Fodor's

This travel guide from Fodor's covers a lot of ground (arts, science, and history attractions plus restaurants, night life, etc.). These are grouped first by the "best of" as selected by editors; then the book moves into an area by area division, including some sites slightly outside of the district. The book also contains some general tips for travel in the DC area and a handful of suggestions for accommodations.

This guidebook is a good pocket/purse size travel companion. It contains a fold show more out map (street level) plus smaller maps (metro and area overviews) in the front cover in addition to details map at the beginning of each section dedicated to a specific area of the district. For that reason, I could see this book being very useful to have on hand while travelling in the district.

However, this book makes me wonder how much the authors have traveled outside of DC. Perhaps I'm spoiled by living in a fairly urban area myself but it was really weird to see recommendations like IKEA for shopping and Five Guys for dining. I mean, why would I go all the way to DC just to go to such mundane big chains that I can easily access at home? Of course, for international travelers, there may be some more interest for these places, although it's still a bit of stretch in my opinion. For Pete's sake, the authors repeatedly mention Bed Bath & Beyond as an attraction. Really???

As is likely going to be the case with any travel guide that's a few years old like this one, several of the places listed have since closed, the "budget" hotels are now much pricier than listed, etc. That's just the nature of the game with these things though.

All in all, this is an acceptable guidebook that covered the highlights for me, providing enough information to jumpstart my planning process. Still, I think there are probably better options out there. show less

Do you know the old saying, “Buy the dress, the event will come”? That’s how I feel about travel guides. (I pick up a few guides to Hawaii, the next thing you know I’m drinking piña coladas in Waikiki.) I’ve dreamed of a trip to France my entire life. It is, unquestionably, number one on my dream destination list. Even if it wasn’t, after checking out Fodor’s guide, it surely would be!

This is a hefty little book (which is, technically, not ideal for travel) coming in at 892 show more pages. The first thing you’re likely to notice is the photographs. There are hundreds of them, making for a well-illustrated book. All are full-color, and the majority of them are relatively small. They serve a purpose. A few of them, however, are one- or two-page spreads and they are staggering, take-your-breath-away gorgeous! I mean, if you’re looking for inspiration to get on a plane, it’s there.

When it comes to travel guides, there are several publishers whose books I like for different reasons or attributes. But if I had to pick just one book, it would probably be Fodor’s every time. The pretty photos are nice, but what I really value are the detailed reviews of hotels, restaurants, and attractions. Beyond basic contact info and prices, these are substantive reviews sharing specifics, opinions, pros, and cons. Standout establishments are noted with a star and/or “Fodor’s Choice” designation. I’ve done very well following their recommendations over the years. When I’m trying to figure out where to go, I really value that—even if I’m still at home in my armchair.

The guide opens with an overview of the entire country. After that, there are chapters on Paris, Ile-de-France, the Loire Valley, Normandy, Brittany, Champagne Country, Alsace-Lorraine, Burgundy, Lyon and the Alps, Provence, the French Riviera, The Midi-Pyrénées and Languedoc-Roussillon, the Basque Country, Gascony and Haute-Pyrénées, Bordeaux and the Wine Country, and the Dordogne. Wherever you’re thinking of going, it’s covered. And, in addition to a high-quality folding map that can be pulled from the back of the book, there are more than 50 maps within the text. In short, you should be able to find everything you need for an exhaustive trip to France in this book. What are you waiting for? Buy the dress! show less

A heavy block-of-a-book on the outside, Fodor’s Italy 2009 (from the Full-Color Gold series) is packed with informative, well-organized and pleasingly presented material inside.

The entirety of Italy is an ambitious scope and Fodor’s tackles it, with depth and breadth, according to geography: Rome; then northern Italy (e.g. Venice, Milan, et al); central Italy (Florence, Tuscany, and others); and southern Italy (Naples, Sicily, etc.). Each area gets some history, local culture, color show more photographs, and transportation info; but the emphasis is on vetted recommendations for sites/attractions, restaurants, lodging, entertainment and shopping. In urban areas, accompanying maps and charts convert the text into at-a-glance summaries.

I especially like the suggestions for walking and driving tours, and the “Need a Break?” recommendations for places to pause for a glass of wine, sandwich, pastry or gelato. The only odd and iffy aspect is the inclusion of “Word of Mouth” quotes from Fodor’s online community of travelers -- mostly vacuous comments attributed only by screename -- that might fit on a casual website but strike a discord with this text’s otherwise polished tone. Overall, the book’s scope (and 960-page weight!) suit it best to armchair travel or as a starting point and planning tool -- indeed, I went from casual familiarity to an enthusiastic interest in visiting Italy as I read through this terrific guidebook. show less

I read this guidebook almost cover-to-cover before and during a multi-day trip to Seattle. I found a lot of the suggestions quite good, and I did use the highlights and suggested itineraries to plan my trip. I only ended up hitting 3 or 4 neighborhoods but I felt like I was able to see a lot in the amount of time I had. The boundaries between neighborhoods were not great; I spent a lot of time flipping back and forth between different maps when I had only walked a block or two. A little show more overlap might have been nice. The book’s coffee suggestions were particularly great. There were several places I read about in the book that were closed or had incorrect hours/pricing. Inevitable, but sad since this guidebook is only a year old. show less