Review by Joseph Boone:

It’s probably too much to ask any one book to cover all of England in detail. But Frommer’s has packed this 800-page monster with all the information they could in an attempt to do just that. Did they succeed? Mostly. For starters, they offer over 20 “Best of” lists that help you zero in on the finest the country has to offer in all sorts of categories ranging from museums to pubs and everything in between. Basic travel information is offered for those completely new to the country to help you start off on the right track. There’s even a short offering to help you learn a bit about art and architecture so that you can better appreciate what you will see on your visit. And, of course, there are four suggested itineraries for complete trips. Finally, the remaining 700 pages detailed information on the various geographic areas of England.

Without diminishing the rest of the book, I found the “Best of” lists and the itineraries a great starting point because it helped me zoom in on the part of England that I would most want to visit. From there, I started worrying about the specifics of what I would do there and that’s when the rest of the book started to come in handy. But I also purchased The Unofficial Guide to England (Unofficial Guides) and found that I often went back and forth between the two. For information on the Cotswolds, Lake District, and some other aspects of the trip, I found Frommer’s to be the most helpful. At the same time, when it came to reviewing the sight-seeing attractions in London I preferred the content and format that the Unofficial Guide used. It’s not that Frommer’s didn’t cover it at all, or that the coverage was poor. But comparing the two, I definitely found the Unofficial Guide easier to use for touring London. Leaving London aside, Frommer’s has certainly put together the most comprehensive guide you will find on England. It has every city you could possibly be interested in as well covering the Lake District, the Cotswolds, and other rustic areas of interest to tourists.

In summary, I found the Frommer’s Guide to be highly useful and I certainly recommend it to anyone planning a trip to England. I also believe that no one book will have everything when covering a place as diverse as England, so don’t limit yourself to just one book.

Review by Happy Traveler:

Considering that this book is trying to cover a lot of territory we found it very helpful and informative regarding the places we recently visited in England; Manchester, York, Liverpool, Kendal, and London. While we don’t totally agree with some of the ratings of various sites, the descriptive detail was always helpful. The book helped us both effectively plan our trip and provided great reference along the way.

The only quibble is that the pull-out London map would have been more helpful if it covered more territory.

Review by travel dreamer:

Excellent guide to planning a trip to England. There are great insights and itinerary suggestions. This book was recommended to me by a college professor who used it to take a group of students to England last year to see cathedrals and castles.

Review by Jake:

I brought this book on a recent trip to England. It is packed full of information. I mostly used it in Chipping Campden and Bath. I ripped pages right out of it to carry with me since it is just a bit too big to walk around a city with. Helpful drawn maps, restaurants, B&Bs, all with reviews, hours, cost, etc.

Review by Richard R. Carlton:

You’re going to LOVE BRITAIN! I’ve spent a year in England and have made >30 visits all together.

Here are my reviews of the best guides….to meet you r exact needs…..I hope these are helpful and that you have a great visit! I always gauge the quality of my visit by how much I remember a year later……this review is designed to help you get the guide that will be sure YOU remember your trip many years into the future. Travel Safe and enjoy yourself to the max!

Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet has City and Out To Eat Guides. They are all about the experience so they focus on doing, being, getting there, and this means they have the best detailed information, including both inexpensive and really spectacular restaurants and hotels, out-of-the-way places, weird things to see and do, the list is endless.

Fodor’s

Fodor’s is the best selling guide among Americans. They have a bewildering array of different guides. Here’s which is what:

The Gold Guide is the main book with good reviews of everything and lots of tours, walks, and just about everything else you could think of. It’s not called the Gold guide for nothing though….it assumes you have money and are willing to spend it.

SeeIt! is a concise guide that extracts the most popular items from the Gold Guide

PocketGuide is designed for a quick first visit

UpCLOSE for independent travel that is cheap and well thought out

CityPack is a plastic pocket map with some guide information

Exploring is for cultural interests, lots of photos and designed to supplement the Gold guide

MapGuide

MapGuide is very easy to use and has the best location information for pubs, hotels, tourist attractions, museums, churches etc. that they manage to keep fairly up to date. It’s great for teaching you how to use the underground and the double decker buses. The text sections are quick overviews, not reviews, but the strong suite here is brevity, not depth. I strongly recommend this for your first few times learning your way around the classic tourist sites and experiences. MapGuide is excellent as long as you are staying pretty much in the city centre. When you get to be an old London hand, remember that the classic Londoners guide will always be an A to Z (zed) map and guide. If you want to go a bit beyond the central core of the city (perhaps to Windsor, Hampton, or further away) you really need the proper AtoZ to be able to find exact routes and streets.

Time Out

The Time Out guides are very good. Easy reading, short reviews of restaurants, hotels, and other sites, with good public transport maps that go beyond the city centre. Many people who buy more than one guidebook end up liking this one best!

Blue Guides

Without doubt, the best of the walks guides…. the Blue Guide has been around since 1918 and has extremely well designed walks with lots of unique little side stops to hit on just about any interest you have. If you want to pick up the feel of the city, this is the best book to do that for you. This is one that you end up packing on your 10th trip, by which time it is well worn.

Michelin

Famous for their quality reviews, the Red Michelin Guides are for hotels & Restaurants, the Green Michelin Guides are for main tourist destinations. However, the English language Green guide is the one most people use and it has now been supplemented with hotel and restaurant information. These are the serious review guides as the famous Michelin ratings are issued via these books.

Let’s Go

Let’s Go is a great guide series that specializes in the niche interest details that turn a trip into a great and memorable experience. Started by and for college students, these guides are famous for the details provided by people who used the book the previous year. They continue to focus on providing a great experience inexpensively. If you want to know about the top restaurants, this is not for you (use Fodor’s or Michelin). Let’s Go does have a bewildering array of different guides though. Here’s which is what:

Budget Guide is the main guide with incredibly detailed information and reviews on everything you can think of.

City Guide is just as intense but restricted to the single city.

PocketGuide is even smaller and features condensed information

MapGuide’s are very good maps with public transportation and some other information (like museum hours, etc.)

Frommer’s

These are time tested guides that pride themselves on being updated annually. Although I think the guides below provide information that is in more depth or more concise (depending on what the guide is known for), if your main concern is that the guide has very little old or outdated information, then this would be a good guide for you.

Rick Steves’ books are not recommended. They may be an interesting read but their helpfulness is very poor. They don’t do well on updates, transportation details, or anything but the first-time-tourist routine and even that is somewhat superficial on anything but the mega-major sites.

Review by doomsdayer520:

I will soon be traveling to England and plan to trek around the country for a week on as little money as possible. I know that Lonely Planet produces the best kind of guides for this type of traveler – that is, a cheapskate drifter like me. I’m certainly happy I picked this guide up and I’m mostly confident in the data it provides. There’s a treasure trove of information on how to travel cheap, especially in terms of bus and train transport between the major cities, plus inexpensive lodging – including hostels and even YMCA’s and campgrounds. The problem with this guide is a general “cooler-than-thou” attitude toward tourist areas, with a real snobbish outlook on some popular attractions. An example is the Madame Tussaud organization, as their various museums are described as boring at least twice in the book (I’ve been to England before and I strongly disagree). Also watch out for the general “tacky” or “dull” label for many towns that cater to tourists, which makes you wonder about Lonely Planet’s motivation for including them in the guide at all. In most cities, the restaurant and club recommendations do not seem like a representative sample, but just a quick list of locations that the LP team found cool enough to visit in a short amount of time. A lingering production problem is the quality of the maps, which are mostly dim in the black-and-white format and hard to read. But despite the occasionally condescending attitude, Lonely Planet succeeds in providing a very informative guide for the penny-pinching traveler.

Review by LoveUK:

I just have to say this book was amazing! I have been thinking and dreaming about going to England for ages. This book explained so much that I absolutely would NOT have known! Thinking about if I would have went without reading this book is scary! There is so much information in here you NEED to know before you go. Everything was explained so clear and wonderfully easy to learn.I ABSOLUTELY recommend anyone thinking about going to England to read this book!

Review by Stephanie A. Shiels:

Although I have traveled numerous times to England, I decided to purchase this superior book. I am currently booked for another trip next October, and thought it best to do more research. I was most certainly not disappointed. This book has a plethora of information of which I was not aware. Also, in that I will be traveling to villages/cities not previously visited, it has been an enormous help, as I plan my itinerary. I would urge anyone who has never had the pleasure, but plans on visiting the U.K. to investigate this very informative book.

Review by :

This book keeps in line with the other “Most Beautiful Villages of” series quite well. Above all this is a photographic book, that lets the reader make the judgements. The photos of these breathtaking places are all we need for the photographer’s selection criteria.

Review by :

Absolutely beautiful book! Wonderful photographs of the many lovely villages in England that make you feel as if you toured them yourself. Worth every penny.