Lonely Planet Panama (Country Guide)

 (23 customer reviews)

I purchased the previous edition of the Panama Guide from the Lonely Planet a few years ago when I started to become a frequent visitor to Panama. That older edition offered alot of helpful information and I used it frequently.

Due to the rapid changes in Panama - i thought I needed to purchase an updated version to reflect the new hotels and rates and things to do . . . .

whoever allowed this latest edition to be published should just be ashamed. Panama has been growing and changing at an alarming rate over the last few years. This recent guide does little to reflect new places to stay, things to do and current rates. i got the impression that whoever revised it - did not even step foot in Panama, or if they did, did not spend much time there. did they just put a new cover on the old material?

Anyway - I was really disappointed and will not even give it away to friends who are visiting Panama because the information is lacking so much of what could...Read more

This guidebook is a baffling mixture of recommendations that are dead-on and those that make you wonder "What was he thinking?" I also could have done without the author's insertion of his own political and social opinions. A travel guidebook is hardly the place for value judgements.

Would I recommend buying this book for an upcoming trip to Panama? Yes. It has a lot of good information and, as I said, some excellent recommendations. That is why I decided in the end to rate the book 4 stars instead of the 3 that I initially planned. But, I would definitely advise the user to supplement the book with other information, especially recommendations from local residents or people who have visited the country previously.

I live in Panama and have bought each of the Lonely Planet Panama books as they have come out. This edition seems to have less information than the last one. In my town, Volcán, there are about 10 places to sleep; six were listed in the previous edition, but just one in this book - and the one shown is an odd, out-of-the-way place offering large cabins for extended families.

I wonder if I can trust Lonely Planet to give me the information I've come to trust them for. I will look at other guides more carefully as options to LP for my other travels.