~ When I travelled to
Alfred A. Knopf/Random House, produce a series of city specific “MapGuides” (as they call them), that are compact, filled with information, illustrated with large, fold-out, easy to read maps, and which just as importantly, are very lightweight.
The New York MapGuide runs to just 48 pages, but don’t let that put you off. The designers of these little books have managed to pack a wealth of information into those pages that other publishers would do well to make note of.
You begin with an opening fold-out map of New York
The eight districts with their accompanying fold-out maps are:
- Downtown
- Midtown East
For each district there is a double-page of addresses listing restaurants, cafés, bars, music venues and shops, followed by a fold-out map for the relevant district with essential attractions and places of interest to see. While the shops, attractions and places of interest are by no means the only ones on offer in New York City
The last fold-out consists of transport maps for the Manhattan subway system and Manhattan’s bus services, and four pages of information that include a selection of hotels ranging in price from $70 up to $300 and over.
What I also like about the MapGuide is that despite the brevity of the entries, they still manage to pack all the essential information you need into the space allocated for them – as this entry for the Woolworth Building
There you have it. An encapsulated history of the Woolworth Building
To complete this small and incredibly useful package, the MapGuide has a Thematic Index. That is, an index listing all the sites and addresses in the guide by theme. This makes it very easy to find restaurants for example, or museums or parks and gardens.
As already noted, this slim guide weighs next to nothing, fits easily into a handbag, backpack, or coat pocket, is easy to use and nowhere near as conspicuous as fighting with the large fold-out Manhattan
As long as you have done the bulk of your research and reading utilising larger publications before your New York visit, and assuming you already know what you want to see in New York City when you set out each day, the New York MapGuide should be all you need to get you through the day in that magnificent metropolis.
Highly recommended.
Note: The above review and quote is based on the 2006 edition of the New York MapGuide.
Click here to buy the 2009 edition of the Knopf MapGuide: New York (Knopf Mapguides)
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