4 comments about The Roads of Louisiana.

1. This book is a necessary tool for researchers of local or family history. The scale is 1"=25 miles so you get incredible details of small roads, cemeteries and other structures. Names of small communities and physical features are listed. The areas are easy to locate by checking a map of the state as a whole (located in two places in the book). And the book is a convenient size to throw in the car for an adventurous road trip (the pages are glossy paper and easy to clean). I find I frequently give "The Roads of Louisiana" as a gift to friends who like to explore the back roads as much as I do.



2. Too many roads and not enough time and money. But you'll have a blast trying to decided where to go next. I love old cemeteries, roads and places of mystery. This book is invaluable to those who wish to seek just that. Louisiana is so full of these places, you are sure to keep busy for years.
   I lived in South Louisiana for a bit and my weekends were full of country rides. I only wish I would have had this book at the time.
   There is topography included, which is helpful to those who search for archeaological sites, or homesites, and helpful tourist information such as state parks, plantations and waterways boat launching sites, to name a few.
   Even if you don't travel much, it's a very interesting book to just read. Especially if you're fascinated by maps.
   
   A great deal too, if you've priced individual topos lately... (but not to mislead you Quads do have greater detail when it comes to contour of the land.)
   
   So if you love adventure and need a reference guide to stay on the path of adventure, this book is a MUST have.



3. This map book is a very handy tool for anyone wanting to travel on the lesser known roads in Louisiana. It is broken down into smaller grids, and shows all types of roads, dirt, gravel, paved, etc. I highly recommend it.



4. This book is an excellent gift for my brother. He works for Altell. You would be surprised how much a telephone needs road maps to make his job alittle easier.

3 comments about Louisiana Atlas and Gazetteer.

1. I used this atlas to travel around Acadiana and the Pontchartrain district recently. Great for secondary roads but, as with many other DeLorme products lately, they have cut out detail on major roads for the sake of trying to make this like a tourist atlas like Ran McNally, etc. The beauty of my NC atlas is the finite detail on freeway exits and the like. I wish they would cut down on highlights unless they are going to keep the ramp details. Otherwise, it was much better than the "Roads of Louisiana" for my back-road jaunts.



2. This could have been an excellent map book, but there are no inserts for cities. Not even New Orleans has a decent close-up and the rest are left out altogether. I've never travelled without at least having to go through a city and the majority of the time my trip is to a city. The free state maps given at welcome centers did a better job than this.



3. A great atlas and just what I needed for touring around Louisiana. I had the atlas sent to my brother, based in N. Orleans (I am from the UK) and he was pretty impressed by the content. We toured up country Louisiana and the atlas proved invaluable - finding a few of the smaller roads quite easily. Well worth the money.

No comments about Rand Mcnally Easy to Read Louisiana (Rand McNally Easy to Read!).

No comments about New Orleans LA Street Map (American Map).

No comments about Frommer's New Orleans 2011 (Frommer's Complete).

1 comments about Fifty Hikes in Central New York: Hikes and Backpacking Trips from the Western Adirondacks to the Finger Lakes (50 Hikes in Louisiana: Walks, Hikes, & Backpacks in the Bayou State).

1. I found this book to be a great way to learn about public hiking trails in CNY area. It has many details about access, estimated time, and conditions on the trails. One particularly useful feature is that it has a copy of a topographic map of the area with the trail clearly marked. Has a map showing the relative positions of each trail across the region with the table of contents. I like this book because it gives me ideas about new places to explore with lots of specific information.

No comments about Frommer's New Orleans Day by Day (Frommer's Day by Day - Pocket).

5 comments about The Unofficial Guide to New Orleans (Unofficial Guides).

1. I've used quite a few guidebooks, but have to say this is the worst I've ever come across. I was given this book as a gift before moving to New Orleans, and was hoping to get a good idea about the city before arriving. Had I looked at the book myself, I would never have purchased it.
   
   The prose is confusing and overwhelming, the maps are difficult to find and sparse (the book offers an entire section of walking tours without highlighting a single route on a map). Additionally, the authors seem to constantly be telling the reader how they're different from other guidebooks, touting themselves as easier to use. The comparisons get old, and lend the unofficial guide a sense of amateurishness.
   
   Extremely disappointed in this book, threw it away upon my arrival for something easier/more useful, with actual maps, and pictures.



2. Early on in the Guide, the author mentions that the average visitor to New Orleans only stays 2-4 days. Despite being a relatively small city (you can bicycle across the entire city in less than an hour, even at a relaxed pace), there's an overwhelming amount to learn or experience within it. Accepting that getting the "real" picture, or a complete one, is impossible, this Guide is actually full of informative and accessible information.
   
   The restaurants, hotels, and attractions mentioned aren't ones that I, personally, would frequent, sometimes due to expense (I don't know many locals that can afford to eat at Emeril's or Commander's very often), and sometimes because, well, they'd be full of tourists. And a few of the eateries that I adore, such as Port of Call and Lil' Dizzy's, are given shockingly low ratings. But as a tourist, who may want to return home with tales of great, if brief, experiences of the city, perhaps K-Paul's is the right way to go, although I'd rather regale friends with a story about how I sat next to a shedding cat in Coop's eating red beans and rice with an Abita in hand while people screamed at the televisions.
   
   The "local" information is sometimes accurate, other times puzzling, and sometimes outright incorrect. However, the inaccuracies are mostly harmless, and heavily related to information about the city's neighborhoods. Discussing the various histories of neighborhoods, including their boundaries, is likely to inspire a lively and heated debate even amongst those of us who live here or grew up here, but by any metric many of the maps and neighborhood comments (such as placing Lil' Dizzy's in "Mid-city") are grossly inaccurate. Which is unfortunate, since the maps are touted as one of this book's strong points. The cover also claims a "Full Post-Katrina Update", but this must consist of some hurried revisions, as there are bizarre anachronisms, such as referencing the streetcars (which, by the way, I hardly ever hear anyone, even a "local", call a trolley) as a "secret weapon", since when this book was published they weren't functioning. At another point in the book this fact is referenced, stating that they will be working "soon", but have been replaced by bus lines (they're working again, for the curious, but for the 3 years after the storm it took to get them running, this guide can't have been helpful.) The short section on how to pronounce the street names is gold, however, as there are few things more irritating than a tourist claiming we pronounce them "wrong". It's our city, and you'll damn well say "Ka-lee-ope". Other great restaurants, such as Elizabeth's, aren't deemed worthy for the guide's pages, and these omissions would only be minor if not for some of the crap that does get rated.
   
   The section on crime may strike some as being alarmist, but since it follows discussing how dangerous it is here with how friendly the people are, it's also humorously accurate. I tend to skew towards the alarmist scale when talking to visitors, because the worst that will happen is they'll go home safe and make fun of me for claiming how scary it is, instead of getting hurt or killed because they were cocky, arrogant, and careless.
   
   So to sum up this review, if you're passing through town, on a business trip, or on a short vacation with or without the family, the Unofficial Guide to New Orleans is a great book chock full of lists and ratings that will help you narrow down and select from among our city's many great attractions, and no doubt you'll go home having had a great time. Which is the entire goal of a travel or tourist's guide. However, if you're planning to stay for any length of time, or even considering moving here, then toss it in the nearest trash can and make friends with a local. What you learn from your local friends may be less comprehensive, but it'll damn sure be more adventurous, unique, "off the beaten path", and fulfilling.



3. We read this book out loud on our drive to New Orleans. When we arrived we had an idea of what we wanted to do with our time and where we wanted to eat. The sample itineraries gave us good ideas on how to plan our days - just wish there had been more of them.



4. This book like the other unofficial guides are fantastic. they don't beat around the bush, tells it straight and help you get prepared. Great advise for all ages and travel styles and easy to read



5. I travel as often as I can with my family, so we have many different guides in the house. I will never buy another Unoffical Guide again. The information is very limited and I did not find it to be of much use. I was better off lifting tri-fold brochures from the hotel lobby. I will stick to the Eyewitness books in the future.

5 comments about Streetwise New Orleans Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of New Orleans, Louisiana.

1. This map made traveling around New Orleans easy and less stressful. It even helped us with the streetcar routes and stops.



2. I used this map to supplement a travel book. We mainly stayed in the French Quarter but got to the Garden District as well. The map certainly helped us stay oriented and at times, we left the book in the hotel and just went with the map. It is sturdy and easy to fold. I have used several of these maps on my travels and generally like them.



3. The map looks great--size good to easily carry around. Shows all of the places to see and the places to stay. Can't wait to use it



4. My wife and I went to New Orleans for a few days and found this map invaluable. It lists hotels, streetcar routes, clubs/bars, restaurants and even shopping sites. Additionally we were there during a tropical storm (torrential rains) and the fact that it was laminated was awesome. I would highly recommend this item for your next trip to the "BIG EASY"



5. This is a good map, for the most part, especially with its detailed scheme of the Central Business District and the French Quarter. On the flip side, there is a map of the whole city but -- and this is the confusing part -- there is also another -- Uptown -- map which is confusing because it is a different scale from the one on the first side. So, you have to really study it just to see where the two maps connect. Maybe, given the limited space, they couldn't avoid this, but it makes the map a little confusing. I found the map excellent for getting around the Tourist areas. The lamination allows no-brainer folding -- a trend in maps I hope continues.

5 comments about Frommer's New Orleans 2010 (Frommer's Complete).

1. I have read many travel books about New Orleans. This book is very inciteful and very useful. I have not taken my trip to New Orleans yet so I do not know about the real life application aspect but I look forward to many of the recommended restaurants and attractions on their to do list.



2. I've purchased many, many guidebooks for both domestic and international destinations over the years. Without a doubt, this was THE BEST guidebook I've ever purchased--better than the Lonely Planets or other Frommer's guides or even those vaunted blue guides to Hawaii. Though it is more conversational in tone than some other Frommer's guides and contains personal insights, the focus is always on New Orleans and not on the author--no easy feat of writing, but she nails it. As other reviewers have noted, her walking tours contain excellent suggestions, and the multi-day recommended itineraries are thoughtfully planned.
   
   Importantly, I developed a trust for this author's suggestions which I haven't felt for other guidebooks. Food is important to us (as it wold be to most visitors to New Orleans, I imagine), and the restaurant/food experience suggestions are abundant and useful. The book will help you get off the typical tourist track and find some great grub. There is also thorough advice regarding tours, music and nightlife (the book also contains essays on the music scene and voodoo, which were great reads), shopping...and everything else, really. Though the author has obvious affection for the city, the book is very clear-eyed in its advice regarding personal safety and other practical matters. It also provided great historical and cultural context for neighborhoods.
   
   Now that my trip is over, my appreciation of this book has only grown. We took it everywhere with us and it always contained the info we needed. I will buy new editions as long as Mary Herczog continues to write them!
   
   P.S. One reviewer noted that there was not a complete, large-scale map of New Orleans in the book to see how one neighborhood related to each other. That might be true, but once in New Orleans, all hotels will give you a free map showing street detail of some of the more commonly visited areas. That map and this book were all I needed! Oh, and get a copy of the free Off-Beat magazine and check out the WWOZ website for information on live shows, and you'll be set.



3. We are spending part of our vacation in New Orleans this winter before we set sail on a carib cruise. Great information and maps.



4. This guide is recommended. We stayed in the French Quarter the entire weekend we were there and it worked well for that. While we were in New Orleans we had a friends in the indie rock scene - and ended up going to the little dive clubs they played and talked about. Surprisingly even all of these "underground" places were in the guide. We weren't there for Mardi Gras - but there is really good background info in the guide on Mardi Gras including an amusing anectode of the author's experience riding on a float. The one thing is I wish there was more indication of which restaurants might be vegetarian friendly. We had problems finding restaurants to acccommodate those who don't eat meat,



5. We didn't have much time in the Crescent City and wanted to see all we could. Frommer's helped us decided what was important and gave us accurate reviews on restaurants as well. It was an inexpensive tool and easy to bring along.