London Travel Guide for Seniors

There is no such place as Tate London.

OP probably means Tate Britain, which is in London. Last summer I saw their J.M.W. Turner exhibition. Absolutely fantastic. And, I'll add its a great spot to start or end a walk along the Thames.

If you search "Tate London" in Google you will get both Tate Modern and Tate Britain as a response.

You say you like the looks and concept of the book. Large print, etc, etc. But what about the content ? Surely the primary reason for a guide book is comprehensive and accurate (at the time of printing) information. Have you compared the amount of information in this book to any of the major travel guides such as Rick Steves, Frommers, or Fodors ? You might get a couple from your local library and compare. Personally, I value added, comprehensive, content over pretty pictures. Is this 3 to 5 day walking tour practical for you? Does it include everything you want to see? Does it include much that isn't a priority for you? Given your mobility issues, can you walk all day for 3 to 5 days? And why would any London guidebook omit 2 of the major museums, not just in London, but in the world?

You wonder why the book has low sales. It could be that when people are spending thousands of dollars and valuable time on an international vacation, they want to put their trust in a name they recognize as being worth that trust. Not to mention one that includes as much information as possible, not just select bits. As for the large print - if that is something you need, you might want to look at buying the e versions, where you can enlarge the print as needed. And you can take with you on your trip.

I don’t know about this particular book, but for just about any destination on Earth, Amazon is infested with dozens of phony AI “travel guides” that almost always are a complete ripoff filled with misinformation. I would never buy a guidebook online that didn’t come from a known provider such as Rick Steves, Lonely Planet (although those aren’t as good as they were), Fodor’s, Frommers, Bradt, Insight, Moon and a few others.

Tate London was a mistake. I meant Tate Britain

Phil, the VisitLondon website has a ton of useful information. It’sFREE. and reliable, unlike that questionable guide from Amazon.

https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/budget-london/free-things-to-do-in-london

https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/budget-london/101-cheap-things-to-do-in-london

https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/sightseeing/london-itinerary

https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/sightseeing

CJean

I have cataracts and am working on having them removed. Second pre-op is Monday and first surgery is scheduled for September.

For me, the content is very satisfactory. I will be walking some every day I am there. The guide offers information about many to most attractions that I am interested in and I am always willing to learn about others. I am flexible and open. I am not going to be able to visit all that I would likle to visit.

With me, nothing is engraved in stone.

Each Day is one walk with several attractions listed. There is a nice walking map. There are two pages for each attration.

On the left hand side of the attraction is a history and on the right hand side, is pertinent information which includes how to get there, toilets, accessibility, places to sit down and much more. Remember it is written for older people.

There are 5 or 6 attractions for each walk and it gives you approximate time from one attraction to the next like 5 minutes.

There is no information about lodgings or shopping which is fine with me. There is limited information about restaurants but there are a few recommendations each day close to the sites. There are restaurants recommended for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I have researched these restaurants elsewhere and they get good reviews.

I bought Rick Steves London Guide for my last trip. I took it with me and chose to leave it at the hotel for others in Southampton because I thought that I would never ever go to London again. Never say never!

The Guide I am now talking about costs $21, the same as Rick's and more than others.

I like that it focuses on walks and attractions.

Since my last trip to London, I have unfortunately been diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and my diet is now very limited. Most guide books have a lot of information about food and restaurants because tourists love to go out and the food.

So this one is working better for me or as good for me as Rick's.

I like this Guide and am puzzled as to why more people have not bought it.

But you may be right that travelers want th tried and the true.

I plan to take this book with me and will let Forum know how if worked after my trip.

Mary

Thank you.

I love Visit London and i have used it many many many times. I used it last trip as well as this one.

And I am taking notes.

But I like something off line as well as online. This guide is light and i plan to take it with me.

I will be visiting visitor information when in London. My hotel has tour information. There is a hoho bus very near my hotel and I hope to do the hoho bus. I really liked it in Paris.

The RS London book is helpful. I see you have owned it before. Would a magnifying glass or something similar help?

A quick google shows that Nadya Salie is a Malaysian/Scottish woman from South Africa who was studying journalism at the University of Westminster around the time of the pandemic.

Since 2023 she has been a freelance copywriter writing blog posts for wellness brands, and (where 'approved' comes in this context)

Writing and evaluating content for AI models, Used problem solving skills to identify errors in model's output and communications,
Analysed model's answers for safety risks, Categorised content into specific niches, Wrote long-form generative prompts for AI models to satisfy the client's requested needs.

(whatever all that means in plain English).

Slate

I had Rick's Guide last trip and it was good but I chose to leave it at the hotel in Southampton since I was never going to return to London. As I said to Cjean, never say never!

I got a lot of information from Rick's guide but wanted to buy something different.

So this guide I bought looks good. This one is light and i am going to take it with me and I will let forum know how good the information was.

Rather than repeat myself, please read my response to CJean which might explain why most traditional guides might not work. for me.

Thank you for your feedback.

pbscd

Use readers but sometimes need a magnifying glass even with readers. But it seems that print is getting smaller and smaller.

I have cataracts and am working on having them removed. First surgery scheduled for September. Having my second pre-op Monday.

Rick's book was packed with information that I can not use such as food and restaurants.. I have both diabetes and CKD. Food and Restaurant reviews are of almost no value to me.

I am not a shopper but for thrift stores and garage sales.

Thank you isn1c

At least she is a real person and not a robot or maybe she is not a robot.

Out of curiosity I looked at the 59 reviews posted on Kindle about the London for Seniors book. The vast majority of them were positive, but what struck me as odd was that all, or virtually all of them said it’s a great looking book that they plan to use when they go to London in the future. That review is kind of like buying, say, a blender, and posting a 5 star review saying I’ve taken my blender out of the box, the directions look great, looking forward to making some smoothies with it in the future, such a fine blender! There weren’t reviews that said they had used the book already for their London trip and that they found the information to be accurate when they got there and relied on it. So it may be fine, but I would double check anything it says if it’s something that is important to you. A problem with some of these AI guides is that sure, they sound fine when you read them at home, but the content turns out to be inaccurate or unrealistic.

Sounds like, from the credentials, that the author is experienced at writing AI prompts. So yes, likely AI.

I suggest not using HOHO bus.
There are better ways to see the sites by riding on certain regular TFL bus routes that pass many iconic landmarks and attractions throughout the city.
I believe they are routes 11, 24, and 9.

And they cost less than the 25+ GBP the Hop on Hop offs charge.

@bostonphil7 - do you have a tablet? I would suggest you purchase the electronic version of the Rick Steves London guidebook on Amazon - on the tablet you'll be able to adjust the font to make it easier to read. And note that your vision should improve significantly after your surgery - although depending on the lens inserts you choose, you may still need glasses for reading.

There are many self-published books on Amazon that are printed on demand - that is most likely what you purchased.

It has occurred to me that the reviews are all AI generated.

The book is so thin and light that I am planning to take it with me. I will use it so as just to test it out.

markcw

Self published? Maybe but it costs a lot of money to self publish and if this person or group is only selling one book a day, they are losing a bunch of money.

It is published by Golden Agers Travel Guides and approved by Nadya Salie. If I could get an email, I would write.

Slate and pbscd

How do you publish an AI book?

It sound like a lot of work

A human still has to be behind it

Tim

Thank you.

I have heard about the different London buses that also end up working as a tourist bus.

No, they’re not losing money. Self published just means it only prints out if someone orders it. It’s not like what you’re probably thinking of, where a vanity publisher will charge good money to print someone’s book that no commercial publisher wants. I saw an eye opening article about this recently. Many of these AI slop authors push out at least one of these a week. If they sell any it’s profitable. It’s not just travel guides, there are tons of fake history books, biographies, cookbooks, you name it.