Publication Date:November 10, 2008 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days Shipping:International shipping available Condition:Brand New. Shipped from UK Mainland. Delivery is usually 2 - 3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail.
Good maps but many problemsJanuary 7, 2009 This review is for the 2009 NFT guide.
The NFT guides started off with US cities and this is the first guide for a UK city. Although I'm a Londoner, I bought this because of the maps and the small size and I own the Manhattan guide, which found useful. I mainly bought the London NFT as a pocket map to help find my way around when I occasionally get lost. There is a map on the left page and the right contains a list of notable locations such as restaurants, cafes, shops, landmarks, etc. The maps are quite detailed and the scale is large, but there are still omissions which is frustrating. The large scale is a two-edged sword since it makes the map difficult to use for planning longer routes.
My problems with the guide are: 1. There are errors and, despite the large scale, omissions in the maps. For example, I've seen tube stops without labels, small streets that are missing, and the SOAS university campus miss-labelled as UCL. 2. London is full of interesting pubs, yet the guide does not contain a separate section for pubs on the right-hand page. 3. On many pages (especially outside central London) there are few landmarks labelled on each map despite the fact that the area does contain notable pubs or cafes (for example). 4. Most of the cafes and eateries labelled are chains such as Starbucks, Cafe Nero, Pret, etc. Many maps contain only labels for these. Although there is an unfortunate abundance of such chain stores, the NFT does miss out independent establishments despite there being room to add them in on the right hand page. I don't know if this is due to editorial laziness or sponsorship, but it really is a pity.
Overall, I find the guide convenient but I really wish the maps were more reliable and it didn't insist on showing me the way to the nearest Starbucks. Hope the 2010 guide solves these problems.
