EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDES
NEW ENGLAND

.......Upon first picking up the Eyewitness: New England guidebook, one is immediately impressed with the quality of the photography and illustration. This completely four-color book has excellent photos on nearly every page.

.......Covering six New England states – Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut – the book takes a look at (as their cover says) “state parks, restaurants, beaches, museums, trails, history, B&Bs, skiing.” Yes, this volume covers all those aspects, but in our opinion it most heavily focuses on cities, architecture, and history. The coverage of natural landscapes and the scenic delights of the region is significantly less.

.......For example, in the 19 pages covering Vermont, six pages (nearly one-third of the chapter on that state) are devoted to Burlington (four pages) and Shelburne Farm (two pages). These are quality destinations, but the urban emphasis is a little too heavy for our taste. Likewise, in the Maine chapter, there are twice as many pages about Portland as there are about the spectacular Acadia National Park.

.......Eyewitness is famous for great neighborhood walking maps with excellent illustrations. The Boston section (which takes up 76 pages of this 400-page book) features many maps of neighborhoods, parks, and the like. Actually, if you were planning a trip specifically to Boston, this would be a great guidebook, and you could use the rest of the New England information for day or overnight trips away from the city.

.......There is a brief section of basic traveler’s information, as well as a listing of selected lodging and dining options. As usual, we find these sections totally unnecessary and often out of date. As an example, in Eyewitness: New England there are 11 restaurants listed for the entire state of Maine. Anyway, we believe the internet is a far better source for up-to-date lodging and dining information.

.......Eyewitness books are among our favorites, and we’ve happily and confidently used them all over the world. For the region it covers, Eyewitness: New England is a great resource. If you’re spending time in a single New England state, you’ll probably be better served by a guidebook to that state, and by one which focuses on your particular interests. But for a regional first reference, we would highly recommend Eyewitness: New England.

.......Eyewitness publishes around a dozen U.S. regional, state, and city guidebooks, including Boston, California, Hawaii, Pacific Northwest, and several others.