Frommer’s Hawaii Day by Day Guidebook Review

By Beth Whitman

On a recent trip to Kauai, I carried with me Frommer’s Hawaii Day by Day guide. Though the book covers the entire state, it was an excellent resource for my trip since more than 90 pages of it are dedicated to Kauai alone.

There are a couple of things that I like most about this guidebook.

The first is that it is packed with photos and maps. I found this really helpful in determining what parts of the island I might want to visit given our time there was so short. Every section includes maps with numbers corresponding to listings for that region, making everything super easy to pinpoint. Looking for surf spots? Restaurants? The best hikes? They’re all noted with numbered red dots on the maps.

The second great feature is that every island is broken down into sights/features/to-do’s in a best-of sort of way. So, for Kauai, for example, I could thumb through:

• My 12 Favorite Kauai Moments
• The Best of Kauai in 3 Days
• Beaches
• Best Hiking and Camping
• Ocean Adventures
• Restaurants
• Hotels

There are more sections than this but these are the ones I referred to most. And, with everything so well laid out, it made planning easy. We could choose a restaurant near our hotel at the last minute or we could take our time to map out the route for the next day’s sightseeing.

I admit to being somewhat Hawaii ignorant since so much of my travel is international. So, the information on Hawaii’s history (particularly the section on Pearl Harbor) was fascinating and enlightening. I also found myself cracking open the book when I heard other travelers referencing something about another island and I didn’t know anything about it! Something I wouldn’t have been able to do had I only had a Kauai guide with me.

The book comes with a large foldout map that tucks into a plastic sleeve attached to the inside of the back cover so it won’t get left behind in your rental car.

At about $20 on Amazon (list price is $28), it’s not a bad investment, whether you’re traveling to one or more island, there’ll be plenty of ideas in here that will make it a handy guide for your trip or a planning tool when you’re trying to determine which island to visit!

Beth Whitman is the Publisher of Wanderlust & Lipstick - Your Destination for Women's Travel.

Note: Wandering Educators received a review copy from Frommer's.