Product Description

Discover London

Be James Bond (at least for an hour) and shoot along the Thames on a speedboat

Get our your glad rags and head for one of the capital's legendary burlesque nights

Swap traffic-filled streets for riverside views and top attractions along London's South Bank

Graze with gourmets at Borough Market's foodie heaven: gazpacho and truffles anyone?

In This Guide:

Three resident authors, 1900 hours of research, more than 800 places recommended

Special color chapters on London's architecture and the city's festivals and events

Content updated daily: visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews, updates and traveler suggestions

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #203996 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 444 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781741047127
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"Lonely Planet guidebooks are, quite simply, like no others."
-- New York Times

Lonely Planet guidebooks are, quite simply, like no others.' --New York Times

From the Publisher
Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travelers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travelers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
*We update our guidebooks by visiting thousands of places in person to get the details right and tell it as it is.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travelers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travelers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Customer Reviews

Why do you hate travlers?
I have traveled the world with those blue books, and this is the worst. I have never read a travel book that reads more like a where not to go; they might as well have given Hard Rock Cafe London top billing. It read like it was written by a local with distain for tourists and a deep rooted passion to keep them out of the "locals only" places. For instance, the best neighborhood for shopping was ignored, the best clubs for music weren't listed and most restaurants were completely miss represented. Every time I asked a local where they went, even the well-know-among-Londoners places, were either not listed, or so poorly listed, I was shocked when I arrived. I can't say this swears me off my love of the LP series, since I could still read them like novels, but this is on the bottom of the heap.

So disappointed!
I am a long-time Lonely Planet fan. I even bought one about where I live for those moments I'm feeling touristy in my hometown. The London City Guide wasn't very useful at all. I have an upcoming trip to San Francisico planned, and I'm seriously considering trying a different publisher after this experience.

The guide has the Lonely Planet standards - maps, walking tours, tons of history about the city. But the index is terrible! If you're like me and you use the index to look up information quickly while you're walking by a landmark, this book won't help you much. Want to learn about Buckingham Palace? While Kensington and Windsor are listed in the index, Buckingham is not. You have to find a special section called "Palaces" in the back pages, and the page number for Buckingham is listed there. This is just one example of SEVERAL instances where I was unsatisfied with this purchase.

As another reviewer mentioned, there is no information on the Underground "Tube" system. They give you a map, but that's it. And the people working in the stations are of little help when trying to decide which pass is best for your needs. One of my travel companions had the Rick Steves London book, which provided detailed Underground info that helped us choose our Oyster card.

Also, the admission prices they list are WAY off. Of course, you can't really fault them for that. As soon as you print a book, it's immediately out of date. But my advice is to wait (if you can) for the next publication of this book, or look up the admission prices online before you go if you're trying to budget out your trip in advance.

Here are a few tips that I learned while visiting London that this book didn't teach me -
1) Always try to buy your attactions tickets ahead of time to avoid wasting time in line. We bought our tickets every morning at our hotel's front desk.
2) Try to stay in the Paddington Station area. Among others, Paddington has the Circle and District Underground lines which take you to pretty much any attraction. You can also take trains from Heathrow to Paddington, and can even catch a train out of the city, if that is on your itinerary.
3) Those red double decker "hop on and off" tour buses are overpriced at 25 GBP. At my time of travel, the US conversion made it over $40! While they help you get a lay of the land, it would have been a great cost savings just to use our Oyster cards to get to the attractions we wanted to see.
4) When converting your currency to GBP, it is better to withdraw the funds from an ATM rather than using those currency exchange places in the airport and train stations. In my experience, my bank gave me a much better exchange rate and didn't even charge me for the transaction!

inted
I too have been a loyal user of LP guides. Bringing it on my recent trip was a waste. Besides the general lack of information, it's poorly organized. For example, things mentioned in the text are often missing from the index. The neighborhoods are clumped together, and the suggested walks don't even include many of the highlights just mentioned in the text. I bought it largely for tips on offbeat places and veggie food, but could have left it home. I hate to say it, but get yourself a different guide for this city.