Customer Reviews:
Australia's Largest City.......2007-08-02
The seventh edition of the Lonely Planet "Sydney - City Guide" was researched and written by Sandra Bao, with help from the author of the previous two editions Sally O'Brien. This edition was published in 2006, which means that the next edition will probably not be published until sometime in 2008 or later.
As with the other City Guides from Lonely Planet that I have used, this one appears to be comprehensive. As one would expect, it would cover the things that most travel guides cover, such as lodging, food & drink, entertainment & attractions, and shopping. The Lonely Planet guides go beyond the standard information and include sections on city life, art, architecture, and history, and sections which help the traveler plan activities with sections on walking tours, and excursions that can be taken outside of the city.
This guide, like the other Lonely Planet guides that I have used, has been very helpful in my planning for my visit. Probably the most useful section to a first time traveler is the `Directory' section, which covers a wide range of topics from transportation, family concerns, climate, customs, information for travelers which are disabled, electricity, embassies, emergencies, and so much more. If you already have a Lonely Planet guide for Australia, then this section will not be of as much use, but it is always good to have the latest copy you can because some of the information changes or is added.
I have had very good success with the Lonely Planet guides, and I have every reason to believe after reading and using this one for my planning that this one will also turn out to be quite useful. There are guides which give you more visual information on Sydney, but in terms of written content I believe this one is near the top of the list.
Average customer rating:
- Great walks for those interested in history
- A must for those who are serious about exploring Vienna
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Viennawalks (The Henry Holt Walks Series)
J. Sydney Jones
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Company
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The Rough Guide to Vienna 4 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)
ASIN: 0805023852 |
Customer Reviews:
Great walks for those interested in history.......2000-06-13
Viennawalks is a substantial book, with four detailed walking tours. It contains some of the basic information, such as transportation, eating, telephone usage, and banking (no hotel or restaurant listings). The main part of the book are guided walks around four parts of the city. The Stones of Vienna takes you through the oldest buildings, including the Jewish quarter; Vienna Gloriosa passes St. Stephen's Cahtedral, Mozart's Apartment, the Old University; Noble Vienna navigates through the Hofburg (Hapsburg's residence); and Fin de Siecle Vienna looks at turn of the century art and architecture (Otto Wagner's designs, including the Karlsplatz subway station, the museum of fine arts and the Secession). The descriptions are rich in history are are quite detailed (60-70 pages per walk). It is very readable and contains a few pictures. If you want to take one or more leisurely walks through Vienna, and have the time to go slowly enough to soak up the information from the book and the sites in front of you, then this book is highly recommended.
A must for those who are serious about exploring Vienna.......1999-03-16
Viennawalks is simply the best book of its type I have ever read. I first bought it in 1985 and have read it each time before I left for Vienna (at last count, eight!). The author's writing style is unlike any walking tour book you have ever encountered - it reads like a novel. One can tell from the descriptions and antidotes that the author is truly in love with the subject - and it shows! By books end, you feel as though you know the Author. I only wish he would write a volume II that explores the neighborhoods outside of the innerestadt (like Hietzing, Neubau, Spittelburg and Mariahilf). I would be the first in line to buy it. One word of advice to the potential reader - Reading the book before you go is certainly advisable, however, it won't mean a whole lot. But, after your return, you will not be able to put the book down! I have personally worn out 3 copies in the past 14 years! Good reading!
Book Description
Features include a guide to the best of Sydney’s beaches and the lowdown on the city’s world-class eating and drinking scene, from beachside eateries to Southeast Asian noodle joints. Heads beyond urban Sydney to cover the coasts, rivers, and mountains of New South Wales, as well as covering the best of the rest of Australia.
Book Description
INTRODUCTION
It might seem surprising that Sydney, established in 1788, is not Australia's capital. Yet the creation of Canberra in 1927 - intended to stem the intense rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne - has not affected the view of many Sydneysiders that their city remains the true capital of Australia, and certainly in many ways it feels like it. The city has a tangible sense of history in the old stone walls and well-worn steps in the backstreets around The Rocks, while the sandstone cliffs, rocks and caves amongst the bushlined harbour still contain Aboriginal rock carvings, evocative reminders of a more ancient past.
Flying into Sydney provides a thrilling close-up snapshot of the city as the aeroplane swoops alongside sandstone cliffs and golden beaches, revealing toy-sized images of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House tilting in a glittering expanse of blue water. Towards Mascot airport the red-tiled roofs of suburban bungalows stretch ever southwards, blue squares of swimming pools shimmering from grassy backyards. The night views are nearly as spectacular, skyscrapers topped with colourful neon lights while the illuminated white shells of the Opera House reflect on the dark water as ferries crisscross to Circular Quay.
Sydney has all the vigour of a world-class city, and a population approaching five million people; yet on the ground you'll find it still possesses a seductive, small-town, easy-going charm. The furious development in preparation for the year 2000 Olympics, heralded as being Sydney's coming-of-age ceremony, alarmed many locals, who love their city just the way it is. It was not so much the greatly improved transport infrastructure, or the $200 million budget which improved and beautified the city streets and parks, but the rash of luxury hotels and apartments still adding themselves, often contentiously, to the beloved harbour foreshore. It's a setting that perhaps only Rio de Janeiro can rival: the water is what makes the city so special, and no introduction to Sydney would be complete without paying tribute to one of the world's great harbours. Port Jackson is a sunken valley which twists inland to meet the fresh water of the Parramatta River; in the process it washes into! a hundred coves and bays, winds around rocky points, flows past the small harbour islands, slips under bridges and laps at the foot of the Opera House.
Taken together with its surrounds, Sydney is in many ways a microcosm of Australia as a whole - if only in its ability to defy your expectations and prejudices as often as it confirms them. A thrusting, high-rise business centre in the CBD, a high-profile gay community in Darlinghurst, inner-city deprivation of unexpected harshness, with the highest Aboriginal population of any Australian city, and the dreary traffic-fumed and flat suburban sprawl of the Western Suburbs, are as much part of the scene as the beaches, the bodies and the sparkling harbour. But all in all, Sydney seems to have the best of both worlds - if it's seen at its gleaming best from the deck of a harbour ferry, especially at weekends when the harbour's jagged jaws fill with a flotilla of small vessels, racing yachts and cabin cruisers, it's at its most varied in its neighbourhoods, not least for their lively café and restaurant scenes. Getting away from the city centre and exploring them is an essential part of Sydney's pleasures.
A short ferry trip across to the leafy and affluent North Shore accesses tracts of largely intact bushland, with bushwalking and native animals and birds right on the doorstep. In the summer the city's hot offices are abandoned for the remarkably unspoilt ocean and harbour beaches strung around the eastern and northern suburbs. Day-trips away offer a taste of virtually everything you'll find in the rest of Australia. There are magnificent national parks and native wildlife - Ku-Ring-Gai Chase and Royal being the best known of the parks, each a mere hour's drive from the centre of town. North of the centre the Central Coast is great for surfers, and has more enclosed waters for safer swimming and sailing. Inland, the Blue Mountains offer tea rooms, scenic viewpoints and isolated bushwalking. On the way, and along the Hawkesbury River, are historic colonial towns. Inland to the northwest is the Hunter Valley, Australia's oldest and possibly best-known wine-growing region, amongst pastoral scenery.
Customer Reviews:
Supplement to other travel guides.......2004-06-29
Its nice and tiny enough to put in your purse and it does have some nice maps at the end of the book. That said, the book is hard to follow with detailed descriptions (unless you have another travel guide to see as well)
It does have some nice recommendations for travellers especially those on a low budget and it is worth supplementing a book like "Eyewitness Travel Guides: Australia"
Book Description
Wallpaper* City Guides are an exciting, stylish new concept in travel guides published by Phaidon Press and Wallpaper* magazine. Glamorous, global and affordable, the new travel guides can be acquired for only $8.95 and feature the world's greatest cities, from Barcelona to Buenos Aires, Istanbul to Sydney, London to Los Angeles. Aimed at the design conscious traveller, the guides offer just the right amount of insider knowledge on the world's most popular cities, from where to stay and what to visit, to where you should eat, shop and be seen. Ideal for a weekend break or business travel, their discreet, pocket sized format tells you everything you need to know, giving you the inside track on what can not be found anywhere else. The guides have been compiled by Wallpaper* magazine's international editors and travel writers who have lived in the featured cities. They provide up-to-the-minute information and authoritative advice on the hottest of venues in the coolest of cities. Each guide will be updated annually to ensure they remain the authoritative last word' on the city concerned. The guides are divided into sections on Landmarks, Hotels, 24 Hours, Urban Life, Architour, Shopping, Sports and Spas, and Escapes. In addition, each one features a local resident recommending their own favourite places to visit in that city and sharing their insider knowledge. Maps and aerial photography are included for easy navigation and orientation and there is even a notebook to record personal discoveries and recommendations. Each section is subtly tabbed with a different color to make it easy for you to find the information you need. Wallpaper* City Guides are the result of a dynamic, joint publishing partnership between Wallpaper* magazine and Phaidon Press. Whether you are indulging in long weekend and want to know which room to book in which hotel, or have a free afternoon on a business trip and would love to escape and explore, the Wallpaper* City Guides offer a stylish and original alternative. The complete list of launch cities includes Amsterdam, Bangkok, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Istanbul, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, New York, Paris, Rome, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney and Tokyo.
Book Description
Take a tour of Sydney guided by National Geographic -- for generations synonymous with the thrill of discovery and exploration. Featured sites include both famous and lesser known places, selected to help you experience the city in a fresh and exciting way.
* In-depth site descriptions and background information
* Insightful features on history, culture, and contemporary life
* More than 190 vivid color photographs
* 22 detailed, full-color maps
* Mapped walking and driving tours
* Specially commissioned artwork and floor plans
* Clear, easy-to-use design
* Complete visitor information plus hotels, restaurants, shopping, and entertainment
Customer Reviews:
The best Sydney guidebook out there!.......2000-04-06
I've perused them all--Lonely Planet, DK Eyewitness, Citypack, Fodor's, whatever--and I found this guide to be the best of the bunch. It combines all the best of each of those: great pictures, detailed color maps, historical tidbits, walking tours, and easy, color-coded organization. I imagine it would be appropriate for those planning both long or short visits to Sydney. It's packed with lots to see and do but well organized so that you're not overwhelmed by it if you're just taking a short trip and want just highlights. My second choice would be the Time Out Sydney, which as usual, offers tons of shopping & cool tips & out of the way info. As a frequent traveller and consequently, owner of a plethora of guidebooks, I found this one refreshingly awesome. Just wish that they had a bigger range of destinations in their offering....
Average customer rating:
- Confusing and boring at the same time!
- Lonely Planet falls flat on a great city
- Go for it
- Excellent overview of the beautiful city
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Lonely Planet Sydney
Sally O'Brien
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
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Lonely Planet New Zealand
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Sydney (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
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Streetwise Sydney (Streetwise)
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Lonely Planet Melbourne
ASIN: 1741041740 |
Book Description
This comprehensive guide will help you explore the vibrant city of Sydney, from the fabulous shopping on Oxford St. to walking in superb bushland in the Blue Mountains.
Features: 17 full-colour maps; detailed coverage of festivals in and around Sydney; extensive advice on the full range of accommodation and dining options; information on bus, train, monorail and ferry travel; and day excursions from the city.
Customer Reviews:
Confusing and boring at the same time!.......2005-04-27
The whole idea of a guide book is to "guide" you--to tell you how to do things, where to find things and how to get there. This book does none of these things!
Instead it is a pretentious and disorganized mess that leaves one with the feeling that, while the author obviously knows Sydney well, she is far too smug and self-congratulatory to share much of this information with you!
Yes there are maps--but they omit many street names and don't match up with each other. Good luck if the location you are looking for is on a street not deemed worthy of inclusion or if your path takes you from one neighborhood to another.
The book does provide spotty information on the city's transit systems (light rail, heavy rail, buses, mono-rail and ferries) but not enough to enable one to get around easily. Plan on spending extra time getting oriented and standing in line at information booths.
As far as culture, history, nature and local color--if it doesn't have to do with drag queen reviews, liberal politics or the hippest place to eat or drink, the author doesn't seem to be much interested.
Finally, the index-or should I say indexes as there are (strangely) several different ones! You'll probably just have to memorize page numbers as I did!
I spent four days in Sydney getting more and more frustrated with this book before I dumped it and started using "Sydney: The Official Guide" which is given out free by the local tourist authority. It was much more informative and much more user-friendly!
BTW--Lonely Planets has apparently decided to get rid of those sections of its city guides on getting there, transportation, local money, culture, customs, tips, etc., (which were always the most useful parts of the books) and has replaced these with expanded listings of recommended restaurants, bars and coffee shops. I did take a few of their recommendations in Sydney--and was uniformly disappointed.
One good thing about the book-if you are awake due to jet-lag, a few pages of the ponderous prose may help you nod off!
This was the 14th Lonely Planet Guide that I have purchased over the years--and the last. This is a once-great travel series that has completely lost its way. Too bad!
Lonely Planet falls flat on a great city.......2004-10-16
Having never been to Sydney before, we stopped into a Dymock's to pick up a copy of what we thought would be the premier guidebook for Sydney, boy were we wrong! Lonely Planet should do Australia right as they are located there, but they miss the boat in this edition.
The maps were the most useful part of this book.
The index was horrible. It is split up into 4 separate indexes - which if you miss the first page and the small type at the top telling you so, you can't find anything in the index. For example - looking for the zoo - not knowing the name of it - look under "zoo" - but nothing is there. Because there are 4 "z " entries in the book. Until you find the right page of "z" only to then have you see "Taranga Zoo".
More than this, It lacks detail on almost every area. Just one example, Jenolan Caves. It tells you guided tours exist bit nothing more about them. Like which one to see if you only can see one or two or mention that fact that there are many stairs in the caves, etc. etc. So many other places are covered in the same manner. In fact they even say in the book that they don't know if something is fun or not - example: Sydney Jet - we took this tour and one like it in New Zealand.... NZ was much better of course, but our son had not been. The author comment was, " who knows if you'll actually manage to see anything in all that excitement, but it sounds like fun. " Obviously, she has not done the tour.
If you don't know your way around the area, you will find yourself constantly flipping around the book looking for information.
This book gave very few insider tips or really any useful information on the many places to eat. Since most people stay around Darling Harbor - they only chose to put in 9 places in that area!
The photos were very hokey and the good ones were very small Black & White which never shows anything well. The rest of it looked like a marketing advertisement for Sydney Tourism.
On top of all this - it was incredibly out of date for a 2004 edition. Many places had closed or prices were dramatically higher than listed. We looked for a major department store listed in the book, only to find it had changed to a MYERS years and years ago! Come on, LP!
Basically, Lonely Planet has not changed their take on guidebooks over the years and this one does not do justice to a great city.
Go for it.......2002-02-16
Invaluable, this is the kind of book you'd want even if you lived in Sydney. It explains the different character of Sydney's neighborhoods and gives concise intelligent explanations of how Sydney has become the muti-faceted city it is. I've only been to Sydney twice, but with the help of this guide I'm beginning to get it. The maps are pretty good, but some lack detail. Hotel and restaurant sections are comprehensive, and in my experience extremely accurate.
Excellent overview of the beautiful city.......2001-01-09
This is an excellent guidebook for Yanks and others who want to learn more about the Harbour City. With 4 million people, Sydney is almost too big to cover in a single volume, but the editors of this fine book do their best. The descriptions of hotels and restaurants are usefully broken down by neighborhood - and Sydney is even more diverse than most cities; the reader who is planning a trip will want to decide where he or she is going to stay before making any other decisions. The maps are superb. The city has changed almost beyond recognition in recent years, and an up-to-date guidebook is a must for the serious traveller. Highly recommended.
Average customer rating:
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Return to Oz
John Brown
Manufacturer: Exposure Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1846855179 |
Book Description
'It made me laugh, it nearly made me cry and it definitely made me want to catch the next plane for Oz'. Peter Knight. 'If you only ever read one book about Australia - make it this one. John Brown has that rare gift of combining incisive wit with just enough pathos. I felt as though I was carrying his luggage'. David Carlisle C4U Review.
Customer Reviews:
You must read this book.......2006-12-09
In the great spirit of the early American settlers, post war Brits moved to Australia in search of opportunity. The strange world that was found was exciting and mind blowing. When that place was taken away by circumstance, a young man's curiosity was so great he had to return in later years. If you love the spirit of adventure, you must read this book. It will entertain you, it will make you feel proud of your own history.
Book Description
Sydney Insideout City Guide explores 30 main attractions, including the Opera House, museums, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Centennial Park, Manly, and Bondi Beach. Over 40 shops, selling everything from opals and Aboriginal crafts to designer clothing and antiques, are featured. Fifty restaurant reviews cover noodle shops, beach cafés, curry houses, and five-star cuisine. Twenty-five hotel reviews offer choices for every budget. Suggestions for clubs, bars, and outdoor activities are also included.
Average customer rating:
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Lonely Planet Sydney (Lonely Planet City Guide)
Jon Murray , and
Barbara Sydney Whiter
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 086442227X |
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- Nine Years Among the Indians, 1870-1879: The Story of the Captivity and Life of a Texan Among the Indians
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Lonely Planet Sydney City Map
