Swiss Italia San Francisco
2011 Edition. From Alcatraz to Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, Haight-Ashbury, and beyond, here's what to see and do, and where to eat, drink, shop, stay, and play in this gem of a city. Author/journalist Marlene Goldman has written four books, including Art/Shop/Eat San Francisco. - Color-coded, numbered entries in the text are keyed to full-color area maps in each chapter
- ''Top Picks'' direct you to not-to-be-missed attractions
- Notes pages
- Portable size and sleek, non-touristy ''Black Book'' format
- Full-color spot illustrations allround liven the text
- 10 easy-to-use fold-out maps
- Elastic band place holder marks your spot
- 4-1/4'' wide x 5-3/4'' high
- Concealed wire-o binding, book lies flat for ease of use
- 228 pages
Review ''When I buy a guidebook, I ordinarily look for the Frommer's $ a Day budget guides—Washington D.C. from $80 a Day, Paris from $95 a Day, etc. Why? Well, for the most part because I'm a creature of habit. I started buying the Frommer's and Let's Go guides years ago because they focus on budget travel. Let's Go is outstanding for backpackers and those on a actually tight budget. Frommer's is a bit more mature but still budget-minded (think hotels rather than hostels), and I like their ''Suggested Itineraries'' division and their maps (Frommer's maps are amongst the best). But now that there are so a lot of other guidebooks to choose from, I buy Frommer's largely because I may be in and out of the store in minutes rather than hours and I know I'll come home with a authenti guide. Then, just this past month, everything changed . . . I ran into something new . . . You see, when I went to the bookstore to pick up guidebooks for my upcoming honeymoon, I got an idea . . . Why not, I thought, buy five dissimilar guidebooks (from five dissimilar publishers) and compare them to find my favorite. So that's what I did. I purchased one brand for each stop and then, on my way out, I saw a little Paris guide I'd never seen (or heard of) before. So I picked that up too. (I go to Paris at least once a year so I may never have sufficient Paris guidebooks.) Here's what I found . . . and it astonished me: My favored book of all—for both pre-trip planning and on-the-ground support—is The Little Black Book of Paris. The other guides I purchased are all divided into divisions this way: Where to Stay, Where to Eat, What to Do. But The Little Black Book of Paris is disunited by area. And each area has it is own fold-out map (which, to be honest, blows the Frommer's maps out of the water). While the guide doesn't have an entire history or culture section like most of the others do—Lonely Planet, TimeOut, Fodor's, etc.—it's well written and there's an overview of each area at the beginning of each section. I liked the guide so much I went back to the bookstore to buy more.'' --Lori Appling, The Travel Writer's Life
Best Travel Series of the Year, 2008 ''We select the Little Black Travel Books as our travel guide series of the year. The main reasons for designating these guides as best of the year are their portability and user friendliness. (The spiral binding allows the reader to keep the book open to a sure page.) Individual volumes are little sufficient to fit into a pocket, but in terms of helpfulness, they are twice their physical dimensions. The other reason these guides are so worthy of praise is the fact that each volume has a neat, tidy, and nicely elaborated foldout map to the peculiar area beneath discussion. The chapters in each volume correspond to the geographical areas into which the writers divide the city for the tourist. Each chapter gives basi principles on places to see, available art, and amusement venues, places to eat and drink, where to shop, and where to stay. You may study a range of guides before your actual trip, but this is unquestionably a commendable prospect for carrying with you on site.'' --Booklist (American Library Association) About the AuthorJournalist and travel writer Marlene Goldman has a written assorted books, including Art/Shop/Eat San Francisco. |
Most helpful client reviews 40 of 40 persons found the following review helpful.
 A Little Book Packed Plum Full of SF
By S. E. Nelson
San Francisco is a great place to explore - it is compact, photogenic and well-served by public transportation. Seeing the famous websites is fine but the unfeigned San Francisco experience is found in strolling the streets and nosing around the stores of it is eclectic neighborhoods. The Little Black Book of SF is a handy guide for just such an SF adventure. The book is little sufficient to fit into most pockets while the spiral bound construction inside a sturdy cover and thick pages insure that it is going to stand up to the rigors of your SF adventure. This book is not a exhaustive discussion of all things SF but rather a heads up of what to look for once you find yourself in Cow Hollow or Bernal Heights or any of the City's other districts. There are 10 handy little maps at the start out of each district chapter followed by recommendations of what to see, where to shop, where to eat,drink and dance as well as what might be interesting to the kids. If you are a person that likes to travel light while in search of the authenti culture, this book is for you. 10 of 10 humans found the following review helpful.
Little Black Book
By K. H. Tilton
This is a extremely pleasing asset for travel in San Francisco. The very smart design makes it
simple to take with you everyplace because it is small, and ring-bound. The map for each division folds out and you may use it to bookmark a section. Points of interest are separated into categories, and described in more detail in the division beyond the map. Transit routes are marked as well. The only betterment I may think of is tabs for each map, to make it more immediate to find them by number. If you leave your heart in San Francisco, as I did, this book will help you when you go to find it, and lose it, again. 13 of 14 humans found the following review helpful.
A must-have for exploring the city!
By Melanie B.
I just returned from a long weekend in San Francisco, and this tour guide (supplemented with a lot of to-do-and-eat suggestions from local residents) was my bible! I planned a heap of of my stops around the suggestions in this guide and was not disappointed. The portable nature of the book was also a bonus. I would commend (as did a former reviewer) tabs for each neighborhood. You may want to manufacture your own with mini post-it notes for easy access. I highly commend this book for those planning a trip to San Francisco.
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