Fodor's San Francisco 2010: With the Wine Country (Full-color Travel Guide) [Paperback]

Fodor's (Author)

Book Description

Series: Full-color Travel Guide | Publication Date: October 13, 2009

Fodor’s. For Choice Travel Experiences.

Fodor’s helps you unleash the possibilities of travel by providing the insightful tools you need to experience the trips you want. While you’re at the helm, Fodor’s offers the assurance of our expertise, the guarantee of selectivity, and the choice details that truly define a destination. It’s like having a friend in San Francisco!

•Updated annually, Fodor’s San Francisco provides the most accurate and up-to-date information available in a guide book.

•Fodor’s San Francisco features options for a variety of budgets, interests, and tastes, so you make the choices to plan your trip of a lifetime.

•If it’s not worth your time, it’s not in this book. Fodor’s discriminating ratings, including our top tier Fodor’s Choice designations, ensure that you’ll know about the most interesting and enjoyable places in San Francisco.

•Experience San Francisco like a local! Fodor’s San Francisco includes unique photo-features that impart the city’s culture, covering Chinatown history, Cable Car rides, Alcatraz lore, Golden Gate Park activities, and much more!

•Indispensable, customized trip planning tools include “Top Reasons to Go,” “Word of Mouth” advice from other travelers, and tips to help save money, bypass lines, and avoid common travel pitfalls.

•Full-color pullout map

Visit Fodors.com for more ideas and information, travel deals, vacation planning tips, reviews and to exchange travel advice with other travelers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In terms of comprehensiveness of coverage, the very accessible format, and the enthusiastic tone, this series remains one of the best on the market." –Booklist
 
"Fodor's super-informative guidebooks are known for accuracy and attention to detail…" –The Sacramento Bee
 
"The Fodor's guides are notable for their ratings of sights, restaurants, shops, accommodations and attractions." –Chicago Tribune
 
"The great detail, infectious spirit, and attractive format are distinguishing traits of these guides, which are entries in one of the top series in the business." –Booklist
 
"Fodor's can help you plan the perfect adventure" –The Arizona Republic
 
"Always thoughtfully written and easily readable, Fodor's travel guides have become a must-have when traveling to unfamiliar destinations" –Mid South Magazine
 
"Widely recognized as the gold standard of mainstream travel" –Honolulu Advertiser

Product Details

• Paperback: 520 pages
• Publisher: Fodor's; Pap/Map edition (October 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400008522
• ISBN-13: 978-1400008520
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #937,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great source of information, but NOT a guide, October 13, 2009

By 

Shopper (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Fodor's San Francisco 2010: With the Wine Country (Full-color Travel Guide) (Paperback)

A 10 day, first time trip to San Francisco can be daunting, especially if it is undertaken solo. In order to make the most of the time, I purchased every guide I could find and read it cover to cover. Here are my thoughts on Fodor's:

PROS:
- covers in GREAT detail all available attractions in each part of the city as well as the surrounding area; I carried the guide with me at all times; if lost or if I wandered into an area off my itinerary, I could easily find an appropriate place to eat/visit and/or find contact info to cover most emergencies;
- gives wonderful background information, including historical facts;
- offers sound travel advice to and within the region;

CONS:
Quite frankly, for someone who has never visited the city, that massive amount of info arranged in geographical order is overwhelming and not necessarily conducive to creating an itinerary in line with one's individual interests. For that reason, I think Fodor's is most useful once you find yourself in the city. The guide would be much improved if it invested in an extensive chapter on how to create an interest focused, length-of-stay based itinerary (general, historical, culinary, architectural interest, etc.). This need pertains not just to the San Francisco guide, but to any Fodor's guide. The guide has a very linear way of thinking about tourists: they eat, sleep, shop, and want to see a few museums...The end. Well, that is not how most of us travel. And so, Fodor's is not so much a guide to the area, but rather a detailed description of the area...

Once again, I recommend it once you find yourself in the city, but the guide is no help with creating an exciting itinerary...

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars San Francisco better traveling, February 1, 2010

By 

Joaq Perez (Mexico City) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fodor's San Francisco 2010: With the Wine Country (Full-color Travel Guide) (Paperback)

We have been Fodor's confident users since long time ago. The new Fodor's guide to San Francisco gave us a little trouble finding the way of using it, due to changes in map and places locations. Also we had trouble finding the right way to find reliable restaurants while on the way. We had to buy the Zagat for that.
But as a frequent user I rely on the always different aproach of Fodors to a City as San Francisco, that can consume your time without having seen the best. We did find the alley of the China Town fortune cookie manufacturer, as did enjoy hiking up to Coit tower avoiding getting there by car, and of course avoided the crowded tourist packed piers. Always Fodors tips are reliable and different. And security wise we didn't aproach to the areas Fodor's gave us the warning. Thus enabling us to have a comfortable and peacefull trip.
We will continue trusting Fodor's.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Old Fodor's - Never Misses, January 30, 2010

By 

Paula Marcus "Island Reader" (Bar Harbor, Maine) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fodor's San Francisco 2010: With the Wine Country (Full-color Travel Guide) (Paperback)

I have used Fodor's Guides all over the world and have never been dissatisfied. In Kyoto, for example, the book advised us to just go for a walk on the street where our hotel sat and we would have an adventure. We did and while admiring a sidewalk shrine we were invited to the graduation ceremonies of an Ikebana and Tea Ceremony school. It was a spring time thrill complete with girls in kimono and wisteria in their hair in frosty January.