The Unofficial Guide to San Francisco

by Michelle Fama, Richard Sterling, Joe Surkiewicz

The Unofficial Guides? are the Consumer Reports of travel guides, offering candid evaluations of their destinations' attractions, hotels, restaurants, shopping, nightlife, sports, and more, all rated and ranked by a team of unbiased inspectors so even the most compulsive planners can be sure they're spending their time and money wisely. Each guide addresses the needs of everyone from families to business travelers, with handy charts that demonstrate...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764541935
• ISBN13: 9780764541933
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

I love these books!

I love the "Unofficial Guide" books! I had to go to San Francisco on a business trip with my husband. I would be on my own during the day and then we had to cram the "tourist" stuff in around his schedule. I had never been to California before and was a little nervous about finding things to do on my own. This book absolutely made my trip. I was able to make lists of different things to do, it helped me watch out for things to avoid and I had a great sense of the layout of the city. I got there prepared for how to get around on the bus and street cars, so I never had a problem with transportation. These books are thorough, well researched and very informative. I have since bought their book on Disneyland and Washington DC and had great trips there too!

Unofficial Guide ???

The word is NOT Unofficial Guide in my husband's eyes. He prefers to read something down to earth on details. I am the same way. We have the Las Vegas Unofficial Guidebook too. It has helped us out 3 of 4 times to decide on what and where to go for dining and attactions. Thanks!

Very useful travel guide

This is a complete guide to visiting the city of San Francisco. The book is well written, very clear, and has a tremendous amount of information. It covers hotels, restaurants, attractions, etc. The authors provide several possible itineraries depending on what kind of trip you want and how long you intend to stay. In short, the book is an excellent tool to help you plan your entire trip. The only drawback is that there are no pictures at all and SF is a visually exciting and diverse city. When deciding what you want to visit, a picture or two could go a long way in deciding what is a must see and what is not. For example, I had never heard of the Palace of Fine Arts but when I saw a picture of it in another book I knew I had to go there. This is an excellent book but it would be better still if they could add some color photos in the next edition.

the right information and well organized

Good advice about attractions. I like the way it divides SF into neighborhoods, and filters down to just the essential info, very practical for a single trip. We were pleased with the restaurant advice as well.

The best travel guides by far!

I've bought several of the Unofficial Guides and they are my first choice in travel books. The rating system for hotels, restaurants, and attractions makes it very easy to compare one to the other and choose whatever is appropriate for your needs. More importantly, they are upfront about what to avoid. We all know about the "best" things to see and do from the other travel guides. The Unofficial Guides let you know what's a waste of time and/or money, as well as giving you tips on how to get the best out of the "best". I buy the Unofficial Guides to get the nitty gritty on areas of town to avoid due to high crime, lack of public transportation, etc. This helps me pick a hotel in a decent area and time my sightseeing trips accordingly. Very straight forward and easy to read. I hope the authors someday write Unofficial Guides to European cities as well!!