The Rough Guide to London

by Rough Guides

As a 10-year London veteran, London: The Rough Guide author Rob Humphreys offers the ultimate insider's view into how to get under the skin of the city he calls home. In addition to the detail-heavy "basics" like getting there, visas, money, and phones, this guide's specialty areas offer something for everyone including lesbian and gay London; classical music, opera, and dance; theater, cabaret, and cinema; galleries; shops and markets; sport; festivals and special events; kids' London; and an essential directory listing everything from lost luggage contact numbers to dentists.

Museums are delved into, often with room-by-room coverage, so you can pick your "must-sees" and better plan your visit. Italicized margin notes offer useful information including the nearest tube (subway) or train stations, where to get tickets, opening hours, and other helpful tidbits like "the river walk may not be accessible during very high tides." London's food has come a long way from shepherd's pie, and a restaurant directory boasts everything from Tex-Mex to a vegetarian's delight: lentil pizza.

To help you put it all into perspective, the back of the book offers an architectural chronology accompanied by main historical events, plus an enticing list of films and books that lend insight into the real London.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference, London

496 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Founded in 1982, Rough Guides Ltd is a British publisher of print and digital guide book, phrasebooks and inspirational travel reference books, and a provider of personalised trips. Since November 2017, Rough Guides has been owned by APA Publications UK Ltd, the parent company of Insight Guides.
With the company's personalised trip service encompassing over eighty destinations, and 200 guidebooks covering 180 destinations, Rough Guides is a multi-faceted travel platform, with global sales of 100 million guidebooks since their inception.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to use, with map references for entries, to help you find your way around. Small enough to carry with you.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am glad to see this is still in print. I have an edition from 10 years ago, and I reread a lot of it before tossing it - but if I go to London again, and I would like to, I am grabbing it again. Humphreys provides lots of enjoyable background and color for most of the major locations in central London, and many of the surrounding areas as well. The writing is cultured and smart, but still accessible for the average reader, and there is a good amount of dry English humor as well. This is not so much a book that reviews all of London's restaurants and pubs and hotels, although there is some of that. It works best as a guide to the history and culture of Britain's metropolis, with well-informed discussions of neighborhoods, institutions, and worthwhile destinations. I was very glad I had it with me when I was a tourist in London.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rough Guides have reformatted and updated a good number of their guides including London. I have the newest one and I love the new format. Great coverage of the city, it is divided by neighbourhoods. Also divided by attractions that are north, south, east, and west. I find this edition easier to read, and the addition of more full colour pictures is nice. The best thing however are the maps. There are way more and easy to read and very accurate. You won't need anything else to help you explore the city.

[Edmund · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you take one guidebook to London, this is the one.
Note: In my opinion the "Rough Guide' series of guide books are the best by a mile.

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

If your looking for a guide for London then this book is the only one you will ever need.
A superb read from start to finnish.

[Jackie Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This brilliant guide was my loyal companion as I holidayed alone in London this summer. It was my best friend! I had great expectations of it having used Rough Guides 20 years ago when I travelled around Europe. It didn't disappoint! Now slightly dog-eared I am using it to plan my next trip to the city. As a lover of the historical London I love how I can use this guide to plan my excursions into the past. A bus map (similar to the tube map) would be an added bonus as I'd never thought of using buses to get around and that was a whole new experience.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good guide and has many ways of demonstrating some of the better places in London to see aside from Touristy spots. I like the bits of information it adds about "battles and times" so there are pieces about the WWI or WWII. Also there is a little piece here and there about the War of The Roses etc. The Timeline is quite handy for readers who havent much knowledge on London..

Its a great overview as a rough guide to London ^-^

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most useful guidebook of the ones I looked at, both before and during my trip to London; I especially liked the neighborhood-based structure of the guide.

[Konstantin Bobov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Очень много информации, качественный большой справочник о лондонских достопримечательностях.

[Linsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's almost too much info. Feels more like a textbook.
If you have time to skim through the superfluous, then this is fantastic.

[Tania]

I'm going there! I like a Rough Guide for this trip in part because they're Brits, so hopefully they know what they're talking about. 'Course I'll be looking through several others as well. I'm going at the end of August, with me Mum.

[S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

rehber kitaplarını genelde sevmem; fotoğraflar kalitesiz, gereksiz bilgilerle ve tarih detaylarıyla dolu tanıtım yazıları yavan ve sıkıcı olur. ilk kez bir şehir rehberini sevdim; fotoğrafları sevdim, detaylı ama genel bilgi veren yazıları sevdim ve kitabın derli toplu olmasını da sevdim.

[Jackie Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was my loyal companion when I holidayed alone in London. Having used Rough Guides 20 years ago when travelling around Europe, I had high expectations of it and it didn't let me down. Now a little tatty I am currently using it to plan my next visit.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed travel guide, sorted by area, which I like.

[Elizabeth Tilley]

Solid guidebook with good descriptions and context.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Przewodnik jak przewodnik.

[Mell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scanned this book's recommendations. Has some good ideas.