Best Places Vancouver

Unlike alot of travel books this one is laid out more like a novel with more explanations and full descriptions. This can get a little confusing if you need to find something in a hurry but it certainly provides you with more information. I visited Vancouver back in August for 5 days, so decided to buy the book and be prepared before hand. The restaurent section is superb.I found various small resaurants that felt untouched by any tourist. I felt like a local after being there only a few days. The only thing it lacks is more photos and nice paper stock. I also bought the lonely planet Vancouver book, and each had there own qualities. If the two books were combined it would make for an unbeatable guide.

We just came back from a trip to Vancouver and Victoria and had a very relaxing and rewarding experience with the help of this book. The portion relating to Vancouver was great with a helpful discussion of navigating your way around the city and its various neighborhoods. The restaurant/cafe recommendations were very helpful, and we thought, quite on the mark. Lodging recommendations were also on the money (even though we weren't thrilled with what we ended up with, but based on what else was available at that level of rating, the book's rating seemed to be right on). Finally, the section on Victoria and Whistler were especially helpful given our quick 'sojourns' to these areas. Oh yeah, we did a quick cross-reference of the ratings in this book with Zagat's and they were pretty much in line with each other. There were also lovely discussions in general about shopping in Vancouver (quite plentiful) as well as the parks and the top 20 attractions. Highly recommended.

Best Places provides a wonderful guide to Vancouver. The restaurant guide is especially thorough. Symbols appear next to attractions that are especially suited to certain interests (romance, families, budget travelers, and those seeking a spot with a uniquely Vancouver character) making it easy to customize your trip. Chapters on Whistler and Victoria are a nice plus. For my money Best Places is the best book for your trip to Vancouver.Some other titles in this category are nearly as good: The Lonely Planet guide is a little weaker on details of attractions but still tells you about lots of things to do. It also has more info for the less seasoned traveler or someone coming from outside (the west coast of) North America. While Best Places gives you one massive list of restaurants The City Smart guide groups restaurants by neighborhood, so if you want to plan all your dinners in advance, go with Best Places, but if you're looking ahead to a spontaneous movable feast, the City Smart guide will probably get you to the table more easily. All three of these are written by people who know the area, so the information is reliable. I wasn't so crazy about Frommer's Irreverent Guide. It costs nearly as much as the other three, but doesn't have anything else to recommend it above the others.

This was our first trip to Vancouver and we found this book to be very informative. The background/history sections are very helpful, especially "How to ack like a local". We found the way the book is divided to be very useful. The 190 restaurant options are fabulous. The exploring section is very informative for those who do not want to miss anything. The itineraies suggestions are good. Additionally, as a surprise, it does cover Victoria Island and Whistler.