Lonely Planet Seattle (City Guide)

 (8 customer reviews)

I'm an avid traveler and have had Lonely Planet as a steady companion on most my travels - granted I do a lot of exploring on my own, ideas for the budget travel are welcome...this guide recommends for someone with a big budget, repeats itself, sections are hard to find (bad layout), topics overlap and are repeated on multiple pages, creating too much reading and a book to heavy for a "guide" - what's worse it's not particularly interesting. I would not recommend buying and lugging this book to Seattle. Even the free map at the tourist office is 1000x better than the basic black lined one in the back of this book.

I purchased this guide instead of the Rough Guide (which I usually prefer) because the publication date was much more recent. Even so, I saved myself much time and disappointment by ALWAYS calling ahead to make sure that establishments were still in business and that their hours hadn't changed. In order to keep the book (which has a sewn binding and is very sturdy) a handy size and still provide plenty of information, the print is small on both the text and the maps. The pull-out map is a little more legible, but it generally only covers central Seattle (the touristy parts).

Seattle is a city of neighborhoods, so it's pretty inconvenient that the guide covers neighborhoods, then eating, sleeping, shopping, and drinking. The last four things are noted on the maps for each neighborhood so it would have made sense for them to be all together. They're not, though, so expect lots of cross-referencing and sticking your finger in one spot while flipping to another...Read more

I checked this out of the library, then had to buy my own copy to take with me. Not only is the history interesting, but it's honest about the prices and quality of food, lodging, and places to see. It makes planning an itinerary very easy. And the pictures are simply stunning!