5 comments about Frommer's London 2008 (Frommer's Complete).

1. I was really hoping to use the map included in this book during my stay in London. Unfortunately, the area I was staying (near the Marble Arch) was not included in the map, and therefore, was not as useful as I had hoped.



2. We went to London in January 2007. We bought a few London travel-guide-type books but THIS book was the one we kept turning to during our trip. It was easy to use and comprehensive. The maps of the different parts of the city were an excellent tool. We had never been to London before and with this book we felt a little more like we knew what we were doing! I highly recommend this book!



3. There is an intimidating array of travel guide options when one is planning a trip, especially if you're going to as common a destination as London! I checked out everything available (and up-to-date, because these guides do change annually, in many cases!) from my library. I was drawn to Frommer's 2008 for several reasons:
   
   1. Readability. The information was conveyed in such a way that I didn't at all feel intimidated by how many choices I had. There is a good balance in the amount and kind of information given in the reviews of attractions, pubs, hotels, etc., and I was able to quickly figure out whether I wanted to add a site on my itinerary or not.
   
   2. Organization. There is a lot of easy, helpful information about traveling to London (including packing for your trip) in the beginning of the guide. This is followed by "top ten" lists for various attractions (pubs, sites, etc.), and then a really handy series of itineraries for "Seeing London" in "a day," "two days," or "three." The city is divided into various neighborhoods, and so it is very easy to find places to stay, restaurants, and attractions no matter where you find yourself. I found this feature especially useful when organizing my itinerary.
   
   3. Usefulness. Reviews are honest and upfront about things you really want to know - from the bathroom sizes in boutique hotels, to whether you want to go for a restaurant's signature steak-and-kidney pie. Each region has a list of hotels and restaurants that cater to a range of budgets, from very expensive to options for the budget traveler. Frommer's also includes an excellent symbol system, including one for "over-rated attractions" and an "insider's alert" for unique finds that you might not see in other guides. There is also a handy map of the London Underground lines, and a tourist-friendly city map tucked in the back of the guide.
   
   I looked at a few different guides to try and supplement my travel plans, but honestly, the only book I'll be bringing will be the Frommer's 2008 guide. Lonely Planet London would be useful as a supplement for those interested in more cultural information, or a perspective for the alternative lifestyle (gay and lesbian, vegetarian). My only complaint is that while there are low-cost hotels listed, cheaper options like hostels are not covered, so students and shoestring budget travelers may need to resort to the internet for help in that regard. Ultimately, I was very pleased with this guide both for its helpfulness in preparing for my trip, and its suitability as a pocket guide when I'm in London.



4. This is an excellent resource for anyone planning to visit London. It made our trip enjoyable, saved us money, and equipped us with information that helped us navigate London easily. It contains information on everything from "must see" attractions, to tips on exchanging money. My husband and I were able to prioritize our schedules and take advantage of special deal unknown to travelers. The topics are nicely organized with clear and accurate information. We will not travel again without a Frommer's guide.
   
   The only two tips we picked-up that were not in the guide were:
   
   1. Shop at Tesco for your food - This is were all the locals shop so you will not pay tourist prices. Our hotel was selling us a 1/2 liter bottle of water for $12 US dollars. We went to Tesco and paid .60 cents for 2 liters.
   
   2. Look into dot2dot - Hotel transportation can be expensive. A cab ride can cost $100-150 US dollars. The guide tells you about the underground, which comes out to about $15.00, but if you take dot2dot and share a ride you can get a round trip ticket for $66.00. This is great if you have heavy luggage and do not want to drag it around on the underground.
   
   I hope this helps. Enjoy!



5. I bought this book, along with several others, for a trip I took to London with my husband and 13 year old daughter. We already had a hotel so we didn't use that section, but we found it to be a great reference book for almost anything we needed quick information on. Museums, places to visit, train and subway information, the proper amount to tip, it was all in there. Definitely worth the investment.

5 comments about Streetwise Florence Map - Laminated City Street Map of Florence, Italy.

1. We purchased this map from AMAZON only weeks before our trip to Italy. Either it was incorrect from the start or has never been updated since its publication....or there are one way gremlins afoot at the publishers!!After trying every approach into central Florence using this map we realized that at least HALF of one way streets are WRONGLY MARKED! Finally we chucked the map and followed the actual street signs and found our hotel.



2. Driving directions can change on a dime (see previous review), but walking the streets, so to speak, rarely changes. There are maps with more detail, but this map is an essential. Lightweight, laminated (waterproof), pocket-sized, and with almost all the detail that most Florence visitors need. Fully-opened, it is still small and easy to use. A handy gazeteer lists many streets and monuments, with map grid locations. There are some very tiny streets/alleys that are hard to make out, but that is true for almost any pocket-sized folding map.



3. I have purchased several Streetwise for various cities. I found ALL of them to be useful. For Florence, it was particularly useful because the streets in Florence are narrow and not straight. You can easily get a bit lost - but not if you have the Streetwise map with you. You can use it to quickly get your location, and to see where the nearest piazza, church or museum is located. It also takes you across the Arno to the Piti Palace and Boboli Gardens. It is easy to carry and for someone who has progressed to bifocals -- easy to read.



4. Great map. Used it a lot. Needed my reading glasses to see the small print.



5. I have been to many European countries and I always buy a streetwise map before I go. These maps are convenient, folds up easy to fit into a purse or backpack, very accurate and laminated. While in Florence it rained often. The map constantly got wet and was dropped in puddles a few times. The map held up great and I do not go to any new place with out one.

5 comments about Happyslapped by a Jellyfish: The words of Karl Pilkington.

1. I loved this book full of Karl's cretinous observations, but Karl, mate, it's time to start doing podcasts again. Auntie Nora enduring 5 minutes of wind is more work than you've done since this book was published. The poster campaign is in full swing. I've got Karl's little roundy head on the t-shirt I'm wearing to the Mall of America this afternoon. You can't hide in a jam jar like an octupus, you walking Pez dispenser. Ricky, we await further instructions.



2. Steps to making your own Karl Pilkington doll.
   
   Step 1. Get an Orange and draw two eyes, a mouth and a nose. No need for hair.
   
   YOUR VERY OWN KARL DOLL!
   
   Karl Pilkington: World's roundest head.



3. Karl is the king, but he has become a lazy king, and his subjects are getting restless. MORE PODCAST NOW YOU ORANGE HEADED MONKEY FREAK!!!!
   
   ...And there better be new monkey news included in the podcast...I'm just sayin'....
   
   But about the book....Great book. Karl's an idiot, but strangely, his book creates a very enjoyable read. I esp. liked when he talked about the squirrles in Carmel, CA. I live by there, and I've seen those squirrles, and I want to go back and see if they've been traumatized by meeting Karl.



4. Great book. Karl IS a genius, Ricky is the idiot, I know this cos im a genius and if Karl isn't one then im not, but I am, so he is, so there. Love it!



5. Just like Ricky Gervais said, "I've seen him blossom from an idiot into an imbecile." Karl has such a different way of viewing the world and it's like no other. Maybe it's because he's borderline retarded, yet extremely observant and curious. This book is HILARIOUS!!!
   
   P.S. WE'RE ALL WAITING FOR SERIES 4 OF THE PODCAST, KARL. HURRY UP AND FIX YOUR DAFT BOILER AND GET BACK IN THE STUDIO WITH RICKY AND STEVE.

5 comments about The Most Beautiful Villages of Tuscany (Most Beautiful Villages).

1. Since I love Italy as a place to visit, this book is great to own.



2. This is the best for someone wanting to visit interesting places in Italy. It is not only well arranged and written, but it helped so much in trip planning. I highly recommend this to anyone traveling on their own to Italy.



3. Great service and beautiful pictures of Tuscany but somewhat dissapointed at the lack of an organized route map for efficient traveling to the various villages.



4. Yes, the photos are nice, but how many coffee table books with pretty Tuscan villages, cypress trees, and silvery olive leaves shimmering in the wind do we need?
   
   Someone who reviewed this book suggested bringing it along on a Tuscan trip; if you put this large and heavy book in your luggage, you will have to leave the toothpaste, underwear, and a number of other things at home, particularly now that some airlines are apparently toying with the notion of lowering weight allowances and charging for the excess.
   
   The text in most instances is not particularly helpful. There are quite a few books on Tuscany that do a much better job. And I was truly surprised to see the town of San Quirico d'Orcia included in the list of "most beautiful villages". I happen to know San Quirico and because it is off the usual beaten tourist path, it retains an "Italianness" that has been lost by, for example, Greve in Chianti, where one would be hard-pressed to find an Italian in that town's lovely main square on a Saturday afternoon. But San Quirico could never be called "beautiful", by any stretch of the imagination.
   
   Despite my reservations about this book, it would probably be a welcome present for a friend who has recently returned from the grand tour of Tuscany and it will, at least for a while, have a prominent place on this friend's coffee table.



5. i orignially purchased this book as a resource for a paper i was doing on tuscany, but when i received it and began to browse through it, i sat down and read the entire thing from cover to cover. the photography was magnificent; the information was just the right amount without going on and on; the entire product was stunning. i wanted to run to the internet and book the next flight to tuscany!

4 comments about Switzerland (Country Guide).

1. Lonely Planet's guide to Switzerland was extremely helpful while travelling to the country. Great detail and updated information on items such as hours of operations and costs were extremely helpful. Additionally, information on excursions such as to Vaduz, Liechtenstein was very up-to-date and an easy read.



2. I recently found myself contemplating a trip to Basel and, never having been there before and, knowing I would be alone without even a gendarme to ask questions of, nor another human being, I thought I should find a Basel guidebook. Amazingly enough it seems there is no such thing available on Amazon so I went with this larger book, which deals with all of Switzerland--in fact, nearly all of Western culture in one fell swoop.
   
   The authors of LONELY PLANET SWITZERLAND have convinced me for the present at any rate that Switzerland (Helvetia) is the most important country on planet earth, not that they suggest we rank countries by importance or anything. It is a handy guide in the sense that physically, the book is constructed so that you could rip out, as I did, the section on Basel and Aargau, and throw the rest of the book away, and the pages you need form a complete little fascicle, due to an amazing new wonder glue that holds different little chapbooksized sections together until you don't need them together any more. Thus armed with my guide, I went to Basel. The authors share not only hotels, restaurants, and train stations, they go all out to make you feel like you can do it too. I learned how to use the phone, where to shop for lampshades, how to buy a single stamp, where the best (and worst) Swiss-Indian cafes are, and what famous medieval scholar is buried in the tombs inside Munster cathedral. Why Erasmus of course!
   
   They have cute sidebars like Basel's most famous guy, Albert Hoffman, still alive at age 102 or something like that--the man who invented LSD.
   
   Later, I met a pair of Basellienne poets, one American born, one educated in the USA, who showed me their Basel, a charming tour of tombs, elevators, shops and bridges, culminating in a magical ferry boat ride across the Rhine from Big Basel to small. The afternoon was clear, like a glass of vodka, and I felt positively drunk with knowledge as I looked across the water and seemed to see my own back, walking away, mever to return.



3. This book was the first item to land in my backpack whenever I left my apartment during the year I spent living in Bern, Switzerland. Like most Lonely Planet guides, this one is well-written, entertaining, and generally accurate and up-to-date.
   Things I found helpful:
   - The suggested walking tours of cities are great for a quick orientation of the place.
   - Brief context and history about locations gives you about the same information as your average tourist brochure, but more concise and convenient.
   - Hiking routes are briefly mentioned with sufficient detail, but for any extended hiking, I would highly recommend Lonely Planet Walking in Switzerland.
   - Information on the best value in train passes and train routes makes eco-friendly travel easy.
   - The section on Liechtenstein is a nice addition since many treat it as a day trip from Switzerland.
   Considering that Lonely Planet typically caters to budget travelers, I was surprised to see how many upscale hotels it includes for some locations. Overall, the book provides something for everyone and is useful for both short trips and extended exploration of the country.
   Mary Ann Miller, author of CH is for Chocolate: Individually Wrapped Tastes of Switzerland



4. This book and the map was all we needed for our trip to Switzerland. The book has all sources of information - places to see, restaurants, transportation tips, etc. In Geneva and Bern, we followed the walking tours suggested in the book, and we were able to see all major attractions in 2 hrs. For some interesting places to see, the book just provides a brief description, but also gives a website link (when available) for more information, which is very helpful. I would definitely buy another book from Lonely Planet for my future trips.

5 comments about Croatia (EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE).

1. When planning a trip, I go straight to the Eyewitness Travel Guides. They are well laid out by geographic area, informative, visually appealing and just the rigtht size to tuck into a travel bag. I hope to collect many more!



2. Love those DK guides. Got the book in plenty of time for my trip.
   Thanks



3. This guide is great for getting started in your trip planning. It also includes information on eastern and central Croatia in addition to the coast. Some guides ignore the east. The pictures in the guide are wonderful and give you glimpses of what to expect. There are many helpful general travel insights that you need like information on changing money, use of credit cards, tipping, local customs, etc. We don't plan to stay and eat in the major tourist cities so the food and lodging info isn't that helpful to us. But overall, this guide was worth the money for when I can't be on the web getting info. The book has a British slant since it's from a British publisher but if you don't need all the references to be in dollars that won't be a problem.



4. We are great fans of the Eyewitness travel guides, and if the release date is within the past year, we would go with Eyewitness. This volume is up to Eyewitness's usual high standards. As usual, the great illustrations give the book a tremendous advantage over its competitors. Over the centuries, Slavs, Croats, Dalmatians, Slavonians, Serbs, Jews, Italians and others have left their imprint on the country. The illustrations help us keep our bearings.
   
   Other advantages: all three major regions are covered, the food, hotel and entertainment sections are up to date, and the cultural and wildlife sections are particularly well done.
   
   One surprising omission: Eyewitness usually provides an excellent list of books for further reading. That section is missing in this volume, and we bought a "Rough Guide" with its list of books and literature to fill the gap.
   
   Neither guidebook is particularly strong on the history of Croatia, the result of the extremely complex nature of its history. Luckily, Croatia Through History by Branka Magas has just been released and provides an excellent detailed account.
   
   It's best to do your homework before you leave home, of course; who wants to spend time reading history on the ground? As usual, Eyewitness's "Croatia" is the perfect guidebook for our taste.
   
   Robert C. Ross 2008



5. I am a big fan of the Eyewitness series from DK and own about a dozen of them. I have usually used Eyewitness on many of my trips and used other guides for supplemental information, if at all. I usually walk around with just my camera and the Eyewitness guide.
   
   However, I have just returned from 3+ weeks traveling with another couple through Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Slovenia and found this guide to be pretty useless. It soon went into my suitcase and stayed there for the rest of the trip. I write this review in the hope that DK will redo this guide, as they are my favorite guidebook series.
   
   My first criticism is that this book is confined solely to Croatia. I didn't expect is to cover neighboring countries in depth, but expected it to at least cover trips to the "highlights" of the neighboring countries: Kotor, and perhaps Budva in Montenegro; Mostar in Bosnia. These are both days trips from Dobrovnik and are included in many packaged tours. Anyone who goes to Dubrovnik and fails to also visit Kotor and Mostar is making a mistake.
   
   Of somewhat lesser importance, I would have liked to see Lake Bled and Ljubljana in neighboring Slovenia also included. While I did not go on a tour, I did check to see where tours go and these are popular destinations on trips to the region and should, in my opinion, be included. Were they, the book would be much more useful to both tour participants and those traveling the region on their own. Including all of the places I have mentioned would add, I would think, at most 50 additional pages to the book.
   
   The second area where this guidebook falls greviously short is restaurant and hotel recommendations. If using this book while on a tour, these are probably not important. DK has a habit of listing all restaurants in one section and all hotels in another for the entire country. I find this very awkward to use, as when in Dubrovnik, I want to find everything in the section for that city, not have to flip between different sections, and then search for Dubrovnik restaurants among listings for all areas and cities.
   
   But fundamentally this guidebook does not adequately cover the rich choice of hotels and restauants available throughout Croatia and it's neighbors. Only a few restaurants and hotels are mentioned for most towns. If you eliminate the budget choice and the luxury choice, you are left with only one or two choices, which is just inadequate.
   
   We used Fodor and Frommer's guidebooks to select hotels prior to the trip and to pick restaurants while we were there. The number of choices in each of these was double or triple the choices offered by Eyewitness. Two to three pages listing restaurants for Dubrovnik does not seem excessive; Eight listings for all of Dubrovnik is unquestionably inadequate.
   
   Croatia and the surrounding Balkan areas are a wonderful place to visit. I would hope that DK would re-evaluate their approach to "Country" (as opposed to City)guides and this one in particular. As for the available choices, Rick Steves is not bad; Frommer's covers restaurants and hotels well, but is also confined to just Croatia. Fodor's may be the best overall guide at the moment.

1 comments about Pardon My French: Unleash Your Inner Gaul.

1. This is a fun and interesting read if you are curious about the uniqueness of the French and their culture. The entries are organized by subjects such a food, getting about, education, and many others. It is not meant to be a deep analysis of the origins of these behaviors but it does at times appear to be a bit superficial. I have spent a lot of time in France and, overall, I found the vignettes and topics to be pretty accurate. The writer's style is straight forward, humorous, and presented in good context. Anyone planning to be in France for some extended time should find the book enjoyable and helpful.

5 comments about Rick Steves' Provence and the French Riviera 2008 (Rick Steves).

1. One must have this book if they are touring Provence. Makes it liveable and lovely



2. Great resource book. Tons of information that is well researched.



3. I felt that Rick's Provence and the French Riviera guide has some of the essentials but not the inspired coverage of his other books. There isn't the excitement that he presents in his Italian and other European guides. The coverage of the hill towns of Provence is somewhat perfunctory.



4. one of the best books I have read, lots of information and put in a great book form, have purchased his other books.



5. Rick Steves Provence and the French Riviera 2008-- I find it quite helpful and entertaining.

5 comments about Amsterdam (EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE).

1. I Love the Eyewitness Travel Guides. They give you beautiful pictures, & lots of information. I usually buy one for each European City I travel to.



2. Eyewitness produces terrific City Guides. We used them in London and Paris last year and will 'test drive' the Amsterdam Guide next week.
   They are very comprehensive and user friendly at the same time.



3. This book offers worthwhile information to a range of different readers. The first pages, "Four great days," offer itineraries for art lovers, shopping fans, history buffs, or families with kids to please. I don't think anyone will stop there, but I imagine many readers starting with those day-trips and filling in the edges.
   
   The rest of the book presents the city in lush photography, legible maps, and clearly organized descriptions. The part of the book (about two thirds) divides Amsterdam into seven geographical districts. For each, the reader gets a bit of history and general layout, followed by detailed descriptions of many attractions. The remainder of the book talks about out-of-town points of interest and general information about food, culture, and other helpful travel information.
   
   I'm going to Amsterdam soon on business, and have just a little time to enjoy this amazing city. This guide has been very helpful in planning those scraps of free time. Maybe this book won't meet every traveler's needs, but it meets mine.
   
   -- wiredweird



4. Although Eyewitness Travel Guides may offer more visual guidance than other guide books, they are still quite terrible. Maps are difficult to read and information is inconsistent.



5. We are now using the Eyewitness Travel Guides exclusively. We no longer need info about hotels, restaurants, etc., as we log on to Fodor's Travel to get the latest inside info from the Talk site. What we are looking for in a travel guide is inspiration, history and a sense of the country/city we will be visiting--we get all of that from Eyewitness Travel. We are now finishing the plans for our spring trip to Europe. The Amsterdam guide provides just what we need--lovely pictures to inspire us; practical info for visiting the city; history of the city to bring it to life. All this makes this guide just perfect for us.

5 comments about Ireland (Country Guide).

1. I've been using Lonely Planet guide books for over 15 years, for all parts of the world---Africa, Europe, SE Asia, N America--and this is definitely the worst I've seen. I paid full price and wish I had read it (or the other reviews here) first.
   
   A quick symbol of what's wrong with this book: The back cover, in an obvious effort to appeal to the Irish-American market, touts the book's usefulness for those wanting to "Get Back to Your Roots: hints and tips on researching the family tree." Not really my thing, but okay. Problem is, the entirety of information on genealogy consists of a tiny text box on p.682 that basically tells you to go buy some other books. Thanks! This same pattern is repeated throughout the book: endless efforts to appeal to a series of niche audiences (especially those w/ the $ to shell-out for the thing) with absolutely nothing treated in depth.
   
   More serious problems:
   --very thin information about transportation, particularly in less-traveled areas. thin info on ferries, driving, trains
   
   --maps mediocre
   
   --almost nothing discussing regional cultures, local histories, etc. Just a thin overview in the front
   
   --coverage is best for those regions likely to be overrun by US tourists; other areas practically ignored
   
   --the bias in accommodations is towards the high- and low-ends with the kinds of places most travelers would be interested in and able to stay at ignored (as with genealogical info, the list of websites giving accommodation info is far more useful than anything in the book itself)
   
   --the border is pretty much a non-entity these days, but the differences between the two countries aren't discussed at all, or practicalities like driving a rental car across the border
   
   (A minor point: is LP putting the orientation information (directories, getting to/from, health, etc) in the back of all its books, or just this one? The front seems a much more useful/obvious place to look for that kind of thing.)
   
   In the end, the book isn't terrible--it just isn't very good. And that's hard to justify in an era when much of the information it contains can be had for free online.



2. If only have room for one Ireland travel guide, this is the one to take. I took four different guides with me on my recent trip (the other three were Eyewitness Travel, AAA, and Rick Steves), and I found Lonely Planet to be the most useful. It has good detail on all tourist destinations on the island, including those off the beaten path and in the Midlands. It's well organized, with useful maps.



3. After painfully attempting to plan my honeymoon to Ireland with another type of tour-guide, I decided to return to the one that made my trips to Thailand and Costa Rica truly memorable. What can I say? Lonely Planet never ceases to amaze me!! Their FULL review of countries caters to ALL types of travelers, including those on a budget. The other guides' authors write their reviews of primarily expensive places to eat and stay. They also write as if they were being compensated by the reviewees (which they probably are). Not Lonely Planet. These are by far the best guides out there...I will never purchace any other type of tour-guide.



4. I have always been a fan of the lonely planet books, because they really help me find places to go in other countries. However, take my review with a grain of salt because, at this point, I have not taken my trip to Ireland yet. While it is informative and it has given me ideas of places to visit and hotels to stay in, I have not experienced what the book has said. However, it has helped me book hotels and design my iternerary.



5. Just the guidebook you need to see Ireland at any depth, for a short visit or an extended stay. Travelling in Ireland is pretty straightforward, simple, and every town is geared toward tourism, so this book may not be absolutely necessary to carry with you, but it is invaluable for planning purposes.