San Francisco & Northern California

View other editions of San Francisco & Northern California.
View books by Jamie Jensen, Barry Parr.

Great book, out of date (already) - Rated
Whenever we travel, we always read a DK Eyewitness guide first and they have never failed us. This is a typical DK book -lots of glossy pictures, great maps and useful info about the city. The only disappointment was that although we had the 2004 edition, when we traveled in early 2005, it was already out of date - cost of buses, cable cars etc were incorrect and some of the stores (namley FAO Schwartz) were no longer there. The general information and history is great though, so don't be too put off, just try to get the most recent edition available. Definitely better than the Lonely planet City guide.

San Francisco (DK Eyewitness Travel Guide). - Rated
This was the first Eyewitness travel guide I bought and I've never looked back. If you're not travelling on a budget and want to know the best places to stay, eat and see in your chosen destination then these guides are really unbeatable. Full of colour pictures and excellent cutaway diagrams they are travel guides that really make you want to read them.
The books are laid out in a sensible and easy to follow format and the level of information given is generally just right. For some of the more major sites the information is so detailed they do away with the need for buying local guides altogether.
Maps are included and proper streetfinder maps for the centre of all major cities have been included in all the books I've bought - these are really useful and save on expensive taxi fares for something that's only a couple of blocks away.
I now also own the Eyewitness guides for New York, Barcelona, Venice & the Veneto, Egypt, Scotland and Thailand. If one exits for the place I'm visiting I don't even look for an alternative any more.

Not suitable for backpackers though - stick to your Rough guides and Lonely planets if you're travelling on a budget.