Customer Reviews

Frommer's Oregon (1st ed)

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

 

 

I can't even tell you how many Frommer's books I've bought over the years. They are definitely my go-to travel guides. Having said that, this one was very disappointing. The descriptions were full of meaningless adjectives. There was no way to differentiate which restaurant or which lodging I might like better. One was the most beautiful, one the prettiest, one the loveliest. The author seemed to like rustic a lot which is not necessarily a compliment in my book. The restaurants were all a foodie's dream. He also devoted way to much space to wineries. There must be something else to do in Oregon besides drink wine. Not very helpful and boring to read.

We quit relying on this book shortly after we found a couple of significant mistakes. The time we wasted attempting to make up for the incomplete or incorrect descriptions was not worth the leads provided by the guide. It's unclear if these problems were the product of editing errors, or, more seemingly, issues with the writers documenting areas they hadn't actually visited. Whichever, we realized that bad information is a lot worse than having no information at all.

Here are two examples of misinformation contained in this guide. On page 308, the K-R Drive-In is listed as "north of Roseburg." What this description doesn't point out is that it's actually 20+ miles North of Roseburg, which also makes it North of several other smaller cities (which could have been named to more exactly pinpoint the drive in's location). In fact, it's halfway between Roseburg and Eugene, which is how we finally found it from a local's directions.

This painful lack of precision could easily have been avoided by providing the exit numbers (rather than just the exit name) that accompany every exit on Interstate 5 in Oregon. The exit numbers are keyed to the mileage on the highway and let you quickly determine how far an exit is, in either direction, from your current location. For highways without numbered exits, mileage markers would work just as well. The omission of such directional information reduces the value of the travel guide significantly.

A second example of poor directions can be found on page 271. The guide states, "also in the same area, past the Toketee Lake Campground, you'll find the Umpqua Hot Springs down a short trail." This is inadequate and wrong on several counts. First, there's no description of the 2-mile drive off of Highway 138 that is necessary to get to the campground. Second, there's no notation of the additional 2-mile drive on a gravel road, once you pass the campground itself. Finally, and most unbelievably, the "short trail" is a reasonably strenuous, very steep, 1/4-mile hike along the edge of a hill. Handrails line the route for both support and to keep you from tumbling down the hillside.

Like many guides, this one is full of good leads, but as these two examples demonstrate, it occasions to follow through with incomplete or incorrect information. This can leave you on the road, attempting to piece together the details you need to actually find something. And given the hilly and mountanous terrain of Western Oregon, you can't count on any sort of cel phone connectivity to help you out.

With the other books and maps (including the AAA Oregon Tour Book) we brought along, and our nightly visits to various websites to piece together the next day's itinerary, we were able to circumvent some of the problems with Frommer's guide. In the end, however, we were unable to trust the directions in this book, making it significantly less useful than it should have been.

A well organized book which focuses on each distinct region within Oregon including the Willamette Valley which is now known as "The Bread & Wine" Basket of Oregon. Especially good is "The Best of Oregon" which provides the very best beaches, hikes, scenic drives, B&B's, and much more! It is totally updated and will serve as a great guide for our trip to Oregon this year.

This book is your typical Frommmer's guide. Although it's not the best one I've used, it certainly is comprehensive. Unfortunately the state is so big with so much to see that it gives a good overview but not a lot of depth on any one location. It did help me formulate the itinerary for my trip, and has let me realized I need to go back a second time to visit all of the other attractions.

I am so delighted to have found this guidebook. I live in Southern Oregon, and was looking for a book I could keep on hand for family and friends who visit us, then want to know what to do when they go on to Portland, or Bend, or the Oregon coast. And now I have it!

I know this area well, and Karl Samson's recommendations for local options are right-on: insightful, well-calibrated, and up-to-date. The places he suggests are, in fact, the restaurants and sights I send people to. If he's enthusiastic, it's because there's really something memorable in store.

And because the author is so trustworthy when it comes to my home territory, I'm confident that his guidebook is equally astute about other areas. The entries are crisp and succinct, the writing communicates real enjoyment, the choices aren't biased by the kind of buy-in that shapes AAA guidebooks, for example, and the new edition is entirely current.

My only problem is making sure that none of our guests carries this wonderful guidebook away with them when they head off to experience the rest of Oregon!