Travel, live, and retire in Mexico!

with
Rosana Hart

Books and CDs about Mexico: Reviews and Recommendations

In this section of the site, you can read my reviews of books, tapes, CDs, etc., on Mexico that I recommend. Most of them I use myself. The links here take you to my reviews and those pages also have links to the books at Amazon or other places.

Reviews of guidebooks on Mexico:

Lonely Planet Mexico The one guidebook most travelers have.

Frommer's Mexico Best for the more popular destinations, and very good for those.

Rough Guide to Mexico Kind of an alternative to Lonely Planet.

Traveler's Guide to Mexican Camping Essential for RVers and campers.

Guia Roji The best maps of Mexico, essential if you are driving.

In this section, I would go with the crowd and vote Lonely Planet Mexico as my top pick overall... But if you are just going to some of the more popular cities (and they are listed in my review), then I favor Frommer's. The Rough Guide I like as an add-on. All three of them weigh about the same (I didn't put them on a scale, just picked them up one after the other.)

Don't expect prices to be completely up-to-date in any guidebook, and you will run into a lot of errors in any guidebook... there are just so many facts that some errors will inevitably creep in.

RVers absolutely need the Traveler's Guide to Mexican Camping, and anyone driving will be glad to have the Guia Roji.

If you happen to be a AAA member anyway, you can get their Mexican map and guidebook at no cost, but I wouldn't rely just on them.

General Books on Mexico Reviewed:

The People's Guide to Mexico Would we have adventured so much in Mexico without this ever-updated classic?

Head for Mexico Lots of information for people thinking of living in Mexico.

Choose Mexico Very persuasive on why (and where) to live in Mexico.

Live Better South of the Border in Mexico Another old Mexico hand explains why.

Adapter Kit Mexico Much like the previous two.

Inside Mexico Explains many customs of Mexicans, to help you understand the culture better.

The Hungry Traveler: Mexico Lots of fascinating information in a pocket-sized book

Within this section, my favorite is hands-down The People's Guide. Next, it's a tie between Head for Mexico and Choose Mexico.

Books, CDs, and Gadgets to help you learn Spanish

I've moved this list to its own page on learning Spanish.

Our Hartworks Publications on Mexico and Spanish

We've produced two videos in Mexico, and I wrote the book that began this site. These links take you to our original website, hartworks.com, where the products are described and can be ordered. (Like just about all the links that take you away from this site, they open in a new window.)

Mexican Pizza: Lively Conversations in Spanish A video that we produced with university students in Guanajuato, for learning Spanish, intermediate to advanced level.

Student Life in Mexico A short video we produced for children, which adults enjoy too. It gives a sense of what it's like to be a grade-school student in Mexico, and was shot in Guadalajara, Guanajuato, and rural areas.

Mexico with Heart: Travel Tales, Photos, and How-to Guide I wrote this book in 2003, and you can read the full text online here at this site, starting the book here. It's out of print at present, except for being on the pages of this site. You are welcome to print yourself a copy if you wish, from the webpages.

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