Rick Steves' London 2010 [Paperback]

Rick Steves (Author), Gene Openshaw (Author)

Book Description

Series: Rick Steves | Publication Date: August 25, 2009

You can count on Rick Steves to tell you what you really need to know when traveling in London.

With the self-guided tours in this book, you’ll explore historic Big Ben, bustling Trafalgar Square, and the Tower of London—home of the crown jewels. Learn how to save time and money on the Tube, and how to avoid the mobs at the Changing of the Guard. Investigate London’s world-class museums, where you can trace Western civilization from the Magna Carta and Shakespeare to Van Gogh and Picasso. Venture into Soho’s theater district for a glitzy musical or a delicious Indian dinner. End a great day at a neighborhood pub, sharing a pint and a chat with a friendly local.

Rick’s candid, humorous advice will guide you to good-value hotels and restaurants in delightful London neighborhoods. You’ll learn how to get around by bus and on the Tube, and which sights are worth your time and money. More than just reviews and directions, a Rick Steves guidebook is a tour guide in your pocket.

Product Details

• Paperback: 536 pages
• Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing (August 25, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598802917
• ISBN-13: 978-1598802917
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,858 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Travel > Europe > Great Britain > England

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Rick Steves book, but missing as a general guide, October 18, 2009

By 

Eileen J. Samberg (Southborough, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rick Steves' London 2010 (Paperback)

I enjoy Rick Steves' books and always pick one up when I travel. I enjoy his 'back door' comments and suggestions and self-guided tours, and find them helpful. But depending on your type of trip, London 2010 might not be a sufficient guide on its own. This book concentrates on excellent self-guided walks outside -- Westminster, West End, City Walk, Bankside -- and MANY inside at the different museums and churches-- British Museum, British Library, both Tate museums, Victoria and Albert, National Gallery, National Portrait, Courtauld Gallery, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's, Tower of London. If you are not planning to spend a lot of time in these museums and churches, to which a large part of the book is devoted, this book is not the best choice. His sections on eating and sleeping are limited to a few neighborhoods. There are also no specific sections describing the different neighborhoods and the flavor of each. Of course, there are many excellent websites for eating and sleeping advice these days, and they can be more current, so maybe people don't expect a lot of help from books anymore. Perhaps a book with more sections would become too cumbersome to walk with, so the choice was made to gear this book towards a size that would be good on the many walks.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Steves . . ., February 10, 2010

By 

Carolyn Schneider (W-S, NC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rick Steves' London 2010 (Paperback)

Some parts of me do not want to like Rick Steves, but the fact is HE IS REALLY HELPFUL. Some of the basics are solid for folks who have not traveled, and for those who have traveled, the specifics of changing a train, tube stops, etc. are VERY helpful.

The down side is that the value of his books manifests itself in legions of humanity, Steves' guides in hand, go to all the places he suggests. The places he says ,"EAT" or "STAY" get swamped. The up side is that his recs. are good. Example : Rodin Museum in Paris, which is not a MAJOR site, but due to his rec. brings many people there. And it is worth the visit.

All that said, one must keep in mind his MAIN travel advice: try to be a local. Try new things. Try to get off the beaten path--and I think he would agree that path now includes (ironically) HIS path! That is, some of the stuff--esp. restaurants and hotels--are now VERY popular. However, his book can serve as enough of a confidence builder on the basics of London that even on a first trip, you might feel comfortable enough to go off that beaten path--and (for example) instead of going to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard (crowded, crowded, crowded and a tad overrated), you might wander down a side street and find a great local restaurant or funky SOMETHING to visit, tour, experience that will live in your memory forever.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Food and Kew, September 13, 2010

By 

Sonia Gabrielson "Sonia Gabrielson" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rick Steves' London 2010 (Paperback)

The walks are useful guidelines and I love the honest opinions and witty commentary that pops up throughout the book. It is fun to read and I generally agree with his opinions. However, he mentions Kew Gardens in passing. Which is a travesty, in my opinion, to the most beautiful place to visit in London. We spent an afternoon there and I felt like I could have spent more than a week absorbing the garden. He also has the most pitiful food suggestions known to travel books anywhere. He doesn't seem to care about food so that section of the book remained unread. We brought Frommers London which gave Kew three stars and highly recommended it so they won that round. But they had their own faults, like describing Piccadilly circus in a wholly favorable fashion while Rick Steves' description was much more accurate 'smells like teen spirit'. So I would recommend buying this book but having other reference points and using urbanspoon for food recommendations (which did itself proud).