Wot, not pictures? (Frommer's Travel Guides)

Member Name: kingseany

Product:	Frommer's Travel Guides
Date:	03/06/04 (55 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comprehensive, Honest, Good value

Disadvantages: No pictures

Frommers publish a huge variety of travel guides, covering all corners of the world. Perhaps what is different to the many other guides out there, is that there are no photographs. At first I thought this was a bad thing, but having read through Frommer's Jamaica, the quality of the text makes up for it.

Each guide will be slightly different in size, the Jamaica one is about 240 pages, and is a paperback less than the size of A5. There are few maps, eight in fact, including a colour one of the island on the back flap. The use of full colour is very scarce, limited to the covers, and an advertisement in the middle. Spot colour red is used throughout the book though, so actually finding information quickly isn't too bad.

The three page contents page at the front is split into sections such as What's New in (Jamaica), Planning your trip to (Jamaica), then sections on the various areas of the country. The "Planning Your Trip" section is perhaps what you should look at at first. It contains a brief overview of the country, entry requirements, money, best time to go, safety issues, transport, accommodation, shopping, dining and much more.

The sections on the specific areas also detail where to stay, where to eat, best beaches, the sights, best buys, what to avoid and so on.

When it comes to hotels and the like, it is easy to identify which are classed as Very Expensive, Expensive, Moderate or Inexpensive. They also have a star rating - all mentioned hotels are recommended, some more highly than others. Full details of each hotel mentioned is included.

Restaurants are also rated, an idea of the type of cuisine served, the atmosphere, location and a price guide is given too - in Jamaican and US dollars.

Towards the back of the book is a section cal
led Jamaica in Depth. This covers history of the country, art, architecture, culture including rastafarianism, language, folklore, music - including the all important reggae and calypso which the island is so renown for. Cuisine is also covered, giving you an insight into what you should expect to be offered whilst there.

There is a comprehensive index, and also seperate indices for accommodation and restaturants.

All in all, the book seems a very honest look at the country in question - written by travellers. There is a hige amount of information, for pre-travel and of course when you're there.

Priced at £11.95, the guides should be available at most high street book stores, and of course over the internet. Ebay is a great place to buy at a discounted rate, but check the year of publication before buying. Amazon also are worth checking, I've seen this for less than £8 - a great way to spend those dooyoo miles!

Frommers have a website, which will give further details - www.frommers.com

Summary: