Southwest USA & Las Vegas

Eyewitness Travel Guides

by Randa Bishop

Covers: the Grand Canyon, Northern Arizona, Phoenix, Southern Arizona, Las Vegas, Southern Utah, the Four Corners, Santa Fe, Northern New Mexico, Albuquerque, and Southern New Mexico.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference

312 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

Reviews

[Oceana2602 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only bought this book because I needed a travel guide fast, and the Lonely Planet wasn't available at the book store. It's not a bad guide, but I believe in the rule that a book should have text, unless it is a picture book. This has not enough text for a travel guide. Which will make it perfect for some people, of course.

I don't particularly like that eating and sleeping have their own section, because it requires you to jump back and forth in the book when you are at one place and looking for sights and a place to eat or sleep.

Due to the many pictures, the book is also very heavy, which is never a good thing for a travel guide. Though I guess with as little information as this seems to have, you could probably read it in the car and then leave it there. I ended up not bringing it to my trip at all, but then, I was mostly away from any kind of settlement, so I didn't really need a travel guide.

I am, however, very grateful for the picturesque description of the San Juan Skyway, which I would likely have completely missed if it wasn't for this guide.

Conclusion: if you are ever in Colorado, drive the San Juan Skyway.
See, now you don't need this book anymore.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a somewhat odd pairing, in my opinion. The first half of this guide is devoted to the bright lights of Vegas (and a lesser extent, of Phoenix). The second half is given over to the glories of Southern Utah, the Four Corners Region, and the areas near Santa Fe and Albuquerque. As such, it's part city guide and part outdoor guide. I'm not sure it succeeds at the latter, however. Perhaps for the driving tourist who doesn't want to spend much time from the confines of a car it would work, but anyone who wants to explore beyond the scenic overlooks will want at least one other guidebook.

Having said that, the guide is a nice visual introduction to the various regions it covers (although, admittedly, I can't really claim to know if this is true for Las Vegas, having never been there). The strength of the Eyewitness Guides is also the selection of wonderful photos and illustrations. These are supplemented with reasonably good maps, a section on hotels and restaurants, and practical information for travelers.

[Miriam Jacobs · Rating 2 out of 5]

The upcoming release of the latest edition of this book is slated for May 21. I I need it before then so bought this book used ($3 on Amazon) to learn something about how the various sites that interest me are related to each other. This guide looks fine at a glance but when you try to really use it you realize it contains hardly any actual information. Disappointing, underdeveloped in the extreme.

I noticed the same problem with a new guide from the same publisher, New Orleans's 10 Best. Not so great.

Too bad, I always loved this series and have, like, 15 of them. Boo hoo.

[Mickey]

Lots of pictures and history about the Southwest US. I love all the lore about Annie Oakley, the OK Corral, and the Earps! (Travel)

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative book on where to travel, what sights to see and cultural information.