Customer Reviews

Frommer's New Orleans 2010 (Frommer's Complete Guides)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this book for a recent trip to New Orleans and found it a valuable resource, both for myself as a somewhat frequent visitor to the city and for my boyfriend, who was experiencing this wonderful place for the first time. We were guided to some absolute restaurant gems, both inside and outside of the Quarter, and to some fabulous music venues. We also spent our days on the recommended walking tours (the book pays for itself in walking tours alone--you will see and learn about a great deal of history and beautiful architecture at your own pace without being stuck in a group). The post-Katrina information was helpful and up-to-date, especially considering that so many businesses and services are still in a state of transition. The Frommer's guide enhanced our New Orleans experience immeasurably, and I would recommend it to anyone planning a trip to the Big Easy.

I have now almost worn out my second copy of this book and have been thinking I need to invest in a third. This is THE best travel guide to New Orleans (actually, to any destination, come to think of it) I have ever read. I bought three or four different guides before my first trip to New Orleans; this is the one that made the others unnecessary. Many NOLA trips later, this book that still goes with me every time I return. In this Frommer's edition, Mary Herczog's voice is not so much that of a travel expert--although she is indeed that, and her advice is thorough and invaluable. But reading her pages is like having a friend in New Orleans--a native who knows all the good stuff, has all the real stories, knows the places YOU would want to visit. Her style is warm and conversational; her knowledge exhaustive, well-organized, and accessible. I've made so many margin notes "in answer" to her entries that my book has become as much a dialogue as a guidebook. Ten trips later, I am still learning from it.

This guide provides a variety of interesting facts about New Orleans, its culture and history, as well as information for selecting activities, restaurants, tours, and other in and about New Orleans. Very helpful as a pre-trip planner, and its maps assist getting about while there. It also gives a brief section about Katrina's impact.

I've purchased many, many guidebooks for both domestic and international destinations over the years. Without a doubt, this was THE BEST guidebook I've ever purchased--better than the Lonely Planets or other Frommer's guides or even those vaunted blue guides to Hawaii. Though it is more conversational in tone than some other Frommer's guides and contains personal insights, the focus is always on New Orleans and not on the author--no easy feat of writing, but she nails it. As other reviewers have noted, her walking tours contain excellent suggestions, and the multi-day recommended itineraries are thoughtfully planned.

Importantly, I developed a trust for this author's suggestions which I haven't felt for other guidebooks. Food is important to us (as it wold be to most visitors to New Orleans, I imagine), and the restaurant/food experience suggestions are abundant and useful. The book will help you get off the typical tourist track and find some great grub. There is also thorough advice regarding tours, music and nightlife (the book also contains essays on the music scene and voodoo, which were great reads), shopping...and everything else, really. Though the author has obvious affection for the city, the book is very clear-eyed in its advice regarding personal safety and other practical matters. It also provided great historical and cultural context for neighborhoods.

Now that my trip is over, my appreciation of this book has only grown. We took it everywhere with us and it always contained the info we needed. I will buy new editions as long as Mary Herczog continues to write them!

P.S. One reviewer noted that there was not a complete, large-scale map of New Orleans in the book to see how one neighborhood related to each other. That might be true, but once in New Orleans, all hotels will give you a free map showing street detail of some of the more commonly visited areas. That map and this book were all I needed! Oh, and get a copy of the free Off-Beat magazine and check out the WWOZ website for information on live shows, and you'll be set.

We purchased this guide about three weeks before our first trip to New Orleans, and studying it really made a difference in sorting out the plethora of options, especially when it comes to food and restaurants. Even though we were staying with a close friend who was very helpful in pointing us in the right direction, I would not have had a clue what I wanted to do in this busy, historic and unique city if I hadn't done my homework first. We were able to hit the must-see stuff first (Cafe du Monde, French Quarter, Bourbon Street, cemeteries, Garden District), then venture out of the city on the fourth day for a swamp tour, and spend the remaining days hitting some additional interesting places (Harrah's Casino, Insectarium, Audubon Park, City Park). It was fun going back through the book mid-trip and checking off all the stuff we'd seen and done, the uniquely-New Orleans foods we tried and cocktails we sipped.

Pros:
The writing was easy and conversational, and really made you feel like you were getting some insider scoop. The reviews were glowing and critical and seemed honest, even sharing personal like and dislikes. The love the author felt for the city really came through.

Plenty of information, historical rumors and facts, anecdotes.

I appreciated the "best of" lists in the very beginning of the book - it's a good place to start getting a taste of the city.

Cons:
Even though we got the most up to date version of the book (2009), there were of course things that were out of date, like restaurant closings and such. In the face of post-Katrina recovery and the economic problems, it would be difficult to find one that accurately reflects the city's quickly changing dynamics. I will gladly say that the city was not as dangerous as it was made out to be, and we were often in the "dangerous" areas outside of the Quarter without any problems. (That being said, we do live in NYC and are used to the big city life)

Another criticism is the layout of the book, which was confusing and not very instinctual. A lot of information repeated, a lot of maps were not where it seemed they should have been, causing one to flip back and forth through the book quite a bit. But how to do it better? I'm not sure. I've experienced this same issue with other Frommer's guides.


If you're planning your first trip to New Orleans, I would recommend getting this book, studying it thoroughly before you go. Then when you hit the city, leave the guide in your room and let the city unravel before you. Then when you return each night, check the guide again for what you saw and did, and see what else there is to do the next day. It worked for us, and made the trip well worth it!

For the most part, I thought this was a good resource, but it could be helped by having more specific details. For instance, it told us to hop on the St. Charles Trolley, but never listed any of the places where you can pick up the trolley. Also, there were detailed maps of neighborhoods, which I thought was great, but it didn't include one big map of New Orleans, so I couldn't figure out where one place was in relation to the other. Lots of good ideas, but you had to fill in the blanks a lot of times. Good resource, but pair it with something else, like a big map of New Orleans.

This guide is recommended. We stayed in the French Quarter the entire weekend we were there and it worked well for that. While we were in New Orleans we had a friends in the indie rock scene - and ended up going to the little dive clubs they played and talked about. Surprisingly even all of these "underground" places were in the guide. We weren't there for Mardi Gras - but there is really good background info in the guide on Mardi Gras including an amusing anectode of the author's experience riding on a float. The one thing is I wish there was more indication of which restaurants might be vegetarian friendly. We had problems finding restaurants to acccommodate those who don't eat meat,

Like the other Frommer travel guides I have used this book was invaluable. The tips and information saved us money throughout the entire trip. It contains a self-guided tour of the French Quarters, but if you rather take the tour it provides you with information on finding an affordable alternative. It gives a history of New Orleans, and nicely recaps what is worth seeing, with suggestions on some lesser known attractions and museums. We found the restaurant overviews extremely helpful. If you are visiting New Orleans, this is definitely a great buy.

As this was my first trip to New Orleans, I wanted to make sure I had a thorough and up to date guide book, and I was NOT disappointed. Not only was the book accurate and complete, the author had an amazing sense of humor! Countless times I laughed out loud at her comments, and I will say this: If all Frommer's guides are written like this one, I will continue purchasing them for all new cities I visit!!!

Easy to read, interesting, and less touristy than Fodor's. I like it, and hope it serves me well on my upcoming New Orleans trip tomorrow!