No comments about Mapeasy Switzerland (Mapeasy's Guidemaps).

No comments about Walking Easy in the Swiss Alps: A Hiking Guide for Active Adults.

3 comments about Walking Easy in the Swiss & Austrian Alps (Hiking Guide for Active Adults).

1. A great hiking guide for easy walkers...in the picturesque villages of the alps.. these villlages are easy to get to with public transportationand all hotels cater to summer hikers/walkers. Lifts are nearby and trails are described and well signed and maintained... great for families and hikers of all ages... the book describes the details of the walks with many maps and hotel suggestions. A very user fiendly edition... try it



2. We followed the trails suggested in the Bernese Oberland section. We chose a walk rated as having medium diffiulty for the book. The descent was so steep that my 30-something walks-a-mile-to-work-everyday husband was not able to walk at all the next day because of the extreme pain in his knees. We missed out on all our subsequent hiking. We later learned (from our swiss maps) that the red-white-red trail markings meant "paths for experienced hikers". The yellow markings mean paths for everyone. There was no mention of this distinction in the book. And given the book's title, we would have thought that all of the walks would have been pretty easy. What would we have done if we were older or had our children along? I think hikers should ask their hosts in Switzerland to recommend walks. Our hotel (the Hotel Regina in Wengen) had many easy walks to suggest. I'd get a good map and order something better to read.



3. I used this book as a basis for a 3 week trip to the Swiss and Austrian Alps and it was invaluable. We stayed in recommended towns, Lauterburnen, Zermatt, and Alpbach and they were perfect jump off spots for hikes. We are day hikers, so it was nice to return to comfortable hotels in the towns. All of the hikes were on the mark for difficulty and scenery. I combined some of the shorter hikes into longer ones and used a couple of other books to find ways to extend some of the hikes in the book. We had a fantastic vacation and owe much of the success to this book.

No comments about Driving Tours Switzerland.

1 comments about Caravans of the Himalaya.

1. If you love Nepal, Tibet and it's beautifull people, you'll love this book. The stunning pictures tell a great story. About the people in the Dolpho region. They trade salt against food. But to do so, they have to travel hard miles trough a stunning but barren country, with incredible moutains, lakes and of course a caravan of yaks. The author lived with these people and you'll see in his picture the love he has for this region. He knows how to tell a story and how to make the picture to encounter the beauty of it.

   The movie CARAVAN tells the same story but then the pictures move (haha) As you can read I'm not used to write in English, but my message is this one ... buy it and go see the picture, you won't be disapointed !

5 comments about Rick Steves' Germany, Austria and Switzerland, 2001.

1. We used Rick's advice to enjoy Germany and Austria. We followed his advice on the best places to see within our time and were never dissappointed. My sister who lives in Germany even loved his book and learned of some new places to visit! One stop we made that was missing in his book and should be included was the overnight at the Fernsteineese Schloss in the Alps in Austria. This is a castle built in 1100 and you get to stay overnight in it and enjoy a wonderful 5 course meal....with a beautiful view.



2. Packing Rick Steves into the backpack is typically a good idea before flying to Europe. His off-the-beaten-path approach is an excellent way to feel more like a temporary local than a tourbus tourist. Thanks to Rick, my mother and I slept beneath feather down comforters in a 500-year-old guesthouse in Rothenberg, chatted with a local winemaker in the Rhine Valley about the eis wine his family has been making for 400 years and much more. However, readers looking for the perfect backdoor experience must remember that any town recommended by Rick Steves is destined to become flooded by scores of Rick Steves readers. To avoid this, we took another of Rick's suggestions by traveling deep into the off season. Overall, this is a gem of a book filled with solid advice written in a laid back style even if the maps leave a bit to be desired. To have the most of the book, however, I would again follow Rick's advice by taking the best of his suggestions, but leaving the door open to discover new back doors as well.



3. PROs: Rick Steves packs this travel guide with useful and accurate information, honest opinions, travel inspiration, and enjoyable writing. It is easy and entertaining to read - chock full of Steves' (sometimes corny) humor. I can pick it up and read it again and again, and each time I feel the adventurer within is ready for another. For anyone planning a European vacation, Steves' guides are a necessity. With his guidance on travel tips as well as the "nitty gritty", your dreams of a fantastic vacation can easily be a reality.

   CONs: Because of its honest & opinionated nature, this book is not as comprehensive as others. It is a wonderful vacation guide; however if you are going to be spending a great deal of time in Europe (i.e. on an exchange program) it is wise to purchase an accompanying book to guide you through the destinations that Steves does not cover in this guide. (I have found the Lonely Planet series to be excellent.) And don't skimp... as Steves himself says, "guidebooks are $15.oo tools for $3,000.oo experiences."

   I highly recommend this book as a compass for all European vacations. Bon Voyage!




4. Somehow I get the feeling that Rick Steve's core audience is a practical, middle aged, fairly well-to do kind of a person who is looking for a no-hassle guide for a short vacation. If you're that person, then this is the book for you! But, if you will be spending an extended amount of time abroad, planning your own route or destination, or looking to travel as cheaply as you can- this is NOT the book for you. There is not much suggested in way of variety as far as hotels and eating goes (and most of it is not inexpensive) and most of the destinations are "popular" vacation fare. Travellers with more imagination and a sense of spontenaiety will find a Lonely Planet guide much more helpful.



5. Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
   Rick Steves

   I like Rick Steves' travel philosophy, which is basically not to stay in hotels, pack a lunch, and travel frugally. There is some good information in this book. It helped us several times on a trip to Germany and Austria.

   The coverage about the Mittelrhein is informative. I liked Steves' map of the castles between Koblenz and Bingen. Largely due to his coverage of the town of Bacharach, we spent two nights there. We were not alone. I actually saw a tourist walking down the street with a copy of this book in his hand. One place offering lodging had a sign out front about being mentioned in this book. Despite these things, Bacharach is a charming town, where one can walk everywhere or take a boat to the next town. The town is surrounded by vineyards, and the local wine that can be tried in several establishments in town is exceptionally good.

   In Rothenburg, Steve's book came in handy late one afternoon, upon arriving after the tourist office had closed. Being in a walled city as evening approaches with no prospect of a place to stay can be a little traumatic. We studied the book, bought a city map, and navigated the twisting medieval streets to a place mentioned. We got a room. The host was a pleasant elderly gentleman, who offered a good room at a reasonable price.

   Moving on to Salzburg, Austria, Steves' book failed us somewhat. We got caught in a lot of traffic, could not find the accommodation area he described, although stopping to ask several times, eventually gave up in frustration, and went to Berchtesgaden, Germany, not too far away. The book had very little information on Berchtesgaden although there were many charming places to stay there and in other smaller towns along the way. The country inn where we stayed was very pleasant. There were some great views of the mountains from the grounds. The Berchtesgaden area is truly beautiful, but one would not have known this from Steves' book.

   I do give Rick Steves credit for directing us to the town of Reutte in Tyrol. The cozy farmhouse where we stayed in Ehenbickl, an adjacent town, had been in the owners' family for 700 years. The hospitality was second to none. Reutte is situated on the Lech River about a twenty-minute drive from Neuschwanstein, perhaps the most touristy place in Germany.

   On the whole, this book by Rick Steves was quite helpful to us. However, his coverage is somewhat hit or miss. He does cover many interesting places to visit. However, he leaves just as many out and skips over others. Berchtesgaden would be a case in point. He also dismisses the city of Heidelberg, one of the most beautiful cities in Germany in a few sentences as being too tourist-oriented. This is ironic because Rothenburg, though worth a trip, is about as oriented to tourism as a town can be.

   Despite some shortcomings, Rick Steves' book is still a good travel book.My advice, however, would be not to bind yourself to it, like the tourist I saw in Bacharach. Use the Internet to locate places to stay in the German speaking world and send e-mail to make reservations. In local inns and farmhouses, you will not have to give a credit card number. They will actually trust you. Austria has exceptional web pages. There one can find some of the most serene, beautiful farmhouse accommodations, at inexpensive prices, in Europe. Gute Reise! (Have a nice trip.)

No comments about Travel Zurich, Switzerland - illustrated city guide, phrasebook, and maps. FREE General Info chapter and a map in the trial version..

No comments about Eiger: Wall of Death.

No comments about The Baltic Sea: Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Poland, Kaliningrad, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia.

No comments about Cicerone Walks In The Engadine(100 walks and Treks)(Cicerone).