The best city guide money can buy (Time Out Guide New York)

Member Name: paulie1975

Product:	Time Out Guide New York
Date:	31/01/09 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great reviews, thorough, funky and honest

Disadvantages: None

Now the Time Out City Guides are my favourite travel guides in the world. I purchased a Time Out Guide to New York for £8.99 from WH Smiths but its available from most good book retailers. It really is a great guide to a city based on the contributions of Time Out New York journalists it provides a brilliant accompaniment for any traveller.

The book starts giving an in-depth history of the City, explaining how the City was used for Settlers from Europe and the history of Staten Island, the Statue of Liberty, the Rockafellar Centre and anything else you'd associate with the city.

It then describes areas of interest in each region of the city, providing cool guides to areas such as Brooklyn and Harlem as well as the more touristy areas which it covers in more depth. In difference to a country guide, this kind of guide has interesting pages on certain places of interest and sections on things like Maddison Square Gardens or Central Park, explaining the areas with maps, their history and what to do there.

It then follows onto guides on shops, this is really varied covering clothes, electronics, sweets, departments stores, general stores, electronic stores, reviews are totally frank and some places are slated while others receive plaudits, I found it very honest and its opinions of places like Macey's closely matched my own.

Following this are more in depth reviews of Hotels by area, prices are explained, and given $ ratings out of 5 to signify how pricey they are, again, the reviews are frank and honest, there are notes advising the best hotels for romance, business and other interesting factors, overall this section helps you decide where to stay and should be consulted and cross-checked against Lonely Planet guides.

Following this are reviews of restaurants/bars and nightclubs, this is thorough, sectioned into types of cuisine by area, you can then find what you want in the area your staying or what you want by your cuisine. Prices are advised in the $ format again and total honesty is displayed with some highly rated diners being destroyed and some little gems being unearthed, there are pictures and the guide really does shine because of its honesty and its depth. Its essential for any city traveller.

Finally there is a section advising of customs, currency, things like what chargers you'd require, how to tip and any issues with language, transport in the city and guides to temperature and rainfall.

Overall this is a great guide, honest, concise, really cool and well written it helped me find some wicked places to eat and drink and confirmed a few reviews were honest in some of the real landmarks as they were as disappointing as described.

Written in the funky style of someone who has gone to the city for fun and adventure, I love these city guides and have found them the best book to use in every city I have visited.

Summary: The best city guide money can buy