DC Washington Books

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I have found Frommer's to be the best in travel books.
LOVE them for where to go and all the information I need for a great visit.

This book gave us all the info we needed to plan our trip. The maps inside the cover were very helpful. Book has a lot on where to stay and eat, but only if you have lots of money. For the budget traveler, that info was too much considering how much everything they reviewed cost. Gave lots of info on where to go and what to see. Would recommend to anyone traveling.

Frommer's continues its tradition of excellence with the 2006 guide to D.C. Most helpful to us were the "Getting to Know Washington D.C" chapter, and the chapter on "Suggested Itineraries". The pullout map is invaluable. If you've never been to D.C., or have not toured the city, this book is a fabulous reference.

I rated the 2004 edition of this book at 5 stars, but this edition has slipped just a bit for containing outdated information and omissions of a few other things, so I would say it deserves a 4-and-a-half star rating.

The major thing missing is a mention of The Circulator. This is the bus that loops from Capitol Hill through the K-street corridor to Georgetown, and is $1 to ride, and runs until 10pm. It is cheaper and runs much more frequently than the blue bus that is mentioned in the guide. The Circulator started in early 2005, so it should have made it into this year's edition of the Frommers.

The guide lists a Smithsonian Museum Hotline, and when I called this month (August 2006), the number was out of service.

The Phillips Collection is listed as being free during the weekdays. Wrong. The Phillips Collection is donation-only during the weekdays, and the gal at the desk did watch us drop some money in the donation box. Not a huge deal, but the information was inaccurate. The Phillips has doubled in size since the renovations were completed, and "The Boating Party" is once again on display after its long absence in a traveling exhibition, as is my favorite, "Woman With Dog" painted by Pierre Bonnard.

In the 2004 edition, there was a restaurant that my wife and I loved named Olives. It was not in this edition, but it is still in business and was a fabulous experience when we went (as it was 2 years ago). We enjoyed Olives vastly better than La Tosca (don't order the chicken at La Tosca...blah).

Another place that should be mentioned in the guide is The Capitol City Brewing Company right near China Town (with another location on Capitol Hill). The variety of micro-brews was fantastic, the staff was very friendly (especially Benny!), and during weekdays from 4pm until 7pm, they have half-price beers and appetizers at the enormous bar section (the sesame-covered seared tuna and the Asian quesadillas were absolutely delightful). A great place to visit if you are on a budget.

Even with these minor errors and omissions, it is still a highly valuable guide.

this book is essentially a series of maps. each neighborhood gets two maps, one showing things like banks and atms, the other with restaurants and bars, etc. both maps show the metro stops and street names very clearly. i'm currently looking for an apartment in dc (from out of town) and it has been extremely useful in figuring out where buildings are, and if they are in fact "walk to metro!" or whether that walk is a hike. there are a brief (2 sentences) descriptions of the neighborhoods but nothing in depth. there are lists of important numbers, maps of airports, and other handy tidbits i'm sure will be appreciated when i actually move in. my one HUGE complaint keeping this book from 5 stars is that the maps aren't marked with a scale! a 5th grade basic, scale is extremely important in determining how far things are from eachother. obviously. especially since the maps are clearly different scales depending on the size of the neighborhood or locale (ie: reagan airport vs. georgetown). while still useful, having a simple scale on each map would make this book perfect.

The maps are very good and easy to navigate, and their overviews of the main attractions in the D.C. area are about as good as one can hope for in a 1-2 page space for each. They also have good maps of the local transit system. One limitation that potential buyers should be aware of is that this book only deals with D.C. proper and a little bit of Fairfax County - Prince George's County (everything east of the Anacostia River) and Montgomery County (everything north & west of Bethesda) are ignored. If you need information on those areas, you will need to seek out other sources.

If you're moving to a new major city or just spending more than a few days in one and you want to really get to know the locale, this guide's for you. It's easy to decipher, offers invaluable information complete with legible, detailed area maps, and the bars, restaurants, shops, schools, churches, sites and more in each neighborhood. I, who am admittedly direction-challenged (even as to left and right), managed to find my way easily around San Francisco for the 4 mos. I was there and was so impressed I purchased one for DC where I've lived for almost 20 yrs. If you want to know where you're going and what's there when you arrive--buy this guide!

This is a good, useful basic guide for residents and tourists who want to see the real D.C. behind the museums and the White House. I was born in D.C. and this book has provided me with a great deal of information that I will use. I also recommend "The Shopper's Guide to Washington, D.C." by Karen Ertel and "Washington from A to Z" by Paul Wasserman.

I lived in DC for 21 years so I'm familiar with most of the entries in this book. The editor does a fair but not especially lively job of describing where to eat, drink, walk and gawk in DC.

The ACCESS guides are so smartly organized by neighborhoods that you'll be lurking like a local in no time. The color coding for attractions, restaurants, hotels and shopping make skimming for your favorites a breeze. More often than not, their sly 'insider' comments are right on the money. I used ACCESS Washington, DC to acclimate myself to my new home, and I still use it whenever company comes to town. Like any travel guide, the latest edition is a must (but even that won't compensate for fickle diners and undercapitalized restauranteurs) and it's certainly time for a newer version than the 2000 edition. But having said that, I still purchase an ACCESS guide if I'm going to spend any time in a city I haven't fully explored.

Once again a jewel of a guide. Comprehensive, lively, logical and coherent. Like so many other city guides by Richard Saul Wurman, this book combines an architectural overview with historical, anecdotal and practical aspects of the city in such a way that makes it a great companion to have before during and after the visit. As a matter of fact even if you don't go, you get the pleasure of intimate knowledge of the place.

This book gave us great ideas for places to take our 6 year old. Most importantly, he is allergic to everything and autistic. This translates into an extemely picky eater. With it's recommendations for kid-friendly eating, Around Washington, D.C. with Kids is a God-send!

I purchased this book after getting a great deal on a hotel in a posh DC neighborhood. While I was excited about the hotel, I was quite concerned about finding affordable, child-friendly places to eat in the area. I chose this guide because along with descriptions of kid appropriate attractions, it recommends nearby eateries. The recommended places to eat were just what I needed to keep our daytime food expenses reasonable. Be warned that many of the recommended attractions are either seasonal or too far from public transportation to reach on foot (we traveled pre-Memorial Day and swore not to drive in DC traffic after parking our car at our hotel). Also, you'll need a separate map because only street addresses are provided. Otherwise, it was a helpful, compact travel book that paid for itself in meal money saved.

My 10 year old son loves this book and so do I! It tells us the important stuff, location, contact info, prices, ages & hours. It also gives us little things like places to eat and fun other thing to notice and do while we are at each place. We LOVE this book!

I always rely on Frommer's guides when I travel. This book does not disappoint. Frommer's D.C. guide makes it easy to navigate through the city and helps me to make good use of my limited time. The restaurant & lodging reviews are very accurate and dependable.

This book is pretty helpful for a tourist in D.C. I referred to it several times during the course of my 7 day visit. What it doesn't make clear is that Tourmobile tours can be very frustrating. They are portrayed as easy on easy off shuttles, but in reality they overbook their capacity and cannot accomodate people waiting, thus prolong the wait and waste valuable vacation time for their customers. Other than not informing customers about the inefficiency of Tourmobile I'd say this publication is pretty good.

I picked up this guide for our trip to Washington DC, and was very happy that I did.

We spent 5 days in the city, and ate in the inexpensive to moderate restaurants recommended in the book and did not have a bad meal, and several great meals. We ate at Ethiopian, Thai, Southwestern, and American restaurants.

Our hotel, The Churchill, was recommended in the book, and we booked it on The Churchill's website (mentioned in the book as well) and were able to get a giant room (huge bedroom, even bigger living room, nice size kitchen area with table, and a small bathroom) with a kitchenette for $149 a night. The on-line booking web sites didn't list any rooms with a kitchenette. (The rack rate on the door of our room listed it as $450 a night).

The Frommers guide listed itineraries for staying for one to several days, so we picked and chose some of the activities mentioned. And the info on the galleries and museums were more than sufficient to plan our days and nights.

The Metro-rail info and map were right on the money.

The included full-size map of Washington DC was indispensable.

The only thing that I noticed was incorrect in the book was that the shuttle between Dupont Circle to Georgetown was $1 (not $.50).

I would have also liked to know how far the zones were for the taxi cabs (Is a cab from Georgetown to our hotel in one zone? Or did it cross into a second).

I bought a couple of guidebooks, but all but abandoned the others since this one was so comprehensive. Highly recommended!!!!

My kids, aged 5 and 9, both loved this map. They sat in the back seat while we were driving around D.C. looking at where they had been and where they were going to go. I was looking forward to using the stickers to mark where we had been, but there were ones we couldn't use ("we slept here" -- who can afford to stay in D.C. proper?) and others of the "we saw this" variety that there weren't enough of. It was even a help to us parents when we couldn't find something on our big fancy map from AAA since this map is much simpler, bigger, and easier to read.

My 8 year old really enjoyed this map. It comes with stickers that can be added as you visit each place. Large, colorful, easy to read map, it has pictures of all the sights. Really got him excited about the trip & made a great souvenir when he got home.

My 4 yr. old son and I had lots of fun going over the neat things included on this map, and he loved to find all the perfect locations to put the stickers! Since I work in D.C., he was very intrigued to see where my office is. We were able to talk about all the different sites, monuments, and bulidings that I have been to in my 15 years living here, and where he would like to go and visit next summer. He refers to it as "his map", and it really is laid out in a way that even small children can understand. It is a great resource and learning tool.

This book is without a doubt the most informative and entertaining about the history and life of the canal prior to it becoming a park. I've recently fallen in love with the C&O Canal trail and this book truly has made a profound difference on how I view the trail and its history. The true-life accounts contained therein are priceless and give the reader a real feel of how life on the canal really was.

I am somewhat partial to this book. My grandfather J.P. Mose is in this book and I have Elizabeth Kytle to thank.
You will read several accounts of what life was like boating and working on the C&O Canal from those that lived the "Good hard life".
One of the greatest parts of this book is reading these accounts and Elizabeth Kytle keeps the wording exactly how these people speak, which makes it that more appealing to the reader.
They all have great stories to tell and it leaves you with a new appreciation for generations that have gone before us.
She gives you an excellent look into the history of the Canal and brings to life the importance of preserving our heritage.

I am using this book to research my Civil War novel, which takes place, in part, along the Canal. The book has proven quite valuable both for its medium-detail history, and for its first-hand descriptions of the Canal's function, and the lives of Canal families. (The Canal functioned in much the same manner throughout its history, so the first-hand accounts provide a good window to earlier days.)

The book is well-written, clearly a labor of love for the Maryland author. It is a good historical source, and a fun read for those planning a visit to the Canal (now a National Historical Park.) There are also some funny, sad and astonishing anecdotes, giving the reader a good "feel" for the lives of the Canal folk.

Paul M. Bauer

Belmont, MA

This was the best tour book ever. It helped my family find all the info we needed for our trip to D.C. We love you mary jane solomon!

I bought this book from Amazon.com before moving to the DC area, and I must say, it has been quite helpful. The information (hours, phone numbers) is still current, and it covers a variety of issues. Whether you're looking for kids' activities of trendy night spots, this book has it all.

If you are moving to the area, and will be without an extended support network initially, I'd recommend buying this book, to provide you with new ideas, and to fill you in on life in general here.

Some drawbacks. The authors definitely love this area; that's great, but I feel they are too optimistic on their neighborhood descriptions. Reading this book, you'd think all of DC and the surrounding areas were safe to live in, but the reality is the opposite. Sometimes they are a bit too "PC" in their descriptions, and this takes away from reality. Additionally, sometimes things are difficult to find in the index.

Overall though, a great buy!

A must for anyone interested in learning more about the area or are planning a visit. Well written, informative and interesting. My highest recommendation!

compact information, great for planning a short visit to DC., especialy for people with limited time for preparations.

I bought this book to facilitate my recent family trip to DC. While I went to school in DC, it has been a few years since I have visited. I wanted something to bring me current post 9/11.

This book is not as encompassing as others on the market but, it gets the job done. It is concise and to the point. Many main and "off the beaten path" attractions are identified. Although in the dining section, my favorite Georgetown Italian resturant was overlooked. I can forgive that. The book offers great recommendations on places to eat, stay and visit.

If you are going to DC buy this book to carry with you. It will easily fit into a pocket for ease of use.

I am visit the DC area frequently, but I rarely take the time to explore the tourist sights. This book really gave me some great insights on the sights and helped me prioritize what I wanted to see. The restaurant & hotel suggestions were outstanding, I was not once disappointed. The 'musts for kids' section was very useful in helping me plan not-so-boring things for my children to do. Michelin points out activities & attractions for kids that really peaked their interest (and mine too!!)

If you want to learn more about museums in America without getting museum fatigue, this is your book. It is a good read, wonderfully informative and offers rare insight into the factors that made American museums what they are today - not just the broader social/historical context but also the individuals and colorful personalities. The text, photos and quotes are all chosen with care and the book is beautifully produced while being affordable.

For a book on art museums - the photos are pretty darn poor quality.
As a coffee table book - you would be embarassed.
Of course if you are really into museums, and I admit to be, there is some content here worth reading. However, it definitely could have used an editor. It reminds one of Mark Twain's "I didn't have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one." As in we hurried this out to market, put little effort into it, and hope it will sell to well-heeled customers that won't care or have much time to read it anyway.

So for those that LOVE the subject matter - 3 stars, for those that are only mildly interested - beware.

Schwarzer deftly gathers threads from many sources, weaving together a beautiful, inspiring tapestry of museum work. Perhaps what is most fun about this book is that you'll find your own history here... waiting in line as a teenager to see King Tut, going on a field trip to see Juno the Transparent Woman at the Cleveland Health Education Museum, or recognizing a favorite diorama from these richly illustrated pages.

The book is coffee-table beautiful, while its soft-cover price makes it affordable. The gorgeous design showcases the amazing photographs, unearthed from a variety of archives. The photos bring the text to life, as Schwarzer spins tales of brave souls dedicated to the craft of museums. Schwarzer clearly loves museums, warts and all, and she showcases how museums and interpretive sites have served America by saving our culture, teaching hundreds of thousands of children, showcasing diversity, supporting the war effort in World War II, and healing spirits after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A must-read for anyone in the museum (or cultural) field.