Product Description

New York remains a hot destination—40 million annual visitors (36 from the U.S. alone) can't be wrong. To help them see the best this town has to offer, Fodor's New York City 2008 includes many new browsable and fun features.

• Spreads filled with photographs, maps, and drawings direct readers to the things that make New York unique, including Broadway, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park, and Lower East Side nightlife

• Experience New York: Size up what to do quickly with snapshot descriptions of the top attractions, coolest restaurants and shops, and great walks

• Neighborhoods: Photo-rich profiles of the city's major neighborhoods include a detailed map, tips for visiting, where to get a quick bite, fun things to do, and lists of area sights, restaurants, and hotels

• Tip boxes for saving money and time

• 16-page color insert and full-color pullout maps of the city and the subway

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #475805 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-28
• Released on: 2007-08-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

Review
"Best full-size guide to NYC." -- The Boston Globe

About the Author
Each Fodor's Travel Guide is researched and written by resident experts

Customer Reviews

Good resource
This is a good resource if you are thinking of visiting New York City. Frommer's is another resource, too.

However, this volume has a number of very important pluses. For one thing, there are well detailed maps of different parts of the city.

For another, there are very helpful maps of museums. For instance, the floor plan map of the American Museum of Natural History would be most useful for people wanting to explore this facility. Just so with a map of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And so on.

As with other publications, there are sections on hotels, restaurants, shopping, entertainment, etc. Very well done in this volume. The problem, of course, is that there is much change. Restaurants come and go; the same with other facilities. Nonetheless, this volume provides enough depth that such matters are only secondary.

All in all, this is a good reference for those who are thinking of visiting New York City.

Too big to travel
This Fodor's guidebook does a thorough job of breaking down the different neighborhoods of NYC (with helpful maps), and there are some unexpected extras, such as a full-color section on Central Park (with maps), a section on the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (with a gallery floorplan), and a detailed section on "Ground Zero." However, this book also seems to leave out "insider tips" that I found in Frommer's NYC guidebooks (such as Frommer's "New York City Day by Day" or the "Portable NYC" guide). For instance, while the Fodor's book does explain how to catch the free Staten Island Ferry, Frommer's "Portable" guide recommends that you sit on the right side for the best views of the Statue of Liberty. Despite all its break-out maps, Fodor's guide doesn't include a theatre district map. In addition, information on transportation options for getting to and from the area airports is shoved to the back of the guidebook like an afterthought. Finally, the organization wasn't the most effective for me; attractions are organized by neighborhood, so if you don't know, for instance, that the Empire State Building is located in the Union Square district, you have to use the index. It would be nice to have an overview of famous sites at the beginning of the guide to get oriented rather than have to start out "digging" for all the places you may want to see.

Unfortunately, this 500+ page guidebook is just too bulky to carry around NYC. However, it does provide a solid overview for those people still in the planning stages of their trip. I plan to take this book with me to NYC, but to pull out the lengthy sections on "Where to Stay" (I already have hotel reservations) and "Where to Dine" (I've already made dining arrangements). I do think Fodor's complements the Frommer's guides because it (Fodor's) provides great maps and interesting historical information about some sites; however, I still prefer the portable Frommer's guides, which provide compact, but meaty information.

Useful but not comprehensive
I found this guide slightly cumbersome due to the breadth of information, but what can you expect when covering such a vastly rich expanse such as New York City? I enjoyed the pictorial nuances and especially the "Word of Mouth" section that includes what you might expect: thoughts, recommendations & suggestions from native New Yorkers. These tid-bits are included in various parts of the guide--I thought this was an exceptionally informative touch. The introduction is well written, especially the suggestion on seeing the sights on foot.

As a side note: I have visited New York on many occasions but had never invested in a guide. I would certainly recommend the Fodor's over perhaps Frommer's, but would also caution those to purchase a secondary guide as well. There are a couple of wonderful publications around the superficial premise of "secrets" of New York--these are actually helpful and insightful guides. I'd also recommend: The Best Things to do in New York: 1001 Ideas.