Frommer's Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine [Paperback]

Frommer's guidebook provides an excellent overview of the sights to see, things to do, and places to stay in the three Northern New England states of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. The overviews are very accurate and provide a good description of the places, making the book an excellent way to decide where to go in the areas, and a good guidebook once you arrive.

The biggest problem with the book is that there is not enough individual descriptions of each area. Chances are most tourists are not visiting several regions in all three states, but are choosing one or two to explore in-depth. For example, I went to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park in Maine, an area that was given around 20 pages of coverage. Therefore, more research on the specific areas you plan to visit will probably be necessary to help you get the absolute most out of your trip!

I took this guide, 2008 8th Edition ( note the other reviews for this guide are very dated), along with Fodor's New England 2007, on a 10-day tour through New Hampshire & Maine. NORMANLLY, Frommer's does a very good job of guiding you to best that either a country (or state) has to offer. NOT this guide. This guide is seriously disappointing.

Yes, the guide does cover the tourist site, and like all of the major guides (Fodor's, Footprint, Rough Guide, Lonely Planet, Moon) it will point you to the "must see" places. Also, to be fair, WHEN it does list a restaurant or hotel the guide does a fairly decent job describing the place. BUT, what really set guides apart are the quality and quantity of their accommodation and restaurant recommendations. These recommendations, along with the author's writing style and the interesting sidebars filled with tidbits (this guide has none) make or break a guide.

Frommer's is dismal when it comes to restaurant recommendations. Dismal. For example, New Hampshire's largest city, and the largest city of northern New England, Manchester, has only two (2) restaurant recommendations. Two! It has one (1) accommodation listing. For New Hampshire's State Capital, Concord, there is one (1) restaurant recommendation and it is vegetarian!

Skip to Maine and if you look for restaurants or accommodations in the city of Bangor you won't find any listed. IN FACT Bangor (Maine's third-largest city) is not even mentioned! HELLO. Who in the heck is editing this guide?

I could go on about the pathetic maps, lack of statistics (population, altitude etc.) but really, save your money and get either Lonely Planet New England 2008 or Fodor's New England 2007 (strongly recommended). This guide is not recommended.

We bought this book for a summer trip to Vermont with our family with kids and found the guide not very helpful for finding things to do or places to eat in Vermont. It is more geared towards ski season.