Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Down the Road, September 26, 2010
This review is from: Lonely Planet USA's Best Trips (Regional Travel Guide) (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Note to self - when you can't sleep, don't start reading travel books. Especially, don't read the ones where they talk about food. And especially, not the ones where they talk about a tour of New Jersey diners, where to get the best barbecue around Austin, or where to find the beef in Oklahoma. Big mistake. If you're up for traveling, however, you'll get a huge amount from this book. It has almost a hundred tours around different parts of the USA, and ways to spend 48 hours in some big cities. Naturally, if you live in the U.S. you'll have your own favorites, and this book seems to hit the spot on all of mine. The trips include recommendation for scenery and cities, along with the food details (in case I haven't already mentioned that) and places to stay. It's a Lonely Planet guide, and the places are in the mid-range and bargain basement level. However, that's not to pan the choices, just to notice that they pick places on just about everybody's budget. You are expected to have your own or a rental car - no need to backpack, although there is one tour by rail. The routes cover from just a few miles, up to the ones that cross the country. They give you a suggested time for long each trip will take, and for example allow 10-12 days for the New York-San Francisco trip. There are clear instructions for getting to the starting point of each trip, plus details of websites, along with suggestion for other trips in the same area. Around a dozen experienced writers make it very easy to follow. Great book. I'm sure it will give you itchy feet, and in my case an itchy stomach as well. :(
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too many trips with too little info. makes book impractical to use, September 23, 2010
This review is from: Lonely Planet USA's Best Trips (Regional Travel Guide) (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I'll grant this 2 stars because it might be fun for a bit of armchair traveling on a rainy day (although it lacks photos) or ok to find some ideas for further research. But because they have packed so much into each trip, and so many trips into this book, the details are often too slim to follow. Here's an example from p. 212. The section is called "60 Lighthouses in 60 Hours" and involves driving from Kittery, in southern Maine, to the Canadian border: "A trip out to (17) Mt. Desert Rock Light, Maine's most remote lighthouse, is not for the faint of heart; it's a challenge even to see this concrete conical shaft from a boat. Located on a scrubbly little islet 20 miles from Mt. Desert Island, the lonely light gets battered and beaten throughout the year . . ." So, how DO I see it? Should I hire a boat? Give it a miss? (And if so, why is it included?) Also, although this drive is supposed to take 60 hours (one way?), they only have one recommendation in the "sleep" section. You certainly can't make that single inn your base and commute to the lighthouses every day. I love the Lonely Planet TV series but this book is disappointing. Use it to pique your interest in certain areas, but plan to find extra resources to actually plan your trip.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good roadtrip inspiration, odd selection of trips, October 25, 2010
This review is from: Lonely Planet USA's Best Trips (Regional Travel Guide) (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This book is a great idea, and overall pretty well executed. The trips are themed and *very* well organized, indexed not only by region, but by season and theme (history, outdoors, cities, etc.). There's a handy "trip planner" with at-a-glance facts about each trip and several maps. Past all that intro, the trips themselves are also nicely laid out. The first page lists all the facts, a "why to go" introduction, and a map. The text highlights points of interest along the way with interesting call-out boxes included. The last section lists things to do, places to eat and stay, and web sites to visit to learn more. Finally, a very nice closing touch is the "Link Your Trip" for ideas on how to combine this trip with others in the book. Two drawbacks I've seen so far, though, make this a weak travel guide. First, the trips aren't very detailed, so you'll definitely want to consult other resources (but that's impossibly easy in this internet age). Second and more important to me, the Mid-Atlantic section is, well, pitiful. They've combined New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia into this section - in itself really odd - but the choices are just plain bizarre (and pretty dull, to boot). Washington DC is given barely a nod, and Baltimore is ignored (except for a crab restaurant). This wouldn't seem so odd if NYC, Boston, Miami, New Orleans, Austin, Denver, Chicago (etc.) didn't all have trips listed ("48 hours in..."). Besides this, the trips they do include are pretty uninspired. Since this is the area I know best, it makes me wonder about the quality of advice for the other regions. Overall, we'll use this book for inspiration and ideas, but will definitely be using something else for actual trips.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
