Customer Reviews

The Rough Guide to USA

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My husband and I are preparing a two week drive across from Maryland to Oregon, so I picked this up to help me plan our route and stops. Based on the author's coverage of places that I know quite well, I'd say they've done as thorough a job as possible considering the size of this country. The largest cities get plenty of space and helpful maps also, but even smaller places get their fair mention. The book covers most major monuments, parks, and attractions, but also gives some good local flavor suggestions for lodging and dining. Lots of history and essential info- phone numbers, websites, hours/ months of operation, etc. Not too many pictures, so if that's what you're looking for, then look elsewhere. If they included pictures, this book would just be too big. I definitely like this one better than Lonely Planet or some of the others- it just has a little more info than some guides.

I took this book on a 6-week road trip of the Western US and found this book to be spot-on in just about every respect. I selected it in the first place by looking up what it had to say about my own hometown, which while not entirely laudatory was basically true. It repeatedly steered me toward good food, interesting sights and cheap hotels that weren't seedy or scary. One of the best finds was the Tonga Room in the Fairmont Hotel in San Fransisco - I ordinarily would not have darkened the door of the Fairmont, but the experience was so kitschy and fun.

In addition to providing a lot of great advice, we had a lot of fun reading the book, it's secion on American history and culture, and the descriptions of places we'd been or thought we might like to go. It was written by people I think I would enjoy hanging out with, and the insights were just the right fit for me.