Customer Reviews

London A to Z (Street Atlas)

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4 star:		(1)
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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.

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.

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.

Unlike others here, I am no map junkie. I do, however, like to know how to get from point A to point B when on the road.

And whenever in London, albeit not lately, I've taken the latest edition of this indispensable guide along. Otherwise, there's no guarantee you won't get horrifyingly lost in the city's endless winding streets.

Apart from this book, (and awareness that the Underground stops running at a ridiculously early hour), the London traveler from most other places in the world needs one only one other crucial bit of information.

Look left --- before crossing any road --- or you're likely to get mowed down by the nutty drivers tooling up the wrong side.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

This atlas was a lifesaver the first time I went to London. I went to London alone and a local handed me this book and I never got lost once. I've read reviews that people were disappointed that there were no "explanations" and wondered why in the world someone would buy an atlas thinking they were getting a guidebook. This is the book to have if you want to know where you're going. It has every street, every tube station, every major attraction listed in an alphabetical reference in the back and has colored, detailed maps throughout the book. It even shows both sides of the street, so you know which side of the street something is on. It also has a London Underground map, so you don't have to carry a separate one around. If you find a restaurant that you want to go to on the internet or off of someone's suggestion and only have the address, you can find it using this book. If you want to save a ton of money by taking the underground instead of a cab, you absolutely need this book. You can buy it all over London, but it'll save you some money to buy it now. I gave one of my old copies away to a friend who had just moved to London, and am planning to buy another when I go to London again this summer. There are two sizes- the "mini" atlas and the normal sized. If you have a tough time reading smaller print, go with the larger one. If you read fine and want something to fit into your purse or a small bag, go with the mini. Even many of the locals swear by this book, so it's definitely a must-have!