The Bottom Line
The only street map of London you'll ever need.
Pros
- Clear, full-color street maps.
- Most commonly used street map in London.
- Recognized by all Londoners so they can help you find your way around!
Cons
- Buy the spiral-bound edition as other editions can fall apart.
Description
- A London street finder map is known as an A-Z.
- Comes in many sizes: get the standard paperback - not the 'mini'.
- Spiral-bound is best.
Guide Review - London Street Finder A-Z Review
A London street finder map is known as an A-Z. Only buy the official A-Z published by Geographers' A-Z Map Co Ltd available everywhere in London - book shops, newsagents, tourist offices, etc. Don't consider other maps as they are just not as clear (and if you ask a Londoner for help they won't be able to read other local maps!) I recommend the spiral-bound edition as it lasts longer.
Did You Know?
From December 2005's edition of the BBC History Magazine:"Q. When was the first London A-Z published? And who created it? A. A young woman called Phyllis Pearsall compiled the first edition in the 1930s. She rose at 5am each day and walked 18 miles through the streets, taking notes, eventually completing 23,000 street entries, which she kept in a shoe box under her bed. No publisher was interested so she published it herself, delivering copies to branches of W.H.Smith in a wheelbarrow. By the time she died in 1996, the A-Z had sold millions of copies."
If you like smartphone apps you may well be interested in my review of M8 Your Local Mate.
