No comments about Fodor's Germany 2008 (Fodor's Gold Guides).

5 comments about Germany (Eyewitness Travel Guides).

1. This is a must have item to take with you on your ventures to Germany. There is so much information packed in this book, from pictures of money, how to catch a train, common word phrases to wonderful maps and descriptions of cities and sites around Germany.



2. Is this is the first time you 're looking for a tourist guide...don't look anymore, this is the one you want. I was looking for a good guide to go around Germany, while I'm here, and this one just work perfectly me, it gives you a little map of the mayor cities with all the hot spots and an introduction to German history in general and useful travel tips, they also cover all the german states... beautifully illustrated, with a lot of pictures and very useful information. It's an awesome guide!!



3. I have traveled to Germany many times for business, and I can say that this book has all the information that you need. Look no further for your personal travel guide!



4. I purchased this book as a guide, but found it was probably better than any "personal" guide as it is heavily stocked with beautiful pictures, maps, diagrams, and descriptions of castles and other sites.
   
   I like the way the country is sectioned off...by region, etc. At the back of the book are great traveler tips and a list of lodging and dining recommendations.
   
   The size of the book is traveler friendly too with a water-proof cover. This would fit nicely in a woman's purse.
   
   This is a beautiful and handy book to look at even if you don't plan to go anywhere.



5. This is a wonderful book! I gave it to my father for an upcoming family trip to Germany. It provided us with lots of extra information about specific sites and general history of each town. The graphics and photographs are great and add to the usefulness of the book. A must buy for those traveling throughout Germany!

5 comments about Daytrips Germany: 60 One Day Adventures by Rail or by Car in Bavaria, the Rhineland, the North and the East (Daytrips Germany).

1. We took 3 travel guides with us on our tour of Germany and this is the one we used the most. It has everything that you need to know. What trains to use, what to see, how to get there, where to eat, where to stay. As a first time traveler to Germany we found the info in this book useful and easy to use. I highly recommend it!



2. We, my wife and I, found the daytrips very informative.How else would we have found the famous "Rauchbier" in Bamberg? It alone was worth the price of the book. We went to several of the trips explained in the book during our three week stay in Bavaria. I will definitely take it again if we can make another trip to Germany.



3. Useful but boring, the same format over and over. The 2002 edition I just received is really out of date. Maps are less useful since part of the print becomes part of the binding. Rick Steve's book, Germany and Austria 2007, is so much more enjoyable to read.



4. I purchased three books prior to our trip to Germany. This was by far the best for what we wanted to do. We were in Heidelberg for work, and had to stay fairly close, so the ability to plan day trips to other cities was perfect for us. The directions were clear and almost always completely accurate.



5. The only thing that could be better if it were updated a little more. Things are constantly changing, so prices are probably changed, and some roads are no longer the same. I love the map of the cities, I just wish there were more cities! It is a great book to have if you are just doing a daytrip to that specific city though!

5 comments about Berlin (EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE).

1. The book was very useful. We have used these guides in several cities and they are always informative and well arranged. My only disappointment with this one was the map section. It lacked a good overall map. Once we got on the correct page it was OK but it was cumbersome to get there.



2. This book is completely unhelpful for anyone spending time in Berlin. I've lived in Berlin in the past but wanted a new travel book to help me see all of the newer sights. Even for someone who already knows her way around the city, this book was confusing and useless. The maps are all oversimplified to the point that they won't help you find anything, and the descriptions about where things are will get you completely lost or cause you to waste a ton of time. For example, the book's recommended ways to spend particular days are absolutely impossible to do. As someone who knows Berlin, I noticed that their sample schedules told people to go to places that are sometimes more than an hour and a half apart by public transportation and then travel back along the same route to get to another sight or activity. I felt like this was a waste of money, and I should have gotten the Lonely Planet or Let's Go guilde.



3. The pictures are wonderful, but the maps are inadequate and the information is inconsistent. This guide would benefit from the attention of a careful editor.
   
   MAPS: one of the most likely places you'll end up is the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) - there's even an special detail map for that area (map pages 15 & 16) - but crucial street names are missing. You can find the street signs but not where you are on the map! So, now you're lost, even with a map.
   
   INCONSISTENT INFORMATION: Is KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens) the second biggest department store (page 11) or the largest one in Europe (p. 155)? And, out of curiosity, if the second, which one is first? The Oren Restaurant is mentioned on page 102 with a reference to page 238, where it does not appear. It should have been removed in both places, since it has been out of business for a few years. The Kadima Restaurant now occupies that space. Oren was vegetarian and kosher; Kadima is neither. The Borchardt Restaurant (page 236) is misspelled as Borchadt. On page 78 the Akademie der Künste has a reference to page 67 that should be to page 133. There must be many more such slips.
   
   So, if you're relying on this book to guide you around Berlin, be prepared for some frustration.



4. It's an astonished travel guide. Well printed book, excellent routes for walking, pictures full of color for informing what excactly are you going to see. As all the travel giudes of DK editions, this one is best choice for visiting a place, too.
   The pictures, the historical events, the places descriptions, they all are also souvenoirs to reminds you, your pleasant travel to a place.



5. I hate the thought of writing a bad review for a DK Travel Guide - they are by far the best travel guides available. But I feel I have to warn everyone about this one. There's always at least one bad apple in the barrel, and I've found the 'bad apple'.
   
   First up, the good things. The background, history and descriptions of all the buildings are typical DK - first class, and better than every other guide out there. You can get the background story to the city and its art and architecture before you arrive.
   
   I took the 2008 edition away with me to Berlin in April 2008. You'd expect up-to-date information, wouldn't you? I agree that some things do change; opening times change, museum regulations change etc. BUT - so many things change in a single city, in such a short time since this updated version was written?
   
   I ended up missing so many things due to this book's wrong opening times to so many museums. Here are just a few things that happened -
   
   - It states that all museums are closed on Mondays, and I arrived on a Monday at 9:30am. So I took my time spending the day wandering around the city. At 4pm I had a look at the Pergamon Museum, and saw its open on Mondays. I found that there are many museums open on Mondays. I could have spent a large chunk of my first day in one of the museums.
   
   - I missed the Picture Gallery at Sanssouci because this guide stated the wrong closing time, even though I had paid for entrance to it.
   
   - I lost a lot of time, in the first 2 days there, getting lost on Berlin's train system because the plan at the back of the book is wrong in so many places. Lines aren't shown, wrong line numbers are shown, several lines now go further than shown in the guide. Use the maps on the ticket machines.
   
   - I wasted 2 hours traveling to a combined bookshop/art gallery that is a massive department store at the stated address. After this, I stopped relying on the practical information giving about anything.
   
   - I nearly missed the magnificent Gemaldegallerie (Picture Gallery) in former West Berlin because the guide stated that photography isn't allowed inside. (One of my criteria for visiting a museum is to take photos.) I went there to visit the gallery's bookshop, and discovered that photography IS allowed, just without flash - and I should hope so! Luckily I went to the gallery's shop first things in the morning.
   
   As another reviewer has already said, the 'Four Great Days In Berlin' suggested intinaries on page 10 and 11 would be impossible to do. The writer of this small section obviously has never done their own itinary. How can anyone take a 1 hour train journey to Wannsee, then walk for an hour in the forest to an art gallery, then walk further on to a lake, then take a boat trip on the lake to an island, then walk around the island, then get back to the train station to take the train to Potsdam, to 'enjoy the lovely Park Sanssouci ...' All this in the morning before lunch! (I spent an entire day at Park Sanssouci.) If anyone follows their itinaries, they wouldn't see anything at all - their trip to Berlin would be a huge blur in their mind.
   
   Clearly DK have just reprinted the first edition of this guide, dating from 2000, and are passing it off as a newly revised edition for 2008. There is no way that entire buildings can be changed and train lines extended in the space of a few months since this newly revised guide was 'revised'. (Not even the efficent Germans could manage that feat). I have no idea what errors are in the restaurant and hotel areas of this guide as I didn't use them.
   
   I have always used DK Guides whenever I travel, and will continue to do so. They are the market-leaders in travel guides. But my experiences with this one will make me very cautious in future. I'll be double checking the practical information given in all their guides in future.
   
   * Just treat this guide as a book written in 2000 - don't trust any opening times or other practical information.

2 comments about Top 10 Berlin (EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE).

1. I have bought many Eyewitness travel guides but this was the first time I used one of their Top 10 guides. It is an incredible travel aid, especially for first time visitors to a major city like Berlin. The guide is about much more than just the top 10 sites in Berlin. For example, each major site, such as the Pergmamon Museum, is further divided into its own top 10. This is an especially helpful aid in a city such as Berlin where the museums alone are worth the trip and each museum deserves days of exploring. When we fell further and further behind our self-imposed schedule, we defaulted to the Top 10 guide and used it extensively: the top 10 at the Egyptian Museum, the top 10 at the Pergamon, the top 10 on Unter den Linden, etc. In addition, the book lists the top 10 in each of a number of categories such as museums, art galleries (which are separated from museums), restaurants, stores, bars, architectural sites, etc. Plus there are neighborhood sections, each with a top 10 list of things to see and a list of cafes, bars and restuarants. This allowed us to go to a major Top 10, see the top 10 within, and then see some of the top 10 of the surrounding neighborhood. I found the recommendations to be reliable. The book is very well organized and includes helpful thumb nail photos. You may or may not agree with all the "top 10" judgements but as a first time visitor I was less concerned about that and more concerned with getting the most that I could out of my few days in a major city. This is the best city guide I have ever used. As an addendum, if you are going to Berlin, buy the murder-mystery novel "The Good German" set in August 1945.



2. If you are planning a short trip to Berlin this is a must have book. It covers excellent restaurants and wonderful places to stop and shop. The essential sights are all listed by region and are explained in enough detail for one to decide if they want to visit. If you are going for a longer period of time I would recommend a bigger guide but I would still get this one to walk around with.

5 comments about Germany (Country Guide).

1. Ok, first off it annoys me to no end that Duisburg is not found in this book at all but 5 cities of equal size with both historical and economic importance are found. Whats more is that there are no real mentionings of how to get around on foot, by bicycle or scooter. Other than that this book is sadly the best one I could find when comparing about 10 or so German Travel Guides at my local bookstores. I plan on writing my own travel tips, guides and more and then submitting them to Lonely Planet.



2. Found this travel guide to be incredibly helpful for the novice traveler. In depth information covering all the regions of Germany, including great recommendations on places to stay and some incredible museums. I even found the section with general travel advice helpful, with some good tips on how to save some Euros whether you are traveling by train, bus, or car through the country. And personally, I don't know if I would have found out about so many things to do in Cologne without this guide =)



3. This guide is very helpful. I like the way the authors discuss everything in brutal honesty. It seems more like they are giving you the opinion of a friend rather than a boring textbook description!



4. This book is full of useful information, maps and tips on traveling to Germany. If you are even thinking about visiting Germany this is a good read, and it well organized. It is mostly in black and white and the print is a little small, other then that it is a wonderful guide.



5. This book contains 99.9% you need to travel in Germany and it also tells you where to find the last 0.1%. You cannot leave for Germany without it. Especially, you are the first time be there.

2 comments about Frommer's Germany 2008 (Frommer's Complete).

1. I purchased the Michelin guide and the Fommers, and the Frommers guide has proved to be infinitely more useful. It is easy to read, very descriptive, and includes activities and lodging in all price ranges. My only complaint is that there aren't pictures, but the guide would be unmanageably large if there were, so it's forgivable! Enjoy your trip to Germany!



2. Not a bad travel book, fairly complete, decent detail on many of the cities within the country, but the book does lack pictures, has a few in the front of the book. That would have made the book more complete and enjoyable. As the old saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

5 comments about Streetwise Prague Map - Laminated Center City Street Map of Prague, Czech Republic - Folding pocket size travel map with integrated metro map featuring ... - trams, streetcar routes (Streetwise).

1. This map is convienient (like the others in the series) because you can fold it in half and stick it in your pocket without it getting all ripped up. However, I ended up referring to other maps as well to verify where I was going. The Prague map is particularly inconvenient in that it divides the Stare Mesto (the central area where most tourists spend their time) in half, such that I frequently had to turn it over as I traced my path.



2. Worked out perfectly for our recent trip to Prague. We used it every day.



3. There are maps with even more detail, but this map is an essential. Lightweight, laminated (waterproof), pocket-sized, and with almost all the detail that most visitors need. Fully-opened, it is still small, unobtrusive, 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. I buy a Streetwise for any city destination.



4. In typical Streetwise fashion, this is an excellent map that is key to exploring the city of Prague which has many confusing streets with confusing names.
   
   This is a map not a guide and while it does point out places of interest it is obviously meant as a map first and foremost. None of the free maps I found came close to be as legible and understandable. The fact that it is a trifold lamninated map makes it very easy to keep in your jacket and use.
   
   A definite must have for Prague in my opinion.



5. The map is convenient to use, and the lamination keeps it from getting destroyed from use. But it is relatively expensive considering you can get the same map in your tourist guide or for free from any one of a number of places once you get to Prague.

5 comments about Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe.

1. This was my first Bill Bryson book and I can still remember riding the subway to work and errupting in fits of frenzied laughter as dour faced clerks and bankers peered disapprovingly at me over their morning newspapers. If you happened to be one of those people, I apologize. I couldn't help myself.
   
   With NEITHER HERE NOR THERE you are not going to get a comprehensive travel guide to Europe filled with effusive descriptions or ponderous sentences like, 'Politically, as well as socially, Sweden is now at a crossroads.' Rather, what you will get is an irreverant account of comedian-philosopher Bill Bryson country hopping about the world's most refined continent with no real purpose, point, or plan. And yet it works. From encounters to non-English speaking Swedes to a flashback of a run in with some beer swilling Austrians, this small volume makes for some great escapism. And between the jokes, there's some fine writing. The writer's description of his experience in Norway, for example, was very good. Please note that this book wasn't meant to be taken so seriously. Its title should tell you that.
   
   Troy Parfitt, author



2. Bill is a good writer, but genius should be reserved for writers like Thomas Sowell, Marc Steyn, Shelby Steele, Dan Pipes, Victor Davis Hanson, etc. No, I don't expect everyone, sadly, to have read works by these brilliant men, of course.
   
   But anyway, a guy like Bryson, being paid to travel around Eurabia and mock people, offering his insight, should be able to produce good copy. I'd like to see more people write about the decadence, hedonism and secularism that is fueling Eurabia's rapid demise though. I know it won't be any Euros, as they cater to Islam, ignore evil, and spew hatred at the Jews just like in 1939, so hopefully more Americans will.
   Off tangent? Nope. Poking fun at Eurabia is different than being brutally honest. Travel books about this barbaric country where six million Jews were exterminated in unappealing.
   But yeah, while he's not a genius, you can call him acerbic, or, like the "great" John Stewart," "witty."



3. I read this book shortly after my study abroad trip to Rome. I found Bryson to be very humorous and laughed out loud numerous times. I enjoyed the book while i read it in about 3 days flat.
   
   My only issues when getting further along was when he obviously began to be homesick. He would pick on each location and pick apart what problems they had and complain about it. After a while he just became cranky and made you almost want to quit reading the book. He rushed through his trip near the end and it was sloppy.
   
   Although a good amount of what he said still applies today, but this book is out of date to read about current Europe. He took this trip back in 1990. It's been 17 years and I would not use this book to accurately give a feel for each city visited.
   
   I still more or less enjoyed the book and would read just to refresh myself on my own memories of Europe and to have a good chuckle.



4. I really did laugh out loud at times. Bryson tells of travels in Europe both of recent times and flashbacks to a trip through Europe when he was younger. I especially enjoyed the parts on places of Europe that I have visited myself. I was a little disappointed there wasn't much time spent in Germany. In this book, Bryson seems to try and get laughs at the expense of people. I had to knock off a star for that.



5. A hilarious madcap ride through Europe. Bill Bryson always makes me laugh out loud. Don't miss the chapters on France and Belgium; they are priceless, especially if you have ever spent any time in those countries. This book is a must-read for all those with wanderlust and a sense of humor.

5 comments about Rick Steves' Germany and Austria 2008 (Rick Steves).

1. Preparing for a trip includes a great deal about unknown tricks of the trade. Steves handles many of those issues at the beginning of the book, and sorts out others later in the book.
   
   The introduction handles issues of culture which I had not previously been able to fully grasp. For example, the tipping system of Europe is well explained, use of guides at cities is better outlined, the issue of bed and breakfast as opposed to hotel, and finally how to use the certain shortcuts - hostels, necessary drivers' id's, necessary insurance on rental cars, car leasing, and more.
   
   By the time I have reached page 30, I have some grasp of the culture. And, then off we go from port to town until he has told us "yep" or "nope" to the sights or sites which we have always heard about. Great clues and insight.
   
   I enhanced my reading with two other staples: Michelin and Lonely Planet. Michelin provides greater historical perspective, Lonely Planet provides more cheap angles. If you merged the best of those two guides, you have Steves. And, in a nice size.
   
   And, as he tells you - choose only a few guides. Read them all before departure, but lug only - at best - two. If that be the case, this is one I am taking for the road.



2. The tour book is very good. It provides enough detail and much needed opinions of tourist spots. However, I also purchased the map which accompanies the book and was disappointed in the lack of detail.



3. I am disappointed with Amazon policy. My order was shipped at two different times and I was told there wouldn't be a second shipping charge
   but there was and I had no way to complain to Amazon.



4. I love this book! It is very thorough on the major destinations' history and sights. It thoroughly explains things such as how to take the subway, how to interact with the waiter, and how to see the Opera cheaply. It has small black & white photos throughout which help give a feel for a place before you actually get there. He gives very detailed instructions on how to get around, even within a place such as Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum. I will be on an escorted tour but now I know that I could have planned my own trip with this book.
   
   I recommend borrowing one of "Rick Steves' Europe 2000-2007" DVDs from your library to see if you like Rick's style. (Don't miss the "Travel Skills" DVD!) Rick's books and DVDs are clearly aimed at Americans, so others will most likely prefer other guidebooks. Rick has clear preferences on where to go, so if you already know which cities and towns you will be visiting, be sure to use the "Search Inside" feature to look at the Table of Contents to be sure all your places are covered in this book.
   
   When Amazon briefly offered the 2007 version for $4.99, I jumped on it. I cut that one into cities for carrying around while sightseeing, because the sightseeing details are so good, and the history shouldn't change much!



5. Wonderful detailed info. Interesting off the beaten track stuff but sometimes you want to see the usual tourist stuff too.
   But we no longer stay at the hotels listed because we found one a bit too cheap and a firetrap in waiting.