Fodor's See It London

Fodor's call this book "The colorful guide that's also practical" and this time I think they've got it right. We're talking glossy paper and full-color throughout, and this makes the difference as London is a colorful city so I believe you need a guidebook with plenty of color photos to help you really get to know the place. I would almost say Fodor's See It London could be a rival for my favorite, the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide to London, but DK still win because of their beautiful cutaway illustrations.

Fodor's See It London covers all I would want for a trip to London. It's great for research when planning your vacation and is the right book to use every day while in London.

There are still a few things I would change as I was confused by the hotel classification ratings -- stars, open stars, diamonds, open diamonds -- but they do have some very useful charts of major hotel chains, chain restaurants, and chain stores for shopping.

There are plenty of pages giving you background information including an excellent history lesson where I learned loads!

In the Planning section you will find all the information you would expect but you may be surprised how easy it is to navigate.

On The Move is a fantastically detailed and clear guide to transport in London and includes detail about the buses that could help most Londoners. It's let down by not including anything about the Oyster card which is the cheapest way to pay for London Transport and has been in use since 2004.

The Sights is divided into six neighborhoods and has alphabetical listings with features on the main attractions. Lots of good info here but I couldn't see what the ratings top score was to know how they were ranked.

Inn the Park should be under Where to Eat in St. James's not Westminster and the Shopping section in What to Do doesn't explain Oxford Street is full of Hight Street chain store and cheap tat but there are far fewer mistakes than in other guidebooks.

All in all, Fodor's See It London is worth buying as this is how I see London: in full-color.