The Rough Guide to Hawaii

by Greg Ward

Book Overview

The Rough Guide to Hawaii is the essential travel guide to this breathtaking archipelago. It covers the six major islands - Oahu, The Big Island, Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kauai - with reviews of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1843538458
• ISBN13: 9781843538455
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Rough Guides
• Length: 599 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.2" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

THE BEST!

Rough Guide are the best travel books. They give a little history as well as details about where to stay, eat and travel for all price ranges - from the "on a budget" to the extravagant traveler. They also cover customs and are frank but humorous about it - like drinking, smoking, dress, what to expect - whatever! The only one that was not reliable at all was Rough Guide to the Dominican Republic. But otherwise, this and the 15 others I have used so far are fantastic, informative, cover everything for everyone's taste and whim in what they want to see, do, eat, drink, stay or learn and experience. Rough Guide is well worth every penny and a great way to get an idea of what you wanna do, when you go and the best time to do that. They even give you general info like weather, money, politics, health, visas and prices for everything. The best well rounded travel book ever!

Typical Rough Guide Lacking Somewhat on Insight But Still a Solid Tour Book of the Islands

As guidebooks to Hawaii go, the Rough Guide is a reasonably comprehensive resource with solid, middle-of-the-road information about all the islands. The challenge in covering the whole state within a single tome is that author Greg Ward has to pitch his research at a necessary cursory level and spends approximately 60-70 pages on each island. Consequently, if you choose to focus on one or two islands, as most travelers do, the book ends up being somewhat lacking on the details that really can separate a good vacation from a great one. Beyond the color maps in the middle, the book is all text, so it does require concentration to absorb much of the information presented. However, Ward provides helpful information on preparing for your trip, choosing accommodations and eateries, and exploring the more popular attractions. What's missing is the off-the-beaten path insight that, for example, Andrew Doughty provides in spades in his book, "Maui Revealed". The other gap is a vivid perspective on what the must-do activities are. Consequently, this is not an all-encompassing resource but one that needs to be complemented by other books that specialize on the islands you visit or the personal research you need to conduct on your own. Regardless, it's still a solid resource.

best general Hawaii guidebook

My wife and I spent a couple weeks driving around Hawaii, and kind of went crazy on the historical sites, museums, and hikes. We found this book the most helpful because it was fairly complete (it does try to cover an entire state in one book) and current. Additionally, it provided a lot of historic context, allowing you to understand why each site was intersting. This is especially important if you visit some out of the way sites on the big island (like south point, or the birthplace of Kamehmeha... hope I got the spelling right) that don't provide a lot of information at the sites.This was my favorite of the Hawaii guidebooks (and maybe my favorite travel guide ever) BECAUSE it was so opinionated. So many guidebooks just rattle off long lists of places to see, eat, and stay, and don't really tell you how interesting, authentic, or nice any of them are. I find that an unopinionated travel book is not too useful, and reads like a set of ads. This book provides enough information or context for you to decide for yourself whether or not you share the author's taste, so you can easily choose which recommendations to follow or ignore. On the whole, we found the restaurant and hotel recommendations pretty accurate.

Very good overview, but not the best

This is a comprehensive guidebook for all the Hawaiian islands. It covers a lot of history and a lot of the sites. It also provides some basic information about hotels and restaurants. The pictures are somewhat lacking, but the text provides excellent descriptions. If you need one guidebook, this may be it, but it leaves out some stuff that is worth seeing or doing.

Handy Travel Book

A well-organized book that does a very good job of detailing what there is to see and do on the major islands of Hawaii. Especially useful are the cross-reference notes found within the margins, and various "favorite" lists found within each section. Greg never steered us wrong. Also, an excellent reference for those who wish to camp or hike.