Fodor's The Carolinas & Georgia (Full-color Travel Guide)

It is nearly impossible to read the index of this book without a magnifying glass! Honestly, it IS imposssible to read it without bright lighting. Couldn’t the publisher spare to add a few more pages to have larger print in the index, which is the most used part of a guidebook??? Shame on you Fodor’s for allowing this!!!
They also eliminated their Best Bets for Dining in Charleston and similar in Savannah.

As a relatively recent transplant into Georgia, I'm still learning the greater area. Many weekends are spent exploring the many sites here: waterfalls, woods, mountains -- and that's just tip of the iceberg of options.

This Fodor's book covers Georgia and North and South Carolina. I thought I knew all the main sites, at least in Georgia. I had no idea how much my adopted state offers.

The book appreciates the difference between the mountains, coast, towns and cities. With cities, whether Atlanta, Charlotte, or Asheville. Mostly text, there are still plenty of pictures.

Restaurants, funky stuff, even lesser known places.

Imagine those brochures in hotel lobbies converted into a book minus most of the sales tone. This is that.

Anthony Trendl
anthonytrendl.com

I was looking for a large book of maps and descriptions of th=places to see.

I live in Georgia and found this guide book to be okay, but not comprehensive. For it's size, there's no way it could include everything, especially since it covers 3 states. The book is a good size, but the paper is thin and not very sturdy. Guidebooks used to have heavier, glossy paper, but this does not. The information it provides is good, but there's so much more that's not included in it. For example, Savannah is one of my favorite places to go and two of my favorite restaurants, both of which have been there for years, aren't mentioned. I do like the idea of having just one book if I was traveling the three state area, but if you are just going to one state, I would suggest a more comprehensive guide book.

This is a terrific travel guide that covers both Carolina's and also Georgia. It really breaks up all the locations that you could possibly want to see (okay, I've never been so for me there are so many locations and I want to see them all so it seems like everything possible!) for you as well as the best way to see them all and the type of budget you are looking at.
To get you started, there is a nice section that takes you through a few of the major attractions you might not want to miss while traveling in all the states. From there it gives you terrific travel tips/essentials ranging from appropriate informational tips from all sorts of situations to how to determine how to get around in different locations and everything in between.
The different areas of each state are sectioned off so that you can easily go to that part in the book and it will break it all down giving you detailed information on nightlife, food, attractions, hotels, transportation, activities, and so much more. For instance, for a book lover like me, I would want to try to make sure I end up at McIntyre's Books in Chapel Hill if I ever got to go that way. It's one of the many things listed in there (with more "exciting" things if you don't find that to be on par with your type of vacation speed). It also provides important phone numbers and nice colored maps that break down where some important key locales are and labels them clearly. This is done for so many areas that between the different states, you will have plenty of information and maps to plan one heck of a fun trip.
With full itineraries there for you to look at, take from, and follow if you'd like, full maps per section and a full color pull out in the back, and so much more, this is a terrific book for anyone planning a trip to any or all of these states. It's also a plus that local writers vetted every recommendation to help ensure a great trip!

I'm usually am leery of books that try to cover too much, as they tend to be a mile wide and inch deep, but this book actually has enough detail to make it useful for both an overview of the region and planning specific trips. That said, any one of the cities and areas covered could be a small book unto themselves (especially Charleston and Savannah), so the book is best for doing itineraries that include multiple locations, such as going to Ashville, the Smoky Mountains and the Biltmore Estate in one trip rather than just going to Charleston for a couple of days. Along those lines, there are several pre-planned itineraries to choose from, giving you many reasons to revisit the region again and again.

easy reading and well organized (including maps) paperback for people wanting to visit tourist destinations in the southeastern U.S., but seems to favor mainly high end hotels and restaurants.

It was boring

Great ideas on what to see when you are in the south.

We ordered this book because we've had other Fodor books that we really used a lot and enjoyed. This one would be a 5* review except that the cover is upside down. What happened? Misprint??