Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I got this before a travel course to London that was just over 2 weeks long. I had been to London previously, but only for a couple of days with my family and didn't really know the city.
I loved this guidebook! I shopped for guidebooks for hours and this was by far the best I found, and it proved an as-good-and-better resource during our trip compared to my classmates books (mostly the biggies Fodors and Frommers).
The book was very easy to read. I read it cover-to-cover a couple of months before the trip, and found the writing style casual and sometimes hilarious!
What I love about this book is it covers all the essential London activities that tourists want to do, but also delves into getting to know the city like a true Londoner and seeing some great attractions that have niche appeal or are off the beaten path. AND it does all this keeping budget as a top priority!
It's perfect for students, families, and basically anyone who wants an authentic experience without throwing money around.
The dining recommendations were great. Nearly everyone I passed on the street with good prices and atmosphere that my classmates and I wanted to eat at was covered in this book!
I loved London and need to go back to this amazing city throughout my life, and I think this book and future editions will be a great help in planning my trips in the future. The accommodations section was not relevant for this trip, as my school booked our large group into a hotel, but I read it anyway and the advice on finding affordable B&Bs and inns with great facilities will prove very useful for future trips.
The only real flaws I found with this book is that
1) the maps are all kind of spread out. There's good maps of areas like Notting Hill that aren't always in other maps of the central city, but it takes some thumbing through to find them when you're standing in the middle of the street needing directions. ALso, there is no bus maps or tube maps, but obviously those are very easy to pick up at the nearest tube station, and that ensures they're up to date. Also, I'd recommend supplementing the book with a book mini map such as the A-Z pocket guide, which is mentioned in the book and proved very useful and portable!
2) The book is not completely up to date. I have the 2nd edition, and it doesn't seem that they put out a new edition each year like the bigger guidebooks. As a result, I got a few surprises on my trip. The prices, especially on food, were consistently a pound or two higher than the book suggested, and I think this is probably do to the increasing cost of food supplies during the recession, and due to recent VAT increases. I also tried to find a small tea and coffee museum that was in the guidebook, and also was featured in my A-Z map (2009 edition), and turns out the museum has closed in the past year and was completely gone! However, I don't think these little out-of-date bits negate the huge usefulness of this book!
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The Society of American Travel Writers Names "Pauline Frommer's London" Best Guidebook of the Year
Pauline Frommer's London has been recognized as the best guidebook of 2009 by the Society of American Travel Writer's Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition. The award is given annually to honor outstanding work in print and online travel journalism and is the premier competition in the field.
Spend less, see more. This is the philosophy behind Pauline Frommer's guides. These guides show how to truly experience a culture, meet locals, and save money along the way. Pauline Frommer's London includes insider tips on:
Cozy, restful accommodations: Instead of spending $300 a night for a faceless chain hotel, bed down in a private home for just $33 (p. 32), or rent Virginia Woolf's childhood home for $126 (p. 31).
Food finds: Eat where the locals do and save-from classic fish and chips joints (p. 115) to Indian favorites (p. 116) to an affordable but still elegant spot for high tea (p. 100).
Sights and attractions: Find insightful and in-depth coverage of London's iconic sights and the gems most visitors miss, plus fascinating self-guided walking tours.
Insider's London: Make new friends at a Sunday Pub Roast (p. 214), build burrows for hedgehogs with the London Wildlife Trust (p. 209), or spend an afternoon watching the political brawls in Parliament (p. 198).
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