Frommer's California 2004 [Paperback]

Erika Lenkert (Author), Matthew Poole (Author), David Swanson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Frommer's Complete Guides | Publication Date: November 28, 2003

You'll never fall into the tourist traps when you travel with Frommer's. It's like having a friend show you around, taking you to the places locals like best. Our expert authors have already gone everywhere you might go -- they've done the legwork for you, and they're not afraid to tell it like it is, saving you time and money. No other series offers candid reviews of so many hotels and restaurants in all price ranges. Every Frommer's Travel Guide is up-to-date, with exact prices for everything, dozens of maps, and exciting coverage of sports, shopping, and nightlife. You'd be lost without us!

Completely updated every year (unlike most of the competition), Frommer's California features detailed reviews and insider info on the state's spectacular beaches, national parks, vineyards, and more. Quite simply, this is the most reliable and comprehensive California guide you can buy. Whether you're looking for a romantic B&B in the Wine Country, the hippest new restaurant in San Francisco, or the best beaches in L.A. and San Diego, Frommer's California will show you the way.

The guide is personally researched by longtime residents, and it's full of their candid opinions about the best their state has to offer. They've selected the very best places to stay throughout the state: lavish golf resorts, spas, stunning B&Bs, beachfront motels, and Yosemite's best campgrounds. With Frommer's in hand, you'll see it all -- from the desert to the towering redwoods, from Hollywood to Hearst Castle, from Sea World to Big Sur. You'll even get a color fold-out map!

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Experience a place the way the locals do. Enjoy the best it has to offer. And avoid tourist traps. At Frommer’s, we use 150 outspoken travel experts around the world to help you make the right choices. Frommer’s. Your guide to a world of travel experience.

Choose the Only Guide That Gives You:

• From the glitz of Hollywood to the pristine beauty of Yosemite, the essential information on the cities, towns, theme parks, resorts, and national parks of the Golden State.
• Outspoken opinions on what’s worth your time and what’s not.
• Exact prices, so you can plan the perfect trip no matter what your budget.
• Off-the-beaten-path experiences and undiscovered gems, plus new takes on top attractions.
• The best hotels and restaurants in every price range, with candid reviews.

About the Author

A native San Franciscan, Erika Lenkert spends her time traipsing through San Francisco and across the globe in search of adventure and great food. She has written for Travel & Leisure, Food & Wine, Bride’s, San Francisco Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine, and Time Out. Her latest book, The Last-Minute Party Girl: Fashionable, Fearless, and Foolishly Simple Entertaining (www.lastminutepartygirl.com), mixes fun, entertaining, and Bay Area dining and recipes into a tasty, useful guide to living large, San Francisco style.

Matthew Richard Poole, a native Californian, has authored more than two dozen travel guides to California, Hawaii, and abroad. Highly allergic to office buildings, he spends most of his time on the road doing research and avoiding commitments. Other guidebooks he authors include Frommer’s Los Angeles, Frommer’s California from $70 a Day, Frommer’s San Francisco from $70 a Day, Frommer’s Irreverent Guide to San Francisco, and Frommer’s Disneyland.

San Diego native David Swanson’s first travels were in the back of a Volkswagen bus with his parents through Yosemite and the Sierras, San Francisco, and Santa Barbara. His stories and photography have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Miami Herald, The Globe and Mail, National Geographic Traveler, Bride’s, and TravelAge West. He is a contributing editor at Caribbean Travel & Life.

Product Details

• Paperback: 731 pages
• Publisher: Frommers; 14 edition (November 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764538713
• ISBN-13: 978-0764538711
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,127,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Guide - Weak on Photos, December 24, 2005

By 

J. E. Robinson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frommer's California 2005 (Frommer's Complete Guides) (Paperback)

This is a massive 700 page guide suitable to the large State of California, a state that has many places to explore and visit.

It has a comprehensive description of almost every area of California and has excellent maps and guides including street maps of San Francisco. You will not be disappointed with this book as a guide. You will be disappointed with a lack of photographs. A picture is worth a 1000 words and this book has virtually none. So if you are buying just one book, then buy Eyewitness Travel Guides DK - California which is almost as big - 630 pages but has stunning photos. If you are buying more than one book, consider this Frommer guide.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars as a local, it's not very good, February 5, 2005

By 

Brian Bulkowski (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frommer's California 2005 (Frommer's Complete Guides) (Paperback)

As a california resident for 15 years, I bought the guide because I had been amazed at the detail of Frommer's guides during my travels. Perhaps I expected too much, but I find the Frommer's California to be worthless.

For example, to say that this guide covers "san francisco's hippest resturants" is a bit of a stretch. They list about 10 old standards, in a town with about 4000 resturants - a good start, but nothing particularly hip. The guide focused on north beach and fisherman's wharf. San Francisco's bar and music scene is huge - about 6 places are listed, none particularly cutting edge.

The strength of the guidebook is probably out of town - Yosemite, Gold Country, Eureka. Even there, I found the information didn't really have the bite it should. Focus was on toursity stuff, not the really fun stuff.

This guidebook needs a top-to-bottom revamp, instead of a yearly update to make sure the phone numbers are correct.

For san francisco especially, get smaller more focused guidebooks.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reliable and Comprehensive!, August 14, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Frommer's California 2003 (Paperback)

This book covers the entire state in one easy-to-carry book. Whether you're looking for romantic bed and breakfasts in the Wine Country, the hippest restaurant in San Francisco, or the best beaches in LA and San Diego, this book is all you'll need. It covers hotels ranging from a beach front motel in Santa Monica to the best places to stay in Yosemite's camp grounds.