A nicely produced cookbook style guide to the best markets, food shops, restaurants and cafes arranged by area. With over 60 recipes, it's perfect for the dedicated foodie.
A guide to London's bars and restaurants arranged by nationality or budget with a rating system. The magazine style format is great to flick through but unwieldy and less durable than a guide book.
A great practical guide to London that really feels like it's been written by residents. Contains good information on bars, restaurants and activities as well as clear street maps.
The best of the purely practical guides geared towards the traveller on a budget. Reliable and selective recommendations and well-written and fairly detailed cultural and historical background.
A firm favourite with the backpacker it is a practical guide with good listings and reliable logistical information. However, does lack the well-written historical and cultural background of the Rough Guide equivalent.
Aimed at anyone moving to London or anyone wanting a more in-depth experience, Culture Shock will help you learn the social and business etiquette of Londoners. Includes notes on settling in, language and society.
It is notoriously difficult to find a useful map of London, either they're unwieldy or they only cover the very centre, or the scale is absolutely minute. This little guide is a good compromise; it includes fold-out maps of ten districts of London from Shepherds Bush to the Isle of Dogs, from Kentish Town to Battersea Park. Each map is accompanied by recommended restaurants, shops, bars and attractions.
A list of 115 of London's most interesting and unusual pubs arranged by area. Contains photographs of each pub, lists the beers on offer and gives a brief history and introduction to each.
An alternative guide from the celebrated restaurant recommender for the fussy but frugally-minded; includes 500 affordable restaurants listed by theme, for example, ethnic, romantic or breakfast. All the restaurants are marked on a number of useful maps at the back of the book.
A useful guide containing 25 cycle routes around London which avoid traffic and focus on historical and cultural sites and parks and waterways. Worth using before you set off, rather than while cycling, and now a little out of date.
A great guide with enough suggestions to satisfy any customer. All the recommendations are close enough for a day trip and include ruined castles, museums, beaches, theme parks, pubs and stately homes.
Probably the most respected cultural publisher in the market, who better to introduce you to the 153 most visited artistic venues in London. The entries are listed alphabetically and include photographs and a potted history of the museums and the collections.
The best of the cultural guides with detailed information on museums, attractions, history, architecture, walks and days out. Does contain some listings of hotels and restaurants but generally it is much more suitable for the culture vulture than the backpacker on a budget or someone planning a more contemporary city break.
A list of recommended, off-the-beaten track restaurants, bars, pubs, shops and attractions for each area far removed from the tourist trap. Also includes information on the highs and lows of each area, the schools and the properties.
For the tourist or resident alike this magazine-style guide lists recommendations from tea at the Wolseley to watching steel drummers compete before the Notting Hill carnival, from eating pie and mash to trying on a bearskin at the Guard's Museum. Also includes tips from famous Londoners for example, Sarah Waters.
There's not much to choose between this guide and the Zagat equivalent but Harden's tends to be more opinionated. The introduction features the top restaurants by price, food, service and ambience but the main body of the book is ordered alphabetically.
Much briefer than the Cadogan equivalent but probably easier to use on the move. Each walk contains a colourful aerial view and is limited to one hour.
Did you know that a group of ferrets is known as a business? If you love facts like this and a wonderful attention to detail then this lively and beautifully illustrated guide to walks in and around London will be perfect for you and your family. Highly recommended.
A pocket-sized guide including 40 day walks and 11 long distance trails through Sussex. Each walk contains background information, detailed instructions, recommended stop-offs and colour duplications of the appropriate OS map.
A guide to 50 walks in Surrey, all of them are between 2 and 10 miles long and they are arranged by area. Each walk has background information, directions and a road map.
An pocket-sized walking guide to the South Downs Way split into Eastbound or Westbound depending on your choice and into a further 12 daily stages. Each stage has a colour copy of the OS map, explicit directions, background information and recommended stop-offs.
Includes 10 short walks, 2 car tours and 3 bike rides around Hampshire, Chichester, Brighton, Lewes, Eastbourne, Rye and Hastings. Spiral bound makes it easy to use but less durable, each walk has directions and a hand drawn map but this is definitely more of a touring guide than a walking guide.
An architectural guide continuing the tradition of the great Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, split into sections on major buildings, walks and excursions. Packed with plenty of colour photographs, plans and drawings and well-researched information, it is the perfect guide for the architecture buff.