San Francisco guidebook question
 

I'll be travelling to San Francisco this winter, and I wondered if a Fodorite would recommend a good guidebook (other than Fodor's, which I already have!). Thanks!

I've never been disappointed with Frommers. Picked up the San Francisco guide in '98 (before moving to the Bay Area) and it's all dog-eared and coffee-stained now.

I second the recommendation for Frommers. I don't have the SF guidebook, but I have several others and have found them to be very helpful.

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide for SF & Northen California is also a great guide with a little history. Sold at Rand McNally travel stores.

The Lonely Planet book which I used for my trip a month ago was excellent! It has great maps of every neighborhood, with tourist attractions, hotels, bars and restaurants shown on each map. This way I knew what streets to take if I just wanted to go browsing around a neighborhood. It also had excellent practical info on streetcars, ferries, bike rentals, etc.

Ditto on the DK and Lonely Planet books. They were most helpful. Also check out the National Geographic book for San Francisco. It is full of photos and information. Least helpful to me was my AAA book and the Dummies Guide to San Francisco.

San Francisco Access Guide--we use it even though we live closeby because it breaks things into neighborhoods and the maps are great.

My sister used Time Out San Francisco this past summer and was pleased. I will tell you her biggest complaint was not nailing down restaurants before she left. She was staying at Fairmont and thought the Consierge was all she needed. I think a zagats is always a good companion to any regular guide book if you care about food.

I agree about Frommer's guides. I think they are the ones that put out the idiot's guides (An Idiot's Guide to San Francisco) that I find real informative and helpful. Frommer's also has a website.

Here's another recommendation for Eyewitess and Access. But, there's also a wealth of information on various San Francisco websites, along with www.bayarea.citysearch.com - and go to the MUNI website and download their pdf map! It's a wonderful street map in addition to having all the bus, trolley, cable car, etc., routes on it. You can plot your destinations (along with shopping and dining spots)right on it, fold it up and carry it in a pocket (write phone numbers on the back for making reservations).

Do they still publish the "Hidden" guides? Hidden Coast of California, for example? We used those on our first trips to California and they gave nice out-of-the-ordinary recommendations for activities, restaurants, etc. Found their series just as interesting for New England.