Always a pleasure to read DK books, the quality never fails to impress.
This book is packed with delightful images and useful information on unique places to visit.
My only gripe is that there was a section on London! It really should just focus on the South Coast i.e Portsmouth - South Downs, Sussex Coast...

If you're planning a visit to the South of England this book is a good place to start your research. A brief outline of the many interesting places to visit with links to further information so that you can learn more about the places you like the sound of. I live in Dorset so I checked through the information for here and it all seems current and accurate.

A very informative read, I really enjoyed this book as I'm in terrible need or an adventure, a few nights somewhere will certainly pack a punch. Handy to learn about since covid and travel has been limited, that said I dived head first into exploring this book

Some of the south coast within this book I have heard of but not been too, though I'm very well travelled in Cornwall and can say I've pretty much been to every nut and cranny possible over a twenty year period.
I wouldn't personally have included London as I feel it's something that has it's own book for being such a diverse, large and popular area, it's not something you can just touch on. Though it would be advantageous from an author or publishing aspect but the book doesn't really need it. I did feel there was a lot of Kent to get through, so perhaps this is a place I need to go to .
Bournemouth, Bristol, Stonehenge, Brighton. Some of the book seems to be a bit of a wrecking ball rolling in and out of places, I think is because (although research has been carried out and ?? there is plenty to offer, with hotels and eateries albeit some a little steep in price) the book hasnt been tailored to a specific audience instead it's become a people pleaser and might benefit from a title alteration: Some of the best Cities to visit in England, might be better and give this book some direction.

Many thanks to netgalley for my free ARC in return for my review.

Newly updated, perfect for exploring, DK has packed 224 pages with ideas, maps, itineraries, places to eat/ drink/ stay when visiting the south coast of England in this wonderful book. I can’t imagine many people would be short of ideas with this Eyewitness travel guide to hand. London is also included in the guide which is a useful bonus. Very easy to navigate with plenty of photos and maps. Thank you to DK and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, I have to say I found the title misleading. I assumed this was going to just cover coastal areas along the south Coast of England. In fact it covers all the counties of Southern England that have some coastline. So you will find information on many inland cities and towns such as Bath, Wells, Winchester and Canterbury. You may not be expecting London but there is a huge section on our capital city. With covering such a large area information is fairly superficial for each area mentioned. However, I really liked the suggested walking or road tours of areas, there are great suggestions for places to eat as well as to visit and the maps and diagrams, as with all DK books are exemplary. The bare essentials are covered very well. Good web links are included and I liked the insertion here and there of quirky facts. Overall though I felt that this book tried to cover too much. It may be a good starting point for planning a trip to a southern county, but you would then want much more detailed information on a specific area.

Yeah, I cannot begin this write-up anywhere else than with the fact that this look at the southernmost English coast includes London. And I know many a foreign visitor will want to know about London just as much as they would, say, the Jurassic Coast walks or Bournemouth's art galleries, but there's a heck of a lot of Kent to drive through before you get there (Surrey not getting a mention), and anyway aren't there enough books to tell us about London? A lot of this really feels off-topic.

But it also features Bristol, Avebury and Stonehenge, so it certainly doesn't have a strict sense of complying to geography.

But let's take it all in order and see what we get. We get the feel and a timeline of the regions concerned, to allow us to decide what motives for coming appeal. In the London section, we see the book has so much to pack in it has to act like the rushed tourist, so we actually get welcomely concise lists of highlights, and factoids I didn't know myself. And then we're free, off out into the regions, zipping round Kent's best and, well, the Sussex Coast (Petworth House the sole excursion much inland). Again there's a parity between the book needing to cram it all in and a visitor doing the same, Brighton's Pavilion needing not one but three cross-sectional and end-on diagrams to cater for all the captions it gets, and the traveller needing not one moment to absorb the real thing but several.

The other counties, hit clockwise, are covered in suitable manner – with more attention to what we should be seeing and exploring than what over-priced eateries they think we should be hoping to book at, and what hotels have shoehorned their way into the compilers' attentions. Appealing pictures and snippets of information bring Austen lovers, naval buffs, and more than a few Broadchurch viewers to the region. Many will find this all quite inspiring, and want to check out Shaftesbury, say, or how to get lost in Beer. And beer. Coming from this region I am very happy this feels like there is a very attractive and busy time to be had there, with many sites and sights for all – but I do insist the fact the pages feel so crammed and rushed is rather because the book tried to cater for too many people. Nix the capital – more Laines, less London, next time, please.

I enjoyed reading this travel guide but it isn't entirely without criticism.

The major plusses for me were the succinct descriptions of several key towns and villages, places of interest, and accompanying photos and annotated illustrations, plus hyperlinks to aid those reading the digital edition. Also, the suggested walking and driving tours with maps, and important information for non-UK based visitors.

It is easy to follow on the whole and to find the information you are looking for, which is the key to any good guidebook.

As this is a guide to England's South Coast, I was slightly surprised to see a chapter on London. Also, some locations, such as Somerset, aren't physically on the south coast, and north Devon and Cornwall have an Atlantic coastline, but we are probably splitting hairs with that one.

One fairly major grumble. The Isle of Wight (I live there) is not part of Hampshire as is implied by its inclusion in the Hampshire and Wiltshire section. The Island merits no more than a few sentences, which to me feels like a major omission. A shame as this is otherwise a wide-ranging and comprehensive guide.

Despite these criticisms, I would still consider buying a copy of this book.

I was sent an advance review copy of this book by DK Eyewitness, in return for an honest appraisal.

Fascinating and motivational for getting out to visit more of the UK, maybe covering a little too much of the UK as it was quite a large geographical area and I’m not sure London needs to be included. The information was on point, clear and concise and the photographs and maps certainly made a useful guide and reference for any south coast visitor. I enjoyed the fact that the digital copy meant that locations were linked and would take you to that particular page.

DK is the gold standard when it comes to travel literature. Their books contain not only practical information about lodging, restaurants and sightseeing, but gorgeous photography that will convince even the most reluctant of travelers to leave the comfort of their armchairs. This volume gives readers all the information they need to make the most of their visits to everywhere from Cornwall to Canterbury

I love DK guide books. I haven't been to England for several years but my husband and I used to go almost every year for about 10 years. There are a lot of places mentioned that I remember fondly and their descriptions are informative and succinct. I would recommend these guide books for anyone who travels. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to reconnect with some of my favorite memories.

A good book, full of ideas for places to see and itinerary. I liked how it was possible to navigate the digital copy.
It made me travel to new places and gave ideas for travels.
Recommended.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is a curious tome as according to the Eyewitness guide the South Coast includes St Ives, Somerset and Margate!
The content is brief and could provides a quick overview. Clicking on the South Coast for Foodies provides precisely one generic sentence.
I've previously enjoyed and used Eyewitness Guides, but am disappointed about this one.

These days, it’s raining all week long, I’m not much hiking. What a shitty summer! I guess that’s why wanderlust hit me hard and I couldn’t refrain from requesting a travel book.

I’ve never heard from publisher DK Eyewitness, but found that they are well-regarded. Some people even say “you never can go wrong with DK Eyewitness”. What really motivated me were those rolling hills, the sea and kind of mystical lost house on the cover. I thought of all those Rosamunde Pilcher romance flicks my wife uses to watch.

The book feeds all that yearning of a couch traveler with lots of beautiful pictures, hiking with my fingers on the loooong coast trail. 1014km on the South West Coast Path from Somerset to Dorset in just a few minutes, I accepted that heroic challenge.

Other chapters specialize on food and drink, parks, cycle routes, history (Stonehenge!) or water sports. I also loved the chapter bringing up the beauty of the four seasons in that region.

What I didn’t expect to see was a chapter about the area of London – I have already a travel book about this gigantic city and didn’t need it here. So, I skipped that part and went to Kent and Sussex, Hampshire and Wiltshire, Dorset and Somerset, Devon, ending with Cornwall. Every chapter features lot of unknown sites for me – I’ve heard nothing of the geodesic domes of the Eden Project in Cornwall for example.

In summary, I really enjoyed this virtual trip to South England and can fully recommend this book.

You can’t go wrong with DK Eyewitness books. This one proves the point. It’s jam packed with ideas for road trips, stops to view attractions snd wonderful photos. It’s well laid out and easy to use. I’d get myself a paper copy, though there’s nothing wrong with a digital edition, I just like to thumb through travel books at home, while a digital copy is handy for on the road.

I happily confess to being an Anglophile. It all started when I spent part of my junior year of college in Bath. I absolutely fell in love with the city and the country. So, this title was just my cup of (English) tea. Bath is in the southwest and it is an area that I explored in depth. This meant that when I looked at this title, I had a pretty good sense of whether the descriptions and places to visit were accurate and enticing. They are!

I like the book’s organization. There are chapters on interests as, for example, the area for walks and hikes or for history buffs or for foodies and more. There are also sections that are based on geographical areas. Other helpful chapters cover getting around, practical information and things to know before taking off. There are also many maps and links to websites..

Anyone planning to travel in the South Coast area and even armchair travelers are sure to enjoy this book. I know that I did. It is just packed with gorgeous photos and information.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.
Share this:

I received a copy of, DK Eyewitness England's South Coast, by DK Eyewitness. This an amazing guide book on England's South Coast. Its so beautiful and inviting. I cant wait to plan a trip their. The pictures in the book are great.