint's Central America & Mexico Handbook". Strongly Recommended 4.5 stars
Rating: - Best Guide Book Choice
I traveled to Nicaragua with a friend and we each brought different guide books. I brought the Footprint guide and I was very, very happy that I did. The historical and cultural information was much more complete in this book. It had city maps and included places and information that other books did not.
Perhaps the most telling recommendation that I could give doesn't come from me. I took Spanish classes at a school (Casa Xalteva) in Granada, Nicaragua. The school had a number of guide books available for students to flip through, but the one they recommended was the Footprint guide!
- good way to get lostHaving just gone to Nicaragua, and relying solely on this book, I would recommend any other book, but don't confuse the trip with this one. The maps in this book are useless. Luckily we were able to pick up a Lonely Planet book, or we would have never found anything in Managua. Their Hotel rating system is nonsense, and I wonder if they just drove by and guessed at the quality of the accomodations. We looked at every room before we booked. We were shocked at the lack of information contained in the book. Actually, I got the impression they might have just called the hotel and asked them to describe it themselves. Here is a piece of advice for them. When putting a street map in your book, of a city that has no posted street names or house numbers, it is important to place the landmarks on your map, and actually include all the streets. The maps in this book would actually cause you to get lost if you treat them as accurate. I have traveled extensively, and know well how to use a map, but the map must be accurate. Having a guide book that will get you lost in a place like Managua, well, it could be dangerous.
Get a serious book, not this one.
Rating:
- Required for a trip to NicaraguaThis was an excellent book!!! Went on our first trip to Nicaragua and this book was invaluable!!! It is so well written that we read it cover to cover and is organized in such a manner as to make it very easy to find what you're looking for. Would highly recommend it!!!
Rating:
- Best Guidebook I've ReadThis is easily the most entertaining guidebook I've ever read. I found myself reading entire paragraphs or descriptions out loud to my fiance. The problem with most guidebooks is that they're incredibly boring to read and often leave out the most useful information. This book is the exception! Leonardi tells you exactly what you most need or want to know--such as how quickly you'll want to get out of a particular town you can't avoid passing through, at which hotel you might want to keep your shoes on when walking across the floor at night (yikes), or which local hotel offers the best boat rentals. This book is incredibly useful and a real page-turner--I actually read it almost cover-to-cover.
Rating:
- This is a very impressive guide which I strongly recommend.I used this guide during my three weeks in Nicaragua and enjoyed Leonardi's informative writing style. This handbook is more exhaustive, and more up to date, than "Footprint's Central America & Mexico Handbook".
This handbook's recommendations for accommodations/restaurants are right on the money and valuable. This guide is up-to-date and I found his recommendations to always be valid. In fact, his is one of the few guides that will tell you, candidly, no punches pulled, what he thinks: very good seafood, bad paella", "attentive service, mediocre food".
Richard Leonardi's writing is succinct and unencumbered by the superfluous. He gives you a solid mental picture, within a paragraph or two, of what to expect and how you can enjoy it.
I really enjoyed his "Further Reading & Cinema" and the history, economic, culture and environment sections are sufficient, but I would encourage you to also take with you the excellent book, "In Focus Nicaragua" (see my review).
Frustrating, and found in all Footprint guides, is the cost guide they use for accommodations. Instead of just stating what the price per room is, in dollars, they complicate it and give you a code table that you will often have to flip back and consult to remember what the cost represents. For example, a hotel that is LL=$150+, A=$46-$65. There is a better way than codes.
Leonardi mentions safety in his introduction to Nicaragua, but I found no mention of the rising problems with crime and gangs in Managua (Capital of Nicaragua). For the past few years... the area around `La Catedral Vieja' has become dangerous, an area for violent crime. In fact, when I asked to go to this area in the daytime, the taxi drivers told me be careful, using the words: "peligroso, peligroso". While I at the Old Cathedral's I talked with the resident shoe-shine man, and he also told me that this area was now very dangerous at night. He said he leaves every day at 5pm because, "me gusto mi vida."
That said, this is a very impressive guide which I strongly recommend. For those going to various Central American countries I would recommend "Footprint's Central America & Mexico Handbook". Strongly Recommended 4.5 stars
Rating:
- Best Guide Book ChoiceI traveled to Nicaragua with a friend and we each brought different guide books. I brought the Footprint guide and I was very, very happy that I did. The historical and cultural information was much more complete in this book. It had city maps and included places and information that other books did not.
Perhaps the most telling recommendation that I could give doesn't come from me. I took Spanish classes at a school (Casa Xalteva) in Granada, Nicaragua. The school had a number of guide books available for students to flip through, but the one they recommended was the Footprint guide!