Lonely Planet Road Trip Hudson River Valley (Road Trip Guide)

Rating:
Summary: Moderately helpful but a bit thin on details
Review: I just returned from a trip to the Hudson River Valley using this book as my primary guide. WIlliams' style was entertaining, and her restaurant advice terrific when it came to The Calico Restaurant in Rhinebeck (we had a fabulous meal) but important details were neglected.

WIlliams' accurately described the town of Hudson, with the town center choc-a-bloc full of antique shops, surrounded by urban decay. With a love of antiques, I planned a trip to Hudson to for an extensive 'tique crawl only to discover 99% of the shops are open ONLY Friday-Sunday. Hudson being far north of my base, the travel time ate much of the day making a last minute change of plans a real challenge.

Likewise, she neglected to mention in any detail the Institute for Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, which is a fascinating place with an excellent perennial garden and very pleasant, helpful and knowlegable staff. Fortunately, we stumbled onto this place by accident, but it was a trip highlight.

Short shrift was similarly given to the many wineries in the area, merely mentioning their existence but with few details.

The maps were helpful, and as I mentioned earlier, our lunch in Rhinebeck at the Calico Restaurant was divine so she gets credit for that. Otherwise, think of this book as a basic intro only and plan on doing much more research before you depart for the Hudson River Valley.