Let's Go 2004: USA

Rating:
Summary: Skimpy compared to the other guide, however....
Review: Let's Go is, hands down, the best USA guide for a backpacker, a student, or a Gen X or Gen Y person on a tight budget.. You will not find the fancy, posh, "Oh darling, this is stupendous" hotel or elegant restaurant in this guide. Rather, you will find accommodations that include where to pitch your tent, park your van (IE Circusland RV Park - Nevada) USA Hostels, National Recreation Areas, or accommodations like: `Thunderbird Inn' in Santa Fe, NM or `Whiskey Pete's' in NV (billed as the "cheapest casino right in the middle of Nevada"). Restaurants that are listed are good'n cheap. Such as the `Plaza Dinner' in Las Vegas ($1 beers) or `Carnival World Buffet at the Rio' ("Hands down the greatest buffet in Vegas").

All buyers of USA guides need to realize that you will get only the top, most popular, picks of a given State. If you are going to wander the back roads you will be on your own.

Get this guide if you are economically challenged, but beware, this guide, compared to the more upscale Fodor's or Frommer's USA guides, is a bare bone, thin-pickens book. The entire Las Vegas sections was 5 pages, two of which are maps!

Rating:
Summary: Skimpy compared to the other guide, however....
Review: Let's Go is, hands down, the best USA guide for a backpacker, a student, or a Gen X or Gen Y person on a tight budget.. You will not find the fancy, posh, "Oh darling, this is stupendous" hotel or elegant restaurant in this guide. Rather, you will find accommodations that include where to pitch your tent, park your van (IE Circusland RV Park - Nevada) USA Hostels, National Recreation Areas, or accommodations like: 'Thunderbird Inn' in Santa Fe, NM or 'Whiskey Pete's' in NV (billed as the "cheapest casino right in the middle of Nevada"). Restaurants that are listed are good'n cheap. Such as the 'Plaza Dinner' in Las Vegas ($1 beers) or 'Carnival World Buffet at the Rio' ("Hands down the greatest buffet in Vegas").

All buyers of USA guides need to realize that you will get only the top, most popular, picks of a given State. If you are going to wander the back roads you will be on your own.

Get this guide if you are economically challenged, but beware, this guide, compared to the more upscale Fodor's or Frommer's USA guides, is a bare bone, thin-pickens book. The entire Las Vegas sections was 5 pages, two of which are maps!

Rating:
Summary: Let's Go and get an earlier edition
Review: Whilst Let's Go may well still be ahead of its rivals such as Lonely Planet and The Rough Guide it seems to be moving more and more away from being a backpacker non fiction reference novel and is trying to hit multiple tourist markets with the one publication. Hotel, B & B, fine dining, restaurants and other stuff which is just taking up space and is of no use whatsoever to an actual backpacker is being expanded each year taking up space which used to hold smaller less popular and well known destinations. It seems the publishers are trying to get you to purchase the individual editions as well which is stupid as who is going to carry around North America twenty or so books with them or want to spend that much money. Surely the entries for non backpackers can be put mainly in the individual state and city books as those able to afford to spend this kind of money on accommodation and food are hardly likely to be travelling the entire continent. Let's Go needs to return to its traditions or in the future what will this guide cover, just New York, Chicago, Disney Land, LA and Montreal? I hope not.

Homer, the Alaskan town where you're guaranteed to see thousands of American Bald Eagles is gone from the pages as is Bellingham, Washington which is majorly important as it is where the Alaskan Marine Hwy (the ferry to Alaska) leaves from. Essex in Glacier National Park has disappeared which is just plain ludicrous as it is the only stop Amtrak makes inside that national park in Winter. Fargo, North Dakota and Spokane Washington are just two more of the gems which have disappeared from previous editions. The whole point of backpacking is that we see areas that the mass market tourists do not, so these towns should be listed so that the backpacker at least knows if there is a hostel there and a few bits of basic information. Speaking of hostel listings, where are they all disappearing to? Anchorage, Alaska for example now only lists two hostels. I know of at least six there. Do they have to pay to be listed now or something?

You will find lots of hostel brochures as you travel or on websites like seethisplanet so do not be put off by a destination if it is not in here. I wouldn't really bother buying any of these sort of guides as so many people have them and all you have to do is ask if you can read it if you want to check something out and it is also a great icebreaker to do this to get to meet someone. They do have a use for planning your journey before departing if you don't know much about North America and Let's Go would be the best for this but just be aware that there are so many destinations which are not listed that you'll still have to look elsewhere for information. If you can find an edition from the 90's get it instead as there are so many more destinations and hostels in those past year publications. Come on Let's Go, get back to your roots and serve the backpacker market properly that helped create you and make your owners rich. Let's Go is at least better than Lonely Planet and the Rough Guide.