London A to Z (Street Atlas) [Paperback]

Geographers A-Z Map Company (Author)

Book Description

Series: Street Atlas | Publication Date: July 2001

Unlike streets in the US, London's roads do not follow a logical numbering system (or even a logical system, for that matter!), so navigating you and your family around the maze of dead-ends and one-way streets can be a nightmare! Knowing the quickest routes from A to B is a learning process, and is largely a matter of time. But here is your escape route. This pocket-sized street atlas has been the London cabby's bible for years. It is by far the best-selling, all-color street atlas of the city, covering every street, lane, highway, mew, garden, close, glen, river, bridge and motorway. In addition, it shows the tube and mainline train stations, gardens, parks, schools and major points of interest, making it your best friend on a trip to this historic city. A complete index lists every entry, so you can get from Baker Street to the Tate Gallery and back to Leicester Square in the evening without getting frustrated and spending hours going round in circles. With this book in hand, you'll be able to direct you and your family without any hesitation, and you'll also know when the cabby is taken you the "long way home" (haven't I seen that street corner before?).

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Hunter Publishing (NJ) (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0850397529
• ISBN-13: 978-0850397529
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #945,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable, August 20, 2002

By 

Benjamin Lukoff (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: London A to Z (Street Atlas) (Paperback)

This is exactly what its title implies--a street atlas of Greater London. As others have said, don't buy it if you want anything else. (I wonder why people would buy an atlas expecting a guidebook!) The A-Z was invaluable to me when I was living in London; I took it everywhere I went. It's compact but incredibly detailed, and really is essential in finding your way around the city. As the description says, the streets of London do not follow a discernable pattern, and names are often repeated; without this book you may very well find yourself in South Wimbledon (Abbey Road SW19) while looking for the famous crossing (Abbey Road NW8)--or, more likely, and worse, vice versa.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I say, can you direct me to Bleeding Heart Yard?, December 21, 2002

By 

Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: London A to Z (Street Atlas) (Paperback)

I'm a map junkie, especially national highway and city street maps. Perhaps it's the lure of the open road and exotic places. In any case, I recently acquired the LONDON A-Z street atlas, and I'm in seventh heaven. London, you see, is my favorite city in the whole world.

The atlas covers the city center plus outlying suburbs from Romford and Sidcup in the east to Ruislip and Shepperton in the west, and Barnet and Enfield in the north to Sutton and Croyden in the south. Claiming to index over 69,000 streets, each of its 170 color map pages is, well, busy. Since the atlas is only 7.5 by 5 inches, the street names are printed small and require either the good vision of youth or the spectacles of old age. And a magnifying glass helps.

There are several other useful features: a single page map each for the West End cinemas and theatres, a map-referenced listing of hospitals and hospices, a map-referenced listing of all rail, Tramlink and Underground stations, a schematic of Greater London's rail connecting points with the Underground, and the world famous color schematic of the latter. This is good stuff.

Of course, there are symbols on each map for the usual clutter of police stations, post offices, information centers, fire stations, churches and chapels, shopping centres and markets, public buildings, toilets for the disabled, tracks and footpaths, etc.

My only complaint concerns those maps other than the large-scale ones of Central London. On the former, the rail and Underground stations, those beacons of solidity in an uncertain world, aren't as immediately obvious as one might like. They're much better indicated on the Central London plans.

Oh, and Bleeding Heart Yard? Why, it's right there on page 161 in map square 6K. Can't miss it, guv.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A-Z all you need to know about London streets, March 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: London A to Z (Street Atlas) (Paperback)

buy this one if you want to get your bearings ahead of time, otherwise, you can buy a mini-version of this book in most stores around London (e.g. Tesco, Marks & Spencers, tourist shops).You can explore anywhere in London with confidence. A-Z lists streets, attractions, tube locations, etc... every Londoner has one.