[.ca] Moon Handbooks British Columbia (ISBN 1566915929)

From Amazon.com:
A reliable guide is essential when venturing off into the 948,596 square kilometers that make up British Columbia, and Moon's Handbook is the guide of choice. Covering recreation, accommodations, food, transportation, and sights for Southwestern, Central, and Northern British Columbia, Vancouver and Vancouver Island, plus the Rocky Mountains, Okanagan Valley, and the Kootenays, it's an exceptionally valuable tome of information. Whether you're looking for a sophisticated big city Vancouver holiday, going for high tea in Victoria, viewing Haida totem poles on the Queen Charlotte Islands, hiking the West Coast Trail, or canoeing the lakes in the Cariboo Mountains, the Moon Handbook is up-to-date and on the money. --Stephanie Gold

A Great Help:
This was the first of the Moon books I'd ever used and I was very impressed. There was a ton of useful information on general Canadian travel, but the bulk of the book is devoted to the various regions and the best of what there is to see and do. In places like Vancouver, where there are lots of museums, he discusses these; on Vancouver Island he tells all you'll need to know about water activities; in the Okanagan Valley he chooses his favorite wineries, etc. I'd been to BC previously, but visited a few great spots that I wouldn't have found without this book. The author concentrates on 3 or 4 places to stay and a similiar number of restaurants in each town and he has obviously done his research well as I couldn't find fault with the recommendations that cover all price ranges. Also importantly, the book is very well organized and the maps were very helpful. I also liked the thorough bibliography.

My favourite guidebook for British Columbia:
I know of no better book to my home province of British Columbia than this Moon guide. On my travels as a semi-retired geologist, I also carry copies of the Lonely Planet and Frommer's book and have reviewed both of them and others at Amazon.com, but Moon Handbooks British Columbia stands alone for its usefulness. The other books have their good points, but this one encapsulates everything one needs to enjoy the wonders of the province, whether it's their first trip or they live here. It covers every single corner of BC and is thorough and up to date. The Moon guide is cleverly written and arranged to appeal to all budgets. The bulk of the text relates to towns and parks of BC, with informative coverage of everything from museums to fishing opportunities and wildlife viewing. Each section ends with details of the best places to stay and recommendations for dining. If you're camping out or RVing I'd suggest also getting a campground guide, but the Moon book suggests at least one campground in each town, each of which the author has obviously visited. Motels are also detailed, and over previous editions I'm yet to find fault with the author's choices. Ditto for bed and breakfasts and restaurants. In my opinion, thois is definitely the best allround guidebook for British Columbia

Great, but previous edition better.:
This is indeed a terrific guidebook for B.C. Previous editions, however, included Banff and Jasper National Parks, which admittedly are in Alberta, not B.C., but are usually included in Canadian Rockies travel itineraries. There's no excuse including Yoho (which is just over the border) but not Banff and Jasper, except to sell more books. So this is not an improvement.