Books > Fodor's India, 6th Edition

Roger Berlind August 19, 2010 at 12:56 am

I’ve often used Fodor’s tour guides when travelling, although I usually supplement them with other tour guides such as Insight Guide’s books full of wonderful color pictures and extensive descriptions (Spain, Italy, and Hawaii) or DK Eyewitness Guides for specific cities (Berlin, Prague, Budapest, and Vienna), or Rough Guide’s more detailed books (Rajasthan). I generally rely on Fodor’s for high-end hotel and restaurant recommendations which are sometimes lacking in the other books and for other useful information while planning my trip and deciding what I want to see. I then use the other books more while travelling, although I do end up picking a lot of restaurants recommended by Fodor’s and also do look at it’s sight descriptions and maps which are generally good. I also like Fodor’s system of putting stars on highly recommended sights. Perhaps it would be best to say that I use Fodor’s to decide what to see and then use other books for more details when visiting specific sights.

I primarily used the India guide in Mumbai and Delhi, but found it useful in those cities. In Mumbai, I actually only had the Fodor’s book since most of my trip was spent in Rajasthan, Delhi, and Agra and I bought Rough Guide and Lonely Planet books focused on those 3 destinations and did not want to buy another book just for Mumbai. The Fodor’s book was certainly adequate. I only had 1.5 days in Mumbai and Fodor’s helped me determine what to see in that short time. I also really loved the Marine Plaza Hotel I stayed at based on Fodor’s recommendation as well as that hotel’s Chinese restaurant where I ate lunch one day. I also had great lunches at the Imperial Hotel and Zaffran in Delhi and a good dinner at Niros in Jaipur before visiting the Rajmandir Cinema, all based on Fodor’s recommendations.

Descriptions in Fodor’s India Guide cover the major sights and probably give enough details to satisfy most people. I just happen to prefer more details which is why I supplement Fodor’s Guides with other books.
Rating: 4 / 5

Mort Kantor August 19, 2010 at 2:27 am

Rather interesting but dated in some respects. Would have liked a more up to date if possible.
Rating: 4 / 5

A. Mattlin August 19, 2010 at 5:12 am

I have always used Fodors Guides when planning a trip. They give concise and pertinent information. I will bookmark and highlight this for quick reference during planning. During the trip I use it for the maps and metro locations to find things more easily. I would always recommond a Fodor guide for wherever you are traveling.
Rating: 4 / 5

Albert Molina Gugino August 19, 2010 at 5:33 am

I bought this book a couple of weeks ago because it was a more recent edition than that from Lonely Planet and in general I must say it seems pretty good; however, I do miss the “Getting There & Away” part that you always find in the Lonely Planet guides. How am I supposed to plan my trip if I don’t know the transportation available at each city and the distance in kms/hrs/$$ from that city to other major cities, which this book lacks.

Furthermore, there are no prices, just “$” signs, one cheep, many expensive, there is a reference but still…

I just got me a Lonely Planet.

Had to come back and re-review.

Came back from India about a month ago and ended taking the Fodor’s for the trip, not the Lonely Planet. Why?

LP has a lot of very detailed info -mostly quantitative: prices, time tables, etc- that is very useful for planing your trip and is geared to users that travel without an itinerary. This is very good for travelers that are very price conscious, unstructured travelers, backpackers and doitallyourselfers that make decisions on the fly and hence need all of this very detailed info, missed the train to Agra, should I take a bus? Where? How much? The only bus stops at Shimla, should I stay? What is there to see/do?

On the other hand, Fodor’s has info of a more quantitative nature, that is more useful when you have a more structured trip. What restaurants to visit, what hotel to stay at, etc. There is a big emphasis on the epicurean traveler, costs be dammed, you see it the way the book is organized, were LP talks about the eateries by zone, Fodor’s talks about types of food, no matter were the place is, it is assumed that visiting the place is more important that going to the other side of town to do so.

Whenever I stuck to the Fodor’s Choice or the Fodor’s Recommends, I was gladly surprised by the quality of the service/place that was recommended, the best restaurants, best bars, best experiences, best hotels in every town, they are all there, I even surprised some locals.

At the end, you have to decide what type of travel you’ll be doing and buy accordingly.

Rating: 4 / 5

Richard Cicchelli August 19, 2010 at 7:10 am

I recently took a 2 week trip to India and bought this book before hand to read up on India and carry with me for reference. The book only did a so so job of guiding me around. It was terrible there are just better books out there. My girlfriend bought the Lonely Planet India Guidebook and although not as pretty to look at had Twice the information in. Needless to say, this book then became a big paper weight and a hassle to carry around and we pretty much only used the Lonely Planet book.
Rating: 3 / 5