The Great Towns of America: A Guide to the 100 Best Getaways for a Vacation or Lifetime (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The nation's top 100 vacation spots from coast to coast star. All key attractions, restaurants, and lodgings, plus unique weather ratings and livability tables, are featured for each town.

From the Publisher

The Great Towns of America will be the premier guide to America's 100 best towns. By popular demand, the author has taken his "Great Towns of The West" concept across America for his seventh guidebook. If you want an exciting place for a vacation, away from the crime and congestion of cities, in a place abounding with scenic and recreational opportunities yet with all the fun and excitement, culture and amenities you can handle this is the first complete guidebook based on personal visits by the author. If you're looking for a more permanent respite from life in the city, handy data on weather and livability statistics may tempt you to stay longer. From Bar Harbor, Maine to Key West, Florida; and from La Conner, Washington, to Palm Desert, California; this book will tell you what the 100 best towns in America have going for them in attractions, restaurants, lodgings, weather, and personality.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: West Press (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0930743067
• ISBN-13: 978-0930743062
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,116,890 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars biased toward the west, November 18, 2002

By A Customer

The author includes dozens of towns from California and Oregon, but only four total from New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut combined. Many of the small towns in the northeast are the heart, soul, and heritage of America, but the author -- all of whose books except this one are guides to California and the west -- seems too distracted by gimmicky tourist and ski resort towns to notice.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Basic directory for weekends, weak for relocation, January 15, 2004

By	Giles N. Goodhead (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

GREAT TOWNS has a solid selection of towns across America, with no obvious candidates missing. For each place you get an introductory paragraph which provides travel-brochure copy about why the town in question is interesting. There follows a weather chart (the author's own index about how likely mild weather is each month) and then a list of hotels and restaurants. These lists have minimal descriptions, making it hard to really get a feel for the options. And that's basically it.

Obviously it's hard to communicate what truly makes a Great Town 'tick' in a directory-style book. Telluride versus Vail among Rockies ski-towns? Very different flavors, but you'd hardly know it from GREAT TOWNS. I feel there is a distinct lack of critical opinion between the covers. As a result, web browsing is far more informative.

Interesting footnote: at the back is a scoring system to rate 'livability' for people considering moving. Towns that voted for Republican Presidential candidates get a 'good' score on politics.

35 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for a Lifetime, March 4, 2001

By	Paula Cohen Martin (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Make no mistake about it--this book is only a vacation guide. This is NOT the book to read if you are looking for a place for a "Lifetime" (as the subtitle would mislead you to believe.) This is not the book to read if you are considering relocating. It's reviews are very superficial and offer no information regarding school systems, retirement options, etc. As a vacation guide, I find there are better. The Away for the Weekend series by Eleanor Berman are more helpful.