The Rough Guide to the USA (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

by Samantha Cook (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
A remarkably complete -- and compact -- travel guide to the entire United States. I scrutinized pages for two cities I know intimately (New Haven, CT, and Seattle, WA) and one I just visited (Palm Springs, CA) and can honestly say that this book does a very good job of capturing the essential feeling of each place, and of describing the high and low points of each locale. As is inevitable for such a copious compendium, there are entries for establishments that have gone out of business (The Unicorn and Costermonger), or entries I wished they had included (The Museum of Toasters). But on the whole, it's hard to imagine a more comprehensive and useful volume for the perennially peripatetic US traveler. Two suitcases up, up, and away! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"The single most valuable resource we had on our trip. . . we referred to it constantly."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1408 pages
• Publisher: Rough Guides; 7th edition (May 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184353262X
• ISBN-13: 978-1843532620
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,073,330 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Missing some crucial information, October 8, 2000

By	Stephan Schmidt-Tank (Stuttgart, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rough Guide to USA (Rough Guides) (Paperback)

I just completed a 2 month trip through the US and Canada. I'm afraid to say that the Rough Guide was not always very helpful in the process. It does contain all the basic information on a lot of places, all right. And I guess it is to be expected that some of it is quite superficial as you cannot not cover everything. However, the book has some important shortcomings:

- Maps are few and poor. More often than not I found that major streets were missing, making orientation a hassle. So you have to juggle the guidebook and a separate map when walking through cities or driving around. Also, it would be very helpful to mark the recommendations on the maps in the book (which is rather rarely done), so you don't spend hours locating the addresses on the map.

- The guide does not always indicate price ranges for restaurant recommendations (especially in large cities). It is quite annoying if you travel across town to a restaurant (and spend some time on it if you don't have a car) to find that the dishes are... and up. For budget travelers, this guide might be difficult to swallow.

- There's some inaccurate info on hostels and their opening times. So you need to call ahead before you end up in front of closed doors. Also, price ranges for motels are way off.

- There is no section on dangers and annoyances for cities, a section that could be very helpful (although it sometimes warns of some dangerous areas in the text).

Also, the rough Guide might want to consider a better binding, as the book came apart after six weeks of usage. Overall, next time I'd rather go for another guide than this for a trip to the US.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars still one of the best USA guidebooks, May 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Rough Guide to USA (Rough Guides) (Paperback)

I just upgraded my old copy of the USA Rough Guide to the 2000 edition, because I think it's still one of the best USA guidebooks around. If you're visiting just one area of the US, you will find more detailed information in other books, but for those who want to travel all over the country, this guide contains a ton of information for a low price.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The only guide you need, April 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Usa: The Rough Guide, Fourth Edition (4th Edition) (Paperback)

The Rough Guide is the best guide available. They give you an insight into what you want to do and regularly point out things you would have otherwise missed. My wife & I have just completed our 3 cross country trip with this book and they are yet to fail us. The best thing, outside of the history and background information they provide you is the restaurant recommendations. None of this where to get the best tofu burger here. They send you to where the locals eat and it has never failed us for great authentic eating. We threw out our other guide books months ago and swear by this series.