Guides - Insight Guides Central America

How To Use This E-Book

Getting around the e-book

This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Central America, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editors Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Central America. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights in Central America are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

Youll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Central America. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

About Insight Guides

Insight Guides have more than 40 years experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.

Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

2017 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Central Americas Top 10 Attractions

From Mayan ruins and colonial towns to rainforests and the Meso American reef, discover Central Americas top attractions.

Top Attraction 1

The Riviera Maya. From Cancuns resort lined hotel strip to Tulums eco-chic vibe, some of the worlds finest, softest white-sand beaches are found here, providing the setting for Mexicos biggest tourist region. For more information, .

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Top Attraction 2

Chichn Itz. Declared one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, this great Maya city is intensely dramatic in both style and scale. For more information, .

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Top Attraction 3

Osa Peninsula. Wilderness, wildlife, and adventure: everything the eco-minded traveler comes to Costa Rica to find is here, located in the remotest part of the southern Pacific region with its legendary biodiversity. For more information, .

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Top Attraction 4

Diving in Belize. Part of the Mesa American reef, the worlds second largest stretch of coral provides countless opportunities for diving and snorkeling, such as the famous Blue Hole and the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. For more information, .

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Top Attraction 5

Arenal Volcano. Picture-perfect, cone-shaped Arenal stands out as the quintessential volcano. Although it is temporarily dormant on the outside, it still supplies the geo-thermal power on the inside to heat the ever-popular hot springs. For more information, .

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Top Attraction 6

Tikal. Soaring above jungle canopy, the colossal temple-pyramids of this once powerful Maya city, which dates to the 4th century BC, seem built to an unearthly scale. For more information, .

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Top Attraction 7

Lake Atitln. This exquisite highland lake in a giant caldera (collapsed volcano) in Guatemalas Sierra Madre is lined by laid-back towns and Maya villages with distinctive customs and shrines. For more information, .

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Top Attraction 8

Ometepe Island. Two volcanoes, Concepcin and Maderas, connected by a low isthmus, form Lake Nicaraguas largest island, which is marked with wide beaches, petroglyphs, and rich farmland. For more information, .

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Top Attraction 9

Panama Canal. Cutting between the Atlantic and the Pacific, this recently expanded canal is one of the worlds most strategic waterways and a marvel of modern engineering. For more information, .

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Top Attraction 10

Joya de Cern. Covered in volcanic ash and not discovered until 1976, this village in El Salvador still being unearthed is a Mayan Pompeii, revealing what life was like in the 6th century. For more information, .

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Editors Choice

Indigenous markets in mountain villages, paradisiacal beaches with swaying palm trees, and hikes to active volcanoes are among our recommendations for a Central American adventure.