Lonely Planet London: City Guide

Average customer rating:

One Of The Top Guides For London
outdated
Lonely in London.
You're going to LOVE BRITAIN!
Perfect for student traveling

Lonely Planet London: City Guide (Lonely Planet London)
Martin Hughes , Tom Masters , and Sarah Johnstone
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

Lonely Planet | Guidebook Series | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The London Mapguide, 5th Edition
Lonely Planet England
Lonely Planet Paris
Walking London: Thirty Original Walks In and Around London
Streetwise London (Streetwise)

ASIN: 1741040914

Book Description

The timeless treasures of Westminster and St Paul's, the hedonistic pleasures of Shoreditch and Soho, culture on the South Bank and multiculturalism down Brick Lane - London is a world in one city. Find its heart with this smart and stylish guide.

* GET THE INSIDE SCOOP from our dedicated London experts <BR>* GO UNDERGROUND, GO OVER GROUND with easy-to-use colour maps and detailed walking tours <BR>* EAT & SLEEP LIKE ROYALTY - accommodation and restaurant options to suit all, whether your style is pie and mash or Fortnum & Mason, elegant townhouse B&Bs or ubercool designer hotels <BR>* IMMERSE YOURSELF - drink in Dickensian pubs, club in Clerkenwell and browse the boutiques of Bond Street with the help of our definitive listings <BR>* GET OUT, GET ABOUT with day trips to Oxford, Cambridge, Brighton and beyond

Customer Reviews:

One Of The Top Guides For London.......2005-12-19

There are many guides to London. From what I can see there are two good general guidebooks. These are the Eyewitness Travel (DK) guide which is the one that I personally prefer or Lonely Planet (the present book). These two books are both just around 500 pages and both are tremendous efforts. They are well balanced guides with lots of photos, maps, history, etc. Both are clearly 5 star guides.

I would rate both (and DK Eyewitness Travel and Lonely Planet) head and shoulders ahead of Frommers or similar books that are less well balanced, i.e.; fewer photos. Overall, the DK guide has better photos and visuals. In fact I am amazed every time I pick up and read that DK guide with the quality of the photos and technical detail. Those graphics make for a better souvenir so it gets the nod as the better book, but it is a close call.

The city has lots of fun things to see and do but time is usually limited and it is expensive - so these guides are good investments. This book is well balanced and like the DK guide it pulls a lot of things together such as history and culture, food, towns and lots of interesting information on London. The book brings it all to life with just magnificent photos and maps, including subway maps.

I have one suggestion, and that is to buy the guide before planning your trip. The guide has lots of information and tips on places to see.

Either case this is an excellent buy. 5 stars.

outdated.......2005-09-14

The lonely planet london had some good walking tours, but for the most part, terribly out-dated in terms of prices for museums/attractions and also many stores/restaurants/internet spots have since closed. The maps are decent.

Lonely in London........2005-01-09

I swear by the Lonely Planet travel guides, and this one is no exception. While planning my recent trip to London, I discovered two first-rate London guidebooks, this one, and Rick Steves' London 2005 (which I prefer of the two). The LP guide offers detailed maps in the back of the book, including a tube map. It also enabled me to find affordable hotel accomodations in the otherwise expensive Hyde Park area. LP's guide provides an excellent orientation of the city's culture, architecture, and history, and features several worthwhile walking tours through the Soho, South Bank, Fleet Street and central city areas of London. London is among the ultimate European travel destinations, and first-time visitors will need no more than this guide to explore the city's pubs, its fascinating streets and neighborhoods, and its many, great art museums.

G. Merritt

You're going to LOVE BRITAIN! .......2004-09-23

I've spent a year in England and have made >30 visits all together.

Here are my reviews of the best guides....to meet you r exact needs.....I hope these are helpful and that you have a great visit! I always gauge the quality of my visit by how much I remember a year later......this review is designed to help you get the guide that will be sure YOU remember your trip many years into the future. Travel Safe and enjoy yourself to the max!

Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet has City and Out To Eat Guides. They are all about the experience so they focus on doing, being, getting there, and this means they have the best detailed information, including both inexpensive and really spectacular restaurants and hotels, out-of-the-way places, weird things to see and do, the list is endless.

MapGuide
MapGuide is very easy to use and has the best location information for pubs, hotels, tourist attractions, museums, churches etc. that they manage to keep fairly up to date. It's great for teaching you how to use the underground and the double decker buses. The text sections are quick overviews, not reviews, but the strong suite here is brevity, not depth. I strongly recommend this for your first few times learning your way around the classic tourist sites and experiences. MapGuide is excellent as long as you are staying pretty much in the city centre. When you get to be an old London hand, remember that the classic Londoners guide will always be an A to Z (zed) map and guide. If you want to go a bit beyond the central core of the city (perhaps to Windsor, Hampton, or further away) you really need the proper AtoZ to be able to find exact routes and streets.

Time Out
The Time Out guides are very good. Easy reading, short reviews of restaurants, hotels, and other sites, with good public transport maps that go beyond the city centre. Many people who buy more than one guidebook end up liking this one best!

Blue Guides
Without doubt, the best of the walks guides.... the Blue Guide has been around since 1918 and has extremely well designed walks with lots of unique little side stops to hit on just about any interest you have. If you want to pick up the feel of the city, this is the best book to do that for you. This is one that you end up packing on your 10th trip, by which time it is well worn.

Michelin
Famous for their quality reviews, the Red Michelin Guides are for hotels & Restaurants, the Green Michelin Guides are for main tourist destinations. However, the English language Green guide is the one most people use and it has now been supplemented with hotel and restaurant information. These are the serious review guides as the famous Michelin ratings are issued via these books.

Let's Go
Let's Go is a great guide series that specializes in the niche interest details that turn a trip into a great and memorable experience. Started by and for college students, these guides are famous for the details provided by people who used the book the previous year. They continue to focus on providing a great experience inexpensively. If you want to know about the top restaurants, this is not for you (use Fodor's or Michelin). Let's Go does have a bewildering array of different guides though. Here's which is what:
Budget Guide is the main guide with incredibly detailed information and reviews on everything you can think of.
City Guide is just as intense but restricted to the single city.
PocketGuide is even smaller and features condensed information
MapGuide's are very good maps with public transportation and some other information (like museum hours, etc.)

Fodor's
Fodor's is the best selling guide among Americans. They have a bewildering array of different guides. Here's which is what:
The Gold Guide is the main book with good reviews of everything and lots of tours, walks, and just about everything else you could think of. It's not called the Gold guide for nothing though....it assumes you have money and are willing to spend it.
PocketGuide is designed for a quick first visit
UpCLOSE for independent travel that is cheap and well thought out
CityPack is a plastic pocket map with some guide information
Exploring is for cultural interests, lots of photos and designed to supplement the Gold guide

Perfect for student traveling.......2004-09-17

I would recommend this book to any student or individual who is traveling to London and cannot afford to live in the most expensive sections of London that Frommer's offers. I loved this book. I took it everywhere I went in London and never got losted. I had this book more often than I had my passport. I even got Jack Black's autograph in this book when he came for his movie premiere. If you are going to London, you must pick up this book first. It is the only thing you will need. There are maps inside and everything you will need to live and commute in London. This was my first Lonely Planet and would recommend it to anyone interested in really travelling London. If you are going that way, tell everyone hello for me in the Museum Tavern, which is where Karl Marx took his study breaks during the writing of the Communist Manifesto.

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