Frommer's New Mexico (Frommer's Complete)

Written by more than 175 outspoken travelers around the globe, Frommer’s Complete Guides help travelers experience places the way locals do.

• More annually updated guides than any other series

• 16-page color section and foldout map in all annual guides

• Outspoken opinions, exact prices, and suggested itineraries

• Dozens of detailed maps in an easy-to-read, two-color design

The writer writes well and she is not afraid to offer candid opinions of hotels and tourist sites. She's a New Mexico native and shares her passion for the state with the reader.

** I especially liked the lists of top attractions by type in the front of the book: Best of Natural New Mexico, Best Scenic and Historic Drives, Best Outdoor Activities, Best Family Experiences, Best Historic Hotels, etc. (there are 12 of these lists).

These lists helped my companion (my 13 year old son) and I get our hands around the diversity of this state and plan just what we most wanted to do during our one week in the Southwest.

Once we narrowed down what we wanted to do, the book was arranged by region, listing all the other things we could do while in that area.

Other good companion books for this trip were Tony Hillerman's novels set in Navajo country and the book, Roadside Geology of New Mexico.

The Frommers book for Arizona has the same organization and is very good, but not quite as good as this book.


This is what all guidebooks should aspire to.   October 19, 2009
Esther Schindler (Scottsdale, AZ USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

There are at least two kinds of travel guidebooks. Good ones, I mean. Most useful guidebooks are primarily fact-oriented. They tell you what's available to the traveler and the details necessary to take advantage of them -- restaurant addresses, and the hours a museum is open, that sort of stuff. When the selection is useful, we're all glad to turn to such guidebooks... even if they don't have a lot of personal style.

This Frommer's guide to New Mexico, however, is in the better classs of travel books; it's really a personal guide. It's abundantly clear that the author, Lesley King, really knows and loves New Mexico, and the suggestions reflect King's affection for the state and its attractions. It's as though you have a friend accompanying you, giving you personal advice, like "This store has too many cheap trinket-like items for me, but many people find some novelty items to take back home. You'll find everything from salsas to tortilla chips..." or "For as long as I can remember, my family and many of my friends' families have scheduled trips into northern New Mexico to coincide with lunch or dinner at this fun restaurant. [Rancho de Chimayo]" -- the latter of which has a two-inch description of the restaurant's history, menu, and location.

I spent a week on the road in the Four Corners area, primarily in New Mexico, with five books stuffed in my bag. Even though four of them covered the same area, the Frommer's Guide was the one I turned to first. Some of the reasons were purely pragmatic; this book has the COMPLETE information, with telephone number, website, and the days and hours they're open. (One book on Santa Fe omitted the later bit regularly.) Others were qualitative; we never went to a restaurant or chose a hotel from this book that was a bad deal. It also actively encouraged us to visit places we'd otherwise miss, such as a lunch stop in the El Rancho hotel in Gallup ("This restaurant has fans all across the Southwest. They come to experience the Old West decor...and the sense of the many movie stars who once ate here"), often places that are local favorites. You'll find the expected high-end destinations too (such as the long list of excellent restaurants in Santa Fe), but this book does a particularly good job at helping you distinguish between them.

Speaking of Santa Fe -- I'd also gotten a guidebook specific to that city. Unless you're going to spend a lot more time in that one town, I don't think you need the standalone book. This one does an excellent job at Santa Fe attractions; I ended up taking the advice of this book more often anyway.

Oh, the book also has a full sized state map that easily can be torn out. So you don't need to buy another one.

If you're planning a trip to New Mexico, this is the book for you. You don't need to do more comparison shopping.


Frommer's is consistent   November 7, 2009
Herbert M. Mandel (Pittsburgh, PA USA)
Frommer's guidebooks remain consistently the most useful of all the guidebooks. This one is no exception. Recommended without reservation.


good guide!   March 3, 2008
Edith Miller (Burbank, CA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Well researched and plenty of information. Gives details on what to expect, how much you may pay, when to go etc. I hope that it had more pictures but other than that, this is the only book you'll need.


Leave home without it   April 24, 2004
10 out of 19 found this review helpful

I just took a week-long trip to New Mexico and gave up using this book after the first day. I found my free AAA New Mexico Tourbook far more complete and informative.