Lonely Planet Honolulu & Oahu

Rating:
Summary: Great For Quick Reference
Review: I am a fan of the Lonely Planet line, and this map is no exception. For what it is, it is excellent. The map is a laminated, accordion-fold map of the portions of Oahu and Honolulu that most people want to visit. It is a great size and format, but would be even better if it was just a bit shorter to make it better able to fit in pockets. The only reasons that I gave it four instead of five stars is that not all Honolulu is depicted, making it less than totally useful for exploring out of the way places (although it does cover Waikiki and downtown Honolulu well, redeeming it largely), and the scale is generally so small as to be difficult to read, especially while driving, the exceptions being the downtown Honolulu and the Waikiki maps, which are altogether excellent and very user-friendly.

I do recommend this map to people visiting Hawaii. It will be perfectly adequate for 99 percent of all tourists, but if you plan on venturing beyond downtown Honolulu or Waikiki, you need to consider a more comprehensive map. The single most useful map for most travelers to Oahu is the Nelles Maps edition titled "Honolulu and O'ahu," which I recommend highly. The only drawback to the Nelles map is that it is a full-size fold-out map, making it a bit unwieldy at times; therein lies the reason that I use both the Lonely Planet and Nelles maps, this map is best for on the go, quick reference use, while the Nelles map is best for trip and route-specific planning.