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Rating: 
Summary: BUY this book!
Review: Having what I referred to as my "Blue book" I traveled from Lima to Paracas to Nasca to Cuzco to Machu Picchu to Lake Titicaca and Ariquipa. This book was HEAVEN SENT. We never had to worry about which restaurant to eat in or which hotel would be clean.We are already planning the next trip which will include Iquitos and Machu Picchu again! I won't need any other books. I have my "blue book!" Thank You!
Rating:
Summary: BUY this book!
Review: Having what I referred to as my "Blue book" I traveled from Lima to Paracas to Nasca to Cuzco to Machu Picchu to Lake Titicaca and Ariquipa. This book was HEAVEN SENT. We never had to worry about which restaurant to eat in or which hotel would be clean. We are already planning the next trip which will include Iquitos and Machu Picchu again! I won't need any other books. I have my "blue book!" Thank You!
Rating:
Summary: BUY this book!
Review: Having what I referred to as my "Blue book" I traveled from Lima to Paracas to Nasca to Cuzco to Machu Picchu to Lake Titicaca and Ariquipa. This book was HEAVEN SENT. We never had to worry about which restaurant to eat in or which hotel would be clean. We are already planning the next trip which will include Iquitos and Machu Picchu again! I won't need any other books. I have my "blue book!" Thank You!
Rating: 
Summary: Useless
Review: I just returned from 2 weeks in Peru using this book and it was terrible, way below the standard of other Rough Guides. Here are the main problems: Out-of-Date Listings - This book may have been reissued in August 2000, but it has not been comprehensively updated. Many of the listed restaurants and hotels no longer exist, which was very frustrating and time-wasting. Moreover, many good establishments that should have been in the book were missing (e.g. Inka Cafe, the best restaurant among the limited number available on the Plaza de Armas in Cusco). Bad Organization - The city sections are organized as though you were doing a walking tour of each city. It tells you what's in neighborhood A, then in neighborhood B, etc., even if there's really nothing worthwhile to see in neighborhood A or B. This is stupid, because nobody travels that way. What it means is that you have to read the entire city section, wading through a lot of useless info along the way, to figure out what to do. Poor Recommendations - Most travellers have limited time. A good guidebook helps them manage their time by recommending sites to see or to avoid. Unfortunately, this book seems too afraid to have an opinion, except on the most obvious things (e.g. you should visit Machu Picchu). I searched in vain for a list of the best things to do in Peru, or in any of the cities I visited. The book just doesn't help you plan. The only caveat to the above comments is that I'm not sure any other guidebook does any better than the Rough Guide. One of these days, someone will write a guidebook that tells travellers what they really want to know -- namely, where should I go, and how can I best understand the places that I visit? Until then, we're forced to rely on subpar offerings like this one that promise a lot more than they deliver.
Rating: 
Summary: Brand new edition already outdated
Review: I used the third edition of this book on a trip two weeks after it was published. But I found that much of the information was less reliable and up-to-date than in the Frommer's guide, which is about a year older. Examples: the information on Perurail never mentioned the fact that it is now owned by Orient Express, and is mostly a luxury service with changed schedules, increased prices, and some discontinued lines. And in Ollantaytambo (not a town with a lot of hotels to choose from) this guide didn't mention the three-year old Hotel Pakaritampu, whereas Frommer's correctly identified it as the nicest hotel in town. The reviews of other hotels and restaurants also turned out to be less reliable and useful than Frommer's. This guide does have much good background information on Peru's history and people, and has good maps of the cities. We ended up using this book mostly for background reading and used the Frommer's guide more for practical information.
Rating: 
Summary: 450 pgs, B&W, no pictures but good info & maps
Review: soft cover, 8x5", approx 450 pages. Standard tourist info, generally organized by region. A few B&W maps of regions, city centers, and archeological sites. Virtually no pictures of any kind. I view it as one resource to help fill in the details. I'd take Peru Handbook by Alan Murphy with me for as a reference, leave this one at home. If you're spending the money to go to Peru, I'd buy this and the other 3 mentioned below. If you're just armchair travelling, Lonely Planet Peru at least has good pictures, and text info to match this book. I had no use for references for food & lodging, was on an organized tour. also reviewed: Peru Handbook by Alan Murphy; Lonely Planet Peru & Insight guides Peru.
Rating:
Summary: Impressive - A Very Good Guide
Review: This is a very good guide. After using it for one month in Peru, I was impressed by the solid and pertinent information that this guide supplied. The guide has three sections: "The Basics," "The Guide" and "The Context." "The Basic" section, which was solid and concise, provides all of the primary travel information that you will need before traveling. "The Guide" section breaks Peru down into six major regions. Each region is extremely well laid out and the standard information for each town or city (accommodations, eating places, sites to see, etc.) is accurate and reliable. "The Context" section is good reading - it handles history, Inca life, music, books, ecology, indigenous rights and the destruction of the rain forest. Good Guides should have good maps and lots of them. Peru: The Rough Guide does not disappoint - 59 well-drawn maps give you a solid initial orientation. Outstanding are the multiple sidebars chocked full of meaningful - and practical - information about all aspects of the culture you're visiting, which is the hallmark of Rough Guides. Not helpful was the accommodation pricing codes, 1-8 each representing a price range. More useful is the price grouping used for restaurants: Budget, Moderate and Expensive. Overall, you can't go wrong with this top drawer guide. Highly Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Impressive - A Very Good Guide
Review: This is a very good guide. After using it for one month in Peru, I was impressed by the solid and pertinent information that this guide supplied. The guide has three sections: "The Basics," "The Guide" and "The Context." "The Basic" section, which was solid and concise, provides all of the primary travel information that you will need before traveling. "The Guide" section breaks Peru down into six major regions. Each region is extremely well laid out and the standard information for each town or city (accommodations, eating places, sites to see, etc.) is accurate and reliable. "The Context" section is good reading - it handles history, Inca life, music, books, ecology, indigenous rights and the destruction of the rain forest. Good Guides should have good maps and lots of them. Peru: The Rough Guide does not disappoint - 59 well-drawn maps give you a solid initial orientation. Outstanding are the multiple sidebars chocked full of meaningful - and practical - information about all aspects of the culture you're visiting, which is the hallmark of Rough Guides. Not helpful was the accommodation pricing codes, 1-8 each representing a price range. More useful is the price grouping used for restaurants: Budget, Moderate and Expensive. Overall, you can't go wrong with this top drawer guide. Highly Recommended.
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