Frommer's England 2011: With Wales

I bought this book to help plan our trip to England & Wales. The books was invaluable in my being armed with information. I highly recommend it!

We took this book with us to our last trip to England and it was invaluable!

This is a must if you are doing England on your own, not as part of a tour. Even if you've visited there many times, as we have, you need this as a guide to restaurants, pubs, teas, events, and how to get around. Indispensable!

I took two country guides with me to England: Fodor's and Frommer's (see my review on Fodor's). Frommer's is my first choice for England, and here is why. The authors, Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince, have done their homework and have given visitors to England a very good guide. Their succinct section "The Best of England" points out, in 16 subject areas (The Best Cathedrals, Best Gardens, Best Pubs etc.), important areas that every tourist should be aware of. Frommer's very informative 60 page section "Planning Your Trip to England" is a quick and important read. The guide's strongest section is `London', top rate and excellent. Porter & Prince are also the author's of the recommended guide: "Frommer's London 2003". The `London' section in this book has been taken from that guide. Frommer's publications tend to be for the more affluent travelers but they do offer more help for those hoping to find "inexpensive" lodging (less than $100 a night) in England. Their "Very Expensive" range is unusually $400-$1000 per night, sometimes more. However, all of their recommendations are reliable and their description is very good. Unlike, Fodor's, they make life a bit easier by giving you the actual cost of accommodations and restaurant in both British pounds and dollars. Almost all of the hotels have website listing and seeing your accommodations in color via the web is a major help. However, this is not true for the restaurant listings, even though now many of the top restaurants have their own websites with vivid photos and menus -- I found no addresses listed. A guide book worth its salt has to guide you with quality maps. The few maps that Frommer's uses are graphically laid-out with restaurants and accommodations numerically located on each map. However, this guide cries out for MORE MAPS. This is a very weak area in this guide that could be easily remedied. Also, but not a significant deterrent, Frommer's only has nine pages set aside to introduce you to 2000+ years of English history. Do note that Fodor's includes Scotland and Wales, whereas this book, Frommer's England 2003, is strictly England. So, if you want one guide to take with you to see `England' then this is the guide to get. It is reliable, informative and very well laid out. Strongly Recommended.

I ALWAYS FIND THE FROMMER GUIDE BOOKS TO BE DISCRIMINATING, HONEST, UP-TO-DATE AND RIGHT ON! IT'S LIKE BEING TAKEN AROUND BY YOUR BEST FRIENDS.