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Frommer's Guide to California 2009: Latest Edition with Free Foldout Map
California here we come. As I write this we're planning our own 2009 trip along the entire Pacific Coast, and using the new Frommer's Guide to California 2009 to help in the planning of the southern section – along with a shelf full of other material too. Actually, right now it's an office floor full of other material, to be honest.We have especially been using the Frommer's Guide to California 2009 for planning where to stay and thinking about where to eat. The hotel and restaurant reviews and descriptions are among the best things about the Frommer's guides, as they go into some depth so that you do get a feel of whether you want to stay in a place or not, and where are the eating places that appeal to you the most. Everyone's different, we know that from the feedback we get from this website, so it's important to have a broad range of coverage, from cheap to luxury, from homey to gourmet, from Days Inn to the Biltmore. Frommer's pleases us because it does that. Even with nearly 800 pages (or 3 cents a page!) it's impossible to cram all California into one book, but the Frommer's team of several writers does a heck of a job. How much space do the main places get? San Diego and Environs – 74 pages Los Angeles – 124 pages Side Trips from Los Angeles – 53 pages San Francisco – 85 pages Wine Country – 36 pages
So you do get pretty comprehensive coverage of the major California visitor destinations. The Authors Harry Basch has contributed to the Frommer's USA guide, and is the author of the RV Vacations for Dummies book. Mark Hiss is a writer and photographer who has spent more than 25 years in San Diego, and has been a publicist for several of San Diego's top theater companies. Erika Lenkert is a native San Franciscan and has written for publications including Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, Time Out, and San Francisco Magazine. Matthew Richard Poole is also a native Californian and has written many guides to California, Hawaii and places abroad, as well as other Frommer's titles like Portable Disneyland, Portable Los Angeles, and the Irreverent Guide to San Francisco.
Maps There's the usual pull-out map inserted at the back of the book, and within the California guide there are 46 more maps. These include a map showing suggested itineraries, including Driving the Pacific Coast Highway in One Week – though it's only the section from San Francisco to Big Sur. Another One-Week itinerary, for the Food and Wine Lover's Movable Feast, has our mouths watering, including visits to Napa Valley and eating your way through San Francisco's Chinatown.There are five maps for the San Diego area alone, including a useful plan of Balboa Park, and seven maps of in and around San Francisco. These include separate maps of the Sights, Dining, and Accommodation recommendations. There are two maps for the Wine Country, including one for the Northern Sonoma Wineries. Other useful maps include the Redwood National and State Parks, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Yosemite, Sequioa and Kings Canyon National Parks, the Monterey Peninsula, and the Big Sur Coast. The Best of California The Frommer's Guide to California 2009 sticks to the Frommer's format and suggests the Best of California right up-front. Now with the third biggest state in the nation, that's a lot of ground to cover and there are fourteen separate 'Best of' lists. These include Best Beaches, Best Golf Courses, Best Family Vacation Experiences, Best Luxury Hotels and Resorts, Best Restaurants and Best Culinary Experiences (the latter includes things like markets, eating dim sum in San Francisco, and oyster farms.) The Bottom Line For all these reasons and more, the Frommer's Guide to California 2009 is proving invaluable to us in organising our own Pacific Coast Highway trip. It's a great travel planning tool. We'll probably take it on the road with us too, and check out just how accurate it is when in use. Any problems, we'll report back. Meanwhile, it's a big thumbs up. Buying the Book If you want to get a copy of the Frommer's Guide to California 2009, it costs $21.99 in the USA, $23.99 in Canada and £14.99 in the UK. You can get more information from the Frommer's website.The guide is updated regularly and the newer 2011 edition is available on Amazon USA, at Amazon UK, in bookstores, and at other online booksellers.
Go from Frommer's Guide to California 2009 to Pacific Coast Highway Travel Main Books Page
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Popular Pages The most popular pages on Pacific Coast Highway Travel right now are:
Drive the Pacific Coast Highway Whale Watching in California Where to Stay on the PCH Pacific Coast Highway Maps
PCH Hotels Guide

To help you in choosing your Pacific Coast Highway hotel, guesthouse, inn, bed-and-breakfast, resort, motel or other accommodations, we've prepared our Pacific Coast Highway Hotels Guide ebook. In it we do mini-reviews of accommodations along the Highway, from Seattle to San Diego, through Washington, Oregon, and California.
For the 2011 edition we added new hotels, including a special 50-hotel section covering California’s wine country of Napa, Sonoma, and Paso Robles - by far the most popular diversion from the PCH drive. In all there are over 200 hotels listed, complete with 8 pages of color maps showing the towns where our recommended hotels can be found. There are both alphabetical and geographical indexes, helping you plan your journey.
We also include color photos of all the hotels that are our Personal Favorites. Here's the link to read more about our ebook guide to Pacific Coast Highway hotels
Or you can buy it here for $2.99:

KINDLE EDITION The Hotels Guide is also available but without the maps and color photos in the US Kindle Store for $4.99 and in the UK Kindle Store at a price based on the US price.
NOOK EDITION The guide is also available at Barnes and Noble for the Nook.
PAPERBACK EDITION If you want a printed edition without color photos and with only black and white maps, it costs $8.99 at the Amazon US store.

We've also published our PCH Hotels Guide as an app in the Apple Store. You can buy it here and read about it here.

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