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Lonely Planet City Guide: San Francisco
Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler has written an information-packed guide to the city by the bay which includes itineraries, walking, driving, and bike tour info, tips on shopping and dining, advice for public transportation, and more. Dozens of detailed, full-color maps.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 30, 2008
I'll be visiting a friend who lives in the San Francisco area for a few days next month, so I thought it would be worth taking a look at this. I read through it with the goal of figuring out what the weather would be like and what to expect - so I wasn't using it to create an iternary or find places to stay or eat.
Overall, it is pretty standard issue for a Lonely Planet city guide. It presents you with an understanding of the city's geographical layout, cultural make-up and interesting and affordable destinations for food, fun and drink.
However, I did not think it was as well-done as Lonely Planet guides I have used in the past. To begin with, I noticed several small typographical and "spell-check" errors in it. They were pretty minor errors, but were the sort of things I'd think that copy-readers or editors should have caught. Which made me wonder if there were other errors in it that I wasn't noticing - like incorrect phone numbers or operating hours. Hopefully a different set of proofreaders worked on those sections!
The other drawback was that I felt like some key maps to understanding the city were missing. If you are navigating around on your own, you'd need to carry some additional ones or do additional research before you get there. The guide does have a BART system map for the train system that runs through the greater Bay Area. But it does not include a system map for the Muni Metro light rail system that runs through San Francisco. Muni lines are listed on the neighborhood maps, and there's narrative about how the muni metro, bus and cable cars systems work, but I think it is harder to figure out how to navigate the system without a basic system map. I was also looking for a better and larger regional map, so that I could get a better grasp on where the out-of-town attractions and day-trips that are detailed in the book details are actually located.
Overall, it is pretty standard issue for a Lonely Planet city guide. It presents you with an understanding of the city's geographical layout, cultural make-up and interesting and affordable destinations for food, fun and drink.
However, I did not think it was as well-done as Lonely Planet guides I have used in the past. To begin with, I noticed several small typographical and "spell-check" errors in it. They were pretty minor errors, but were the sort of things I'd think that copy-readers or editors should have caught. Which made me wonder if there were other errors in it that I wasn't noticing - like incorrect phone numbers or operating hours. Hopefully a different set of proofreaders worked on those sections!
The other drawback was that I felt like some key maps to understanding the city were missing. If you are navigating around on your own, you'd need to carry some additional ones or do additional research before you get there. The guide does have a BART system map for the train system that runs through the greater Bay Area. But it does not include a system map for the Muni Metro light rail system that runs through San Francisco. Muni lines are listed on the neighborhood maps, and there's narrative about how the muni metro, bus and cable cars systems work, but I think it is harder to figure out how to navigate the system without a basic system map. I was also looking for a better and larger regional map, so that I could get a better grasp on where the out-of-town attractions and day-trips that are detailed in the book details are actually located.
January 12, 2013
Fun facts, small maps (at least in the Kindle Version) but great in-pocket for when you're out touring (or planning to go see San Francisco).
My family and I are moving to SF and I was curious about the history and culture and of course places to get great food, so I got this book on Amazon Kindle. It got a few bad reviews from people who live in the city, but those people LIVE in San Francisco to begin with. This is a great "trip planner" idea book. I haven't gotten to see everything listed in person yet, but it did a terrific job of preparing me for the trip, helping me decide where to go first and getting a little history on the city before we even reach our destination. And it did all of that without asking me to do 800+ web searches first. That makes it worth recommending :)
My family and I are moving to SF and I was curious about the history and culture and of course places to get great food, so I got this book on Amazon Kindle. It got a few bad reviews from people who live in the city, but those people LIVE in San Francisco to begin with. This is a great "trip planner" idea book. I haven't gotten to see everything listed in person yet, but it did a terrific job of preparing me for the trip, helping me decide where to go first and getting a little history on the city before we even reach our destination. And it did all of that without asking me to do 800+ web searches first. That makes it worth recommending :)
February 29, 2008
I use this book every time I go.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews