Customer Reviews

Eyewitness Travel Guide to New York (revised)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As editor on the hugely popular 'Essential Big Apple' New Yorktourist website, I get to read an awful lot of guides to the city thatnever sleeps. I remember the first time I picked up the DorlingKindersley Eyewitness Guide to New York, and being completelyoverwhelmed by the sheer amount of data set out beforeme.

Everything is in this one - somebody has finally got itright. The maps are superb, the illustrations are quite brilliant andthere are zillions of photographs to show you what other guides onlytell you. That would make a good slogan!

But they have really triedwith this one and although Eleanor Berman is the main contributor,they must have had a large team of writers, illustrators andphotographers working on this guide for quite some time.

I'd behappy to recommend this guide to anybody heading for the Big Apple. Itwould be money well spent!

Tony O'Rourke - Editor, Essential BigApple...

I live outside of New York City and rarely visit the city. But after Sept 11th I wanted a guide that I could use to explore the places I've never been to (as well as ones I have been to). The DK Guides are great for the amount of information they provide and this guide is no exception. There is information in this book that even a native New Yorker may not know. The book talks about the history and architecture of buildings that you may otherwise walk by. There are museums that I've never heard of. There are street by street maps of some of Manhattan's great neighborhoods. I have used the book to plan a walking trip from Penn Station to Rockefeller Center and back via Time Square. I am planning many future walking trips with this book. If the book is two heavy to carry, buy two. One for permanent reference and the other to "rip out" the pages of the places you are planning to visit. This guide book is well worth the money.

I am planning to spend four weeks in New York in your summer, my winter. Wanting to buy a good travel guide I went to the largest book shop in Melbourne (AU). With a choice of around 100 books - this book stood out. Concentrating more on what to do and see then the usual 'where can I stay for under $50 a night'or want a plethora of restaurant this book took me into the galleries, museums and architecture delights of New York. I feel it is designed for the traveller who wants to jump in boots and all. Thanks to this book I know my four weeks will be filled with exploring this fascinating city. Best book to get.

Great book - - I sat down and read all the way through it as soon as I received it! Not only does it provide information pertinent to travel (hotels, sightseeing, etc.), but it also gives the behind-the-scenes history and interesting information about NYC and its architecture.

Another good thing about this book....the cover and spine. That may sound ridiculous but it was nice to get a book that is hard back but still has the type of spine that will open (and stay open!) like a cookbook. Great packaging! And it really helped me as I took notes...

Two dings on this book: 1) No prices or estimated prices for sightseeing activities (museums, planetarium, buildings). Overall, it would have been nice to include a section to help me determine a loose budget (I realize prices will vary) and how much money to take on my trip.

2) No URLs for the hotels listed. It's fine to read about them in the book but I want to visit their web sites, take virtual tours and get a picture to associate with the name. As it was, I spent alot of time digging for the home pages of each hotel listed that I was remotely interested in.

OVERALL: Worth every penny - - a definite must-buy if you're planning a trip to NYC.

As a major New York City aficionado, who visits the city many times a year, I find this book to be the best I've read. Visually, this guide is amazing. The glossy, clear and beautiful photos throughout the book, make it even more worthy of buying and the maps are also easy to understand. In the beginning of the book, there are almost twenty pages devoted to the history of New York, which is very intriguing. You will find out all kinds of interesting tidbits, like who the first inhabitants of Manhattan were and how much the island was sold for back in 1626.

The rest of the book is divided up into sections based on each area of town and then there is a chapter titled "Travelers' Needs," which includes places to stay, all types of restaurants, shopping and much more. The "Survival Guide" is also extremely helpful with practical information.

A really nice thing about this guide is that it is friendly to foreign visitors, explaining things like how to use a pay phone and the U.S. currency.

If you are planning on going to NYC, the "Eyewitness Travel Guide To New York" is an absolute must-have! Everything you want or need to know about this fabulous city is right in this book.

When I arrived in New York from Seattle to explore the possibilities of moving, I asked several people to recommend a good guide. No one could. I stumbled across this book after a couple dozen other titles and was wowed by the information. Everything you could want to know is in this book. Even skeptical New Yorkers have been impressed with the detail of this book. Don't look any further.

Wow! I knew I loved Eye-Witness Travel Guides,I'm abolutely hooked on their incredibly useful method of presentation, but this is the first time I return to a place I once lived and used one of their guides. What a "Eureka" moment! Using their pictoral presentation of maps and sights, I "SAW" New York in its entirety for the first time. The overview and breaking down of the city into sections gives the tourist total control of the situation.
I highly recommend this book for the sights and maps.
The restaurant recommendations were not very good. After the amazing recommendations in their Budapest and Paris Guides, this list was a disappointment. Buy a different Restaurant and Hotel guide, but use this to get around and make the most of your time.

This book was great except that it is a very heavy book. The pages are a glossy magazine-like paper. I walked a lot while I was in NY & this book in my small backpack/purse was very heavy. My sister said I should rip out the pages I needed each day -- but it's such a pretty book I couldn't bring myself to do that!

I have the greatest respect for Eyewitness Guides. Although usually I buy a few guidebooks for every destination where I travel, where Eyewitness Guide is available, it is my first choice (where there is no Eyewitness, my second-best choice is usually Fodor's).

Eyewitness Guides have had more than their fair share of unfriendly and condescending reviews - most of it coming from self-styled intellectuals or people who like to see themselves (often without a good reason, really) as being far above the crowd and "dumb tourists". Eyewitness series has been criticized as too glossy, too beatutiful, too clearly laid out and ignoring backpacker's needs.

Most of this criticism is just sour grapes: it is difficult to deny that the guide is more visually appealing than almost anything else on the market, it is very clearly laid out and very well researched. And it is a joy to use.

If it is your first Eyewitness Guide, you will be amazed how clear and entertaining a book can be about buildings and museums. You will also wonder how come no-one thought of it before.

It is true that Eyewitness Guide New York may not be the best choice for the shoestring traveller; also, in all fairness, recommendations and listings of restaurants and hotels are superficial. As a city with breathtaking diversity of cuisines, New York surely deserved a better eating-out coverage. On the other hand, it is easy to see how space might have been a restriction - no-one wants a thousand-page volume in their pocket.

As the guide to a DESTINATION itself and the ultimate source of day-to-day reference - maps, transport, sightseeing highlights - Eyewitness is unbeatable. No wonder there are now many imitations of this style.

New York is unique in the sense that different people approach it with wildly varying expectations of what they want to see and experience: in this sense, cities like Paris and Rome are more one-dimensional - or, rather, there are more travellers who aprroach them with predictable expectations. Therefore, for New York you will probably need anther book to supplement your special interest in this city, whatever it is - art, shopping, music, gastronomy, ethnic heritage or architecture. But I do recommend you buy Eyewitness guide first. Do yourself this favor.

I was travelling to NY for first time, and i was looking for a really good guide; i looked other guides and finally i found this one. This one is Simply the best! You can find everything: since a map of a Micro museum, to the way of eating a Hot Dog. It has everything. you can buy it only for curiosity, to read it like a novel, and you are going to love it too.