The Rough Guide to Los Angeles 4 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)
Product Description
The Rough Guide to Los Angeles is the definitive handbook to the USA?s second biggest city. Now in its fourth edition, the guide is jam-packed with up-to-date listings of hundreds of the city?s restaurants, bars and hotels, as well as reviews of all the best clubs, shops, cinemas, and live music venues. Along with a thorough look at LA?s top tourist areas, from Hollywood and Beverly Hills to Santa Monica and Disneyland, the guide also takes time to explore less well-known but no less deserving destinations, from Downtown?s burgeoning arts district to Santa Catalina Island off the coast. There are chapters that look at LA?s colourful background, from the landmark architecture and local history, to the rise of the Hollywood film industry. The guide comes complete with plenty of maps to help you plan your trip to this free-spirited metropolis.
About the Author
Jeff Dickey is an established Rough Guide author and has contributed to eight different Rough Guides, including Washington DC, Seattle, the Pacific Northwest, California and USA. Jeff is also an accomplished film and video writer and spent five years at USC?s film school in LA.
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The fourth edition of the Rough Guide to Los Angeles lives up to the outstanding reputation of the travel publishing company. One of the best features of the Rough Guide is its crystal-clear yet fine type, printed on durable and thin pages, so that a ton of information get packed into a compact format. This is all accompanied by a glossy front section providing an overview of the highlights of the City of Angels.
The Rough Guide sticks to a tried-and-true format, starting with the basics, then providing detailed coverage of ten sections of the city (including Orange County, which probably doesn’t want to be considered a part of LA). Inland coverage extends only to Pasadena, so this is a better bet for coastal travel than it is for going into the eastern portions of the Los Angeles area. The last third of the book contains listing for accommodations, restaurants, bars, shopping, and activities. The selection of budget motels is a bit limited (beyond Motel 6), so anyone looking for a good deal on accommodations should head towards the Internet for a search. The restaurant and bar listings (organized by region and also indexed by type) are comprehensive and provide a good starting place to finding the spot to fit a traveler’s mood.
The book concludes with contextual information about Los Angeles, including history essays, references to LA in film, and books set in LA. As a reader, I appreciate that the basic must-have facts are in the front, with the optional history section relegated to the back of the book. The maps are second to none, with exquisite detail and major areas of interest well-identified.
The Rough Guide to Los Angeles is a worthwhile investment for any pleasure-seeker, business traveler, weekend tourist, and even the hardened local who would like to know a bit more about the multitudes of activities LA has to offer.
I always buy the Rough Guide series when I’m traveling to a new city. It’s English perspective is refreshing and the books are always well written. The problem with this writer is an obvious disgust with America and even more so he makes a trip to Disneyland sound like a visit to a landfill. My wife’s spirits were crushed when she read his condescending, dim, hateful view of American Legend Walt Disney’s magical park nearly ending our vacation there. Walt just wanted the huddled masses to enjoy his work…make us all feel better. This writer does not. After reading this book for 5 minutes you will be likely to cancel your trip. Too bad because most of the Rough Guide travel series is top shelf.