Customer Reviews

Fodor's New York City 2007 (Fodor's Gold Guides)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This Fodor's guidebook does a thorough job of breaking down the different neighborhoods of NYC (with helpful maps), and there are some unexpected extras, such as a full-color section on Central Park (with maps), a section on the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (with a gallery floorplan), and a detailed section on "Ground Zero." However, this book also seems to leave out "insider tips" that I found in Frommer's NYC guidebooks (such as Frommer's "New York City Day by Day" or the "Portable NYC" guide). For instance, while the Fodor's book does explain how to catch the free Staten Island Ferry, Frommer's "Portable" guide recommends that you sit on the right side for the best views of the Statue of Liberty. Despite all its break-out maps, Fodor's guide doesn't include a theatre district map. In addition, information on transportation options for getting to and from the area airports is shoved to the back of the guidebook like an afterthought. Finally, the organization wasn't the most effective for me; attractions are organized by neighborhood, so if you don't know, for instance, that the Empire State Building is located in the Union Square district, you have to use the index. It would be nice to have an overview of famous sites at the beginning of the guide to get oriented rather than have to start out "digging" for all the places you may want to see.

Unfortunately, this 500+ page guidebook is just too bulky to carry around NYC. However, it does provide a solid overview for those people still in the planning stages of their trip. I plan to take this book with me to NYC, but to pull out the lengthy sections on "Where to Stay" (I already have hotel reservations) and "Where to Dine" (I've already made dining arrangements). I do think Fodor's complements the Frommer's guides because it (Fodor's) provides great maps and interesting historical information about some sites; however, I still prefer the portable Frommer's guides, which provide compact, but meaty information.

I found this guide slightly cumbersome due to the breadth of information, but what can you expect when covering such a vastly rich expanse such as New York City? I enjoyed the pictorial nuances and especially the "Word of Mouth" section that includes what you might expect: thoughts, recommendations & suggestions from native New Yorkers. These tid-bits are included in various parts of the guide--I thought this was an exceptionally informative touch. The introduction is well written, especially the suggestion on seeing the sights on foot.

As a side note: I have visited New York on many occasions but had never invested in a guide. I would certainly recommend the Fodor's over perhaps Frommer's, but would also caution those to purchase a secondary guide as well. There are a couple of wonderful publications around the superficial premise of "secrets" of New York--these are actually helpful and insightful guides. I'd also recommend: The Best Things to do in New York: 1001 Ideas.

This is a good resource if you are thinking of visiting New York City. Frommer's is another resource, too.

However, this volume has a number of very important pluses. For one thing, there are well detailed maps of different parts of the city.

For another, there are very helpful maps of museums. For instance, the floor plan map of the American Museum of Natural History would be most useful for people wanting to explore this facility. Just so with a map of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And so on.

As with other publications, there are sections on hotels, restaurants, shopping, entertainment, etc. Very well done in this volume. The problem, of course, is that there is much change. Restaurants come and go; the same with other facilities. Nonetheless, this volume provides enough depth that such matters are only secondary.

All in all, this is a good reference for those who are thinking of visiting New York City.

We looked at perhaps a dozen guidebooks for NYC when we first arrived in town, and liked this one the best. Many guidebooks seem to be a bit stuffy. This one was written with warmth and panache by people who seem intimately familiar with their subject matter. The authors also included excerpts from various on-line reviews/blogs and the like which are interspersed in the text and add to the hipness of the book.

Sightseeing is particularly well covered in this book. It describes the various neighborhoods of NYC, their history, sociological quirks, as well as their architectural and cultural highlights extremely well and also includes detailed lists of restaurants and shopping opportunities in each neighborhood. The book also includes a number of interesting "field trips" which many travellers might not otherwise consider, such as a foot tour of the Brooklyn Bridge (one of the highlights of our trip), a tour of Harlem gospel choirs, pub crawls, best views, festivals, boat excursions, etc. etc. Major museums, such as the Metropolitan and MOMA are covered in great detail, and there is also an entire chapter on lesser known "niche" museums as well as detailed coverage of art galleries.

Hotels are reasonably well covered, although online review sites specifically devoted to hotels will be more comprehensive and current than any general guidebook can be. This book also does a good job covering theatre, clubs, bars, and restaurants with separate chapters devoted to each. Again, however, the NYC restaurant scene, in particular, is so vast that hard-core foodies will also want to check out Zagat's guide and online review sites.

I have in addition to Fodor's NYC 2007 the Frommers 2007 guide and Pauline Frommer's Guide to NYC.

I wish I bought this book first. It is full of useful information and the way it's set out makes it much easier to read than the Frommers guides. It's organized in a much "neater" way which makes referring back certain pages very easy.

There are some attractions and tips which are not contained in this book however, which are found in my Frommers NYC 2007 guide. So having the two books makes for a good complete guide.

There are tons of guidebooks to purchase for New York City and this is yet another. Is it the best? I would say no but that is only because it comes down to your personal preference and what info you are looking for. The book has over 250 glorious color pictures that will really take your breath away. It also gives in depth info on all areas of the diversified city.

All the info you need to plan a trip is here. How to get there, how much taxis are, other available transportation, sightseeing options etc. I do have a slight problem with its setup though. As it details each area of the city there is an intro page with choice pics for hotels and restaurants. This is great but it is only their few personal favorites. All hotels are listed together alphabetically by city section which is user friendly. But the main restaurant section is not set up the same way and lists all restaurants alphabetically and puts its part of the city under the restaurant name. I don't understand why they didn't follow suit like with the hotels and keep the lists per city sectoion. It gets confusing. You may find a restaurant review that you like and then see it isn't even close to the part of the city you'll be visiting. A waste of time.

Also, those pictures that are so lovely just make the book bulky if you choose to carry it around while on your trip. They are great for viewing as you plan your trip but that is it. The maps are very useful but I find that the reviews of almost everything are rather vague. They post an opinion buit don't really give you the reasons that substantiate it which really doesn't help much for everything a tourist will choose is based on personal preference.

This is certainly a good guide but for me I prefer one that when reviews are given they go in depth and give the reasons for their ratings. That helps me make my choices. I purchased this one and Frommer's as well and I much prefer Frommer's. They give detailed reasons for all their ratings. But again this is all personal preference.

I can recommend this guide book but just suggest before you purchase one make sure to read the readers reviews to make sure it will provide the type of information you need and want to plan your trip.

This book was a big help before my first trip to New York last fall, but was a little bulky for carrying around in my purse. The maps were helpful. I just wish it had been arranged a little differently. But it was a help.

I liked the old style of Fodors books better, but it is very detailed and descriptive. Not very well organized, and it will have you flipping back and forth quite a bit, searching through the different chapters.

Due to the long time it takes to print a travel guide they are often out of date and inaccurate by the time they come out. Fodor's is no exception to this rule. Travel guides are going the way of newspapers. People can get more up to date and accurate information on the internet. Unfortunately Fodor's web site is as ancient as their print guides. Go to [...] or [...] for more recent information.

I found that Fodor's New York city tour guide fun to read and proved invaluable on my trip to NYC. There are other guide out for NYC but this one at least to me proved fun to read and use. Now that I have a copy with the maps to the subway

I really expect to have big fun using the Metro pass in NYC. This book gave me to confidence to explore at least in Mahattan, I will hit the other part later.If you can only afford one tour guide to NYC this is the one to own and turn your friends onto this guide as well so they can have a great vaction.