A pocket guide to the country. Footprint concentrates on the more popular tourist destinations providing recommended itineraries, hotels, restaurants and practical advice for travellers.
A guide to customs and etiquette for anyone wishing to go beyond the information offered by the more practical guides and avoid any embarassing cultural faux pas!
In this case, the Rough Guide is actually less detailed than the Lonely Planet equivalent. However, there is more well-written background information on the history and culture.
The most reliable guides to Latin America, Footprint provide a good mix of practical, cultural and historical information for the traveller on any budget. This guide provides approximately 100 to 140 pages on each country, a perfect for your suitcase, if you are moving between the three.
This is the best guide to Panama with the right mix of practical information and in-depth cultural and historical background, for the traveller on any budget.
A vibrant guide filled with colour photographs, illustrations and maps, with a strong section on history, culture and, as to be expected, flora and fauna. The limited practical information and hotel listings are in the back, so probably less useful for the backpacker or traveller on a budget.
A good practical guide to Panama for the traveller on a budget, lacks information on culture and history, but includes useful travel logistics and hotel listings.
A guide for the more affluent tourist, it includes many photographs of the most comfortable islands. The hotel and restaurant recommendations are excellent.
A good comprehensive guide to the Caribbean Islands, including itineraries for each island and plenty of transportation information but not very many maps.
A splendid, hefty volume that covers all regions in good practical detail, all the while weaving in interesting reading material. Colour photographs and maps are in short supply, however.
Covering the length and breadth of the Caribbean with great enthusiasm and inside knowledge, this is a comprehensive budget-oriented guide for those seeking to island-hop for long stretches.
This colourful volume, packed with photographs and simple maps, covers the smaller islands, beginning at the Virgin Islands and travelling clockwise, so to speak. Introductions to each place are informative, and sightseeing recommendations thoughtful. Practicalites of travel are saved for a small section at the back.
A well-presented, simple and colourful American guide that suggests the best ways to spend your time on each island without troubling itself particularly with the practicalities. Within its self-imposed limitations this remains excellent. Excludes Cuba, Haitia and the Bahamas.
A weighty volume full of well-composed introductory chapters and beautiful colour photographs. Ample sightseeing and touring tips are provided, though practical travel details are perhaps lacking.
Richly illustrated and filled with inspiration for your trip, this substantial volume also suggests hotels and restaurants and offers basic travel advice. Best for historical sites and museums.
Condenses the full Cuba Eyewitness into 10 of the very best beaches, festivals, revolutionary sites, nature reserves, music venues, and so on. Includes good pull-out map.
A comprehensive budget travel guide covering all regions and elements ably and in a lively style. Perhaps in need of an update given the rapidity of change in contemporary Cuba.
Consistently readable and reliable, Footprint Guides are a great alternative to the better known guidebooks. This volume covers all budgets and aspects with insight and verve.
A fantastic all-round guide with good contextual reading supporting exhaustive practical information. Maps are decent on the whole, though colour photography is sparse. We found this to be the volume that comes closest to covering adequately the difficulties of exhanging and obtaining currency currently prevalent on the island.