Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet New Orleans Encounter

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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I've had consistently good results with the Encounter books, and this one is no exception. There are three things that make them generally more usable and enjoyable than the full sized versions: 1) The level of detail is appropriate for the amount of time I'm going to be able to spend with the book and in the city. You'll find the limitations of these books if you're staying more than a week and in full tourist mode that whole time, but for shorter trips, they cover a wide range of interesting neighborhoods don't focus only on the coolest stuff in each. The author doesn't waste time on obviously tourist spots that don't warrant explication--e.g. Pat O'Brien's or the casino. The free stuff your hotel gives you should cover that, should you be interested. 2) They're written by an individual author, not by committee. This means that the reviews of attraction, restaurants, bars, etc., come for a consistent perspective. My experience following his recommendations suggests that Adam Karlin, this author of this volume, has a terrific sense of the distinctive music, food, and attitude towards life that makes New Orleans such an engaging place. 3) The books are both small and durable, meaning you can shove them in the back pocket of your jeans and head out exploring.

Note, though, that this edition was published in 2009, which means that many of the reviews are pre-Great Recession. While I didn't observe many places that had closed--KBProjects is an exception--a couple of places closed earlier than listed, so it's best to either call ahead or use the book in conjunction with Yelp. It also came out to early to include Confederacy of Cruisers, an absolutely terrific bike tour company I highly recommend.

This little book was really handy on our recent trip to Nola. I had never been before. All the suggested restaurants and museums were great. I was disappointed that it did not contain a walking tour because this is a favorite feature of our other Lonely Planet books. I am assuming this is because it is part of the Encounter series.