Customer Reviews

Moleskine City Notebook Chicago

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

 

 

A++ product, cool little sections to write in names of stores, restaurants and attractions....pockets, maps, stickers....everything you could want in a personalized travel book.

One issue: The maps, although are made to fit inside this compact book, are tiny and difficult to read. On the bright side, the book contains transparency sheets that you can lay over maps and mark up with routes, directions or destination points--cool!

It's a satisfying and convenient size. Most of the notebook is blank pages, or sections that may be labelled however you wish, making it quite flexible. I especially like the detailed maps and the street guide.

However, neither the maps nor the street guide for Chicago includes the grid system! Even if visitors may not take the time, nor really need, to understand the numbering system, the city guides seem like they are as much geared toward residents as tourists.

I've had the Chicago city notebook for a couple years now and I never go to Chicago without it. Part of the reason is that I have collected a fair bit of information about locations of stores and restaurants I've enjoyed, and part of it because I have found it to be so useful. The maps cover the entire lake shore region, from south of the University of Chicago north past Lincoln Park Zoo. The detail in the main 'downtown' area (the loop and Michigan avenue area) is more than enough to make navigating the streets on foot or in a car quite easy.

One anecdote for why I love the Moleskine so much: I was in Chicago a little more than a year ago and was walking between our hotel (Merchandise Mart Holiday Inn) and the Tribune Building area and met a couple of other tourists at a cross walk. They were looking forlornly at their smartphones for a train depot. They asked if I was familiar with the area and where the nearest station was. I pulled out my analog device (the Moleskine!) and showed them the location of their station! Paper: 1, internet: 0.

I wish that the City Notebooks (and in particular, the Chicago one that this review is about) had two additional things though:

1. More map coverage. Coming in from Lake Michigan quickly runs one off the map. I don't need all the way to O'Hare, but another page or so in in some places would be nice. Especially in the Milwaukee Ave. and west Fullerton areas. These are gentrifying quickly and there are really nice restaurants out there that the map doesn't let you chart your way to.

2. Stickers to mark important places on the map. Certainly there are the pages to write in and the tracing paper to chart a route, but nothing is quite a quick as putting a sticker on the map at an intersection so that when you open to that page again you know exactly where the place you're looking for is. I would have appreciated marking my hotel, or particularly good restaurants, or even marking the location of a place I never wanted to forget (and was significant enough to stick on the map). I probably wouldn't use them all the time, but I definitely would use small stickers on the maps.

These notebooks are well-built, easy to use, and I don't travel without checking to see if the city I'm going to has one. In those cases I buy one!

I spent 3 months studying English in Chicago last year and decided to find the best city guide so I could enjoy the best things the city has to offer. I tried many of the well known guides and one of them (Fodor's) was my final choice. However, all guides are too focused on things for tourists and as I decided to be a Chicagoan for a few months, this city notebook was my main companion - I took notes, wrote addresses of great places I visited and used its maps a lot (the transparent pages are very useful to further customize your own map). Moleskine quality as its best. Highly recommended.

This is a great product. When my husband and I go on vacation to a large city, we always purchase a coordinating Moleskine because of the awesome maps & guides.

I go to DePaul in the city and it has been the most useful guide. I love how I can write down my favorite restaurants and places I like to go. Whenever my friends comeback from colleges out of state, I have a reference to show them the cool places where I party and stuff. I also like the maps in there too; Especially the CTA!

This book has good maps of the different neighborhoods as well as the train routes. Lots of room to make notes and reminders. Wonderful way to write down memories of your trip.

I bought this as a gift for a new Chicagoland transplant. She has found it very handy. Another great piece from the Moleskin brand.

the idea is nice but the maps are not that good, a pullout map would be much better. may sections are useless...let's say id not buy it if i could go back.