Lonely Planet Mexico (Travel Guide) Paperback – October 17, 2023

Excellent

As others have pointed out, Lonely Planet isn't what it used to be. The book is clearly a slapdash rehash of the earlier version just so they could lazily churn out a book with a 2023/2024 date to entice people to buy a new volume. And worse yet, they seem to have cut out a lot of actually useful information while simultaneously keeping quite a bit of outdated information. Other reviewers point out these deficiencies in more detail. I echo their sentiments. It's sad but I ended up leaving this "guide" in my hotel room.I remember hearing one of the LP contributors describe some of the changes as the inevitable result of the internet, social media, and how rapidly information changes these days. But that to me seems like a facile excuse. Because I've found other guidebooks that ARE quite useful--for example, they go into greater detail about historical sites, include useful directions on how to get there and back from various points of interest, etc.Back in the day LP was the best and arguably the only publisher of valuable guides for the non-luxury travel set. I remember buying "Africa on a Shoestring" back in the late 80s and it was a lifesaver. Chock-full of useful, entertaining and most importantly ACCURATE information. You would see all the other non-wealthy travelers clutching their LP guide as if it were the Bible, because it was. It was written by a small cadre of authors who lived their experiences and translated them to the written page with a touch of humor and even irreverence at times. Almost all the pages of our guides were dogeared from having been read so many times-- hand-drawn maps that were more accurate than anything available. We felt part of a family of fellow travelers of modest means. I'd say this esprit de corps lasted until maybe the mid-2000s (at the latest). Things fell apart after that.Now it seems that LP pivoted to try to cover all bases and cater to all types of travelers -- luxury hotels costing $800 USD a night, Michelin-starred restaurants, expensive safaris and outings, etc., while haphazardly cramming in a few flea-traps. Not surprisingly, they failed. Miserably. On top of it all, they've lost their identity. Too many "writers" who contribute disjointed prose, which means the guide itself has no coherent style. At times it feels like a bunch of random sentences strung together -- a cut-and-paste job by numerous authors. A decent editor could perhaps salvage the end product, but the more I perused the guide, I think it's a lost cause and the editor(s) just gave up.I suppose all good things come to an end. With LP, and especially this Mexico guide, it's time to take them 'round the back of the barn and put 'em down mercifully. I believe it was Tony Wheeler who started LP, or at least was one of its earliest contributors. I was sad to read that Tony and his wife sold a majority of the company in 2007 to the devil, I mean, the BBC(!) -- again around the time it fell apart. They sold the remaining shares to BBC in 2011, and netted over $170 million. I don't begrudge them, but it's pretty sad that they preached and apparently lived a modest lifestyle with a light footprint and now they are filthy rich and hobnob with all the people they used to detest, even accepting a AO (Order of Australia) from HM The Queen.

LP guides used to contain so much really specific information about places to see, stay, eat, and things to do. I guess they've cut back on including information that could change so as to avoid the guides going our of date. Too bad. The utility of these guides has gone way down.

well written, lots of detail

Huge disappointment. Wish I had read the reviews before purchasing. Had a 2004 version that was much more detailed and thought it would be good to get an update. Instead all they have done apparently is eliminate most of the lodging and restaurant guides and significantly shorten the other entries. The maps are totally illegible.

I used to pore over the Lonely Planet Travel Guide. This new edition for travel in Mexico is worthless. Any touristy influencer's web page has more information. One of the great features of the old days was that the guide had a how-to-get-there section. There were bus lines, airlines, airports, car rental agencies, limo services--all listed with addresses, phone numbers, and details outlined for each destination. Now there is literally nothing about transportation that I could find. I guess they expect me to use my cell phone or tablet now, but the hard-copy books used to be great because all the information was handy in one, easy-to-access volume. The batteries never went dead, you never had to worry about cell phone access when you were wandering around Los Barrancas del Cobre as long as you had your trusty Lonely Planet. Now the Lonely Planet guide looks more like a fat, overly colorful brochure or a web page. It tried to compete with the internet when it should have just stayed the way it used to be--not a pretty display, but a real dog-eared book filled with useful data.

Great

Even though the pictures are pleasing, I already spotted some information that is outdated and that Lonely Planet could easily have checked for in this latest edition (published Sept 2023 and available for purchase in Oct 2023). For example, it mentioned Sin Nombre as a Oaxacan Slow Food Secret Spot in Mexico City. The restaurant closed two years ago in 2021. This makes me wonder how many other establishments included are already no longer in existence or are no longer good. Guidebook authors ought to do the actual legwork of visiting the restaurants or at least look them up online to see if they are still worth a mention. There were also some recommendations which, checking against TripAdvisor and yelp, are questionable. I also purchased the Moon Guide to Mexico City and I think that is a better guide, especially if you are going to visit mainly Mexico City and its vicinity only. I have, traditionally, preferred the Lonely Planet. Alas, not this time.