1 comments about Walking in the Alps (Walking).

1. I found this book to be of a really great help in planning my trip. The book provides difficulty rating for each day of multi-day treks. There are also suggestions on how to split 5-6 days treks into shorter ones with "how-to-get-there" directions.
   There are also several suggestions for trekking with kids, which was of a particular interest for me as I am planning to trek in Austrian Alps with my wife and a 3-years old kid.

5 comments about The White Spider.

1. This book details Heinrich Harrer's participation in the first successful ascent of the North Face of the Eiger in the Alps. Harrer goes far beyond simply recounting the story of their 3-day ascent and describes the earlier unsuccessful and often fatal efforts that helped pave the way for their ultimate ascent and several of the subsequent successful and tragic ascents as well. Although written in a somewhat dispassionate manner that may be due to the translation from original German, this book is a very comprehensive description of the story behind the climbs of the Eiger. Worth reading.



2. I love this book, and I love all of the writings of Mr. Harrer. The two Tibet books and this are must reading if you love Mountain books, and if you are interested in Tibet. Another fantastic book to read about the Eiger is The Climb Up To Hell, by Olsen. Mr. Harrer was on the team that made the first successful ascent of the North Face of the Eiger. It is an incredible event, truly one of the most fantastic in the history of mountaineering. I have to laugh sometimes when I see and hear about all the "extreme" sports and athletes, letting us all know how radical they are, using their thousands of dollars of equipment and guides to do these things. Just wait until we can get helicopters to fly higher in thin air, then we'll ALL be able to get to the summits of these mountains and have a beer and a bratwurst. Until then, do yourself a favor and read Mr. Harrer's books.



3. I enjoyed the book and recommend it to all who enjoy the challenges of climbing. The historical account of climbing the north face of the Eiger is quite impressive. The author, having climbed this route, conveys a real sense of the terrain/conditions and the emotions associated with the seriousness of the situations. In the spirit of climbing a route, the author also includes a description of the route for aspiring ones at the end.



4. Good reading, but the 40's style of writing is definitely boring, uses many and desnecessary words, frases, paragraphs, useless descriptions. I mean things like spending of 6 pages just to tell why the author decided about the importance of write a book about the Eager, talking about the persons who told him to write and who told him not to write! Ouch, how it's boring!



5. I spent the summer of 1977 as an American college student hosteling my way across Europe. I bought this book in a small bookstore in Grindelwald, Switzerland and then proceeded to enjoy a blissful couple of days sitting on the front balcony of the Grindelwald youth hostel, reading The White Spider, with the north face of the Eiger towering overhead. I would read from the book, and then gaze up to identify the exact routes and landmarks described in the book, which were clearly visible on the massive wall of rock before me. It remains one of the great youthful literary/adventure experiences of my life, and fires my imagination to this day.
   
   The White Spider of the title, for those who are curious, refers to a difficult network of ice-filled cracks and crevasses high on the face of the Eiger through which all the early routes passed.

5 comments about The Xenophobe's Guide to the Swiss (Xenophobe's Guides - Oval Books).

1. I am just finishing up my third year of living in Switzerland part-time (6 mos./yr). This little book is a nice easy read and is not only enjoyable but seems to be pretty accurate in terms of encompassing the 'Swiss Mentality'. Possibly some statistics and technicalities are not 'dead-on' but most of them match what I have already heard. The humour in the book is great and is probably most appreciated by those who are non-Swiss and who live amongst them or know them well. (I'm sure most Swiss would struggle to find any humour in it.) Being able to read about things writen by someone else, that you see and experience in daily life yourself adds to the humour. I'd say a good read for someone who is going to be in Switzerland for any length of time.



2. I have lived in Switzerland for the past 9 years and this little tongue-in-cheek booklet is spot on - note that it was first published in 1995 and preciously little has changed since then.



3. This book is laugh out loud funny and has many truths, though the Swiss may not want to admit it. All countries have their quirks and Switzerland is not immune either. A a Swiss dual national married to a Swiss, I heard about all these little quirks that all cultures and countries have and always teased my spouse that he was exaggerating regarding Switzerland. Then I spent time in the country and just recently I experienced the "self sustaining bureacracy" at work when the Swiss Govt. charged me $50 for a very fancy piece of paper to tell me what my address is, the state in the US I was born, the date when I got married and who my parents are-that's it, no really that's all it says-nothing more. I am convinced that the $50 was to pay for the fancy paper-that's how fancy it really is. So as the author himself notes on this very subject of family papers...I guess it's in case I forget these facts about myself. Needless to say I howled over this.
   
   Read this book with humor and take into account that it isn't a traditional travel book nor an ultra accurate account on Swiss manufacturing and tourism or the countries stats. But there are some real truths here relayed with great wit. The author himself is Brit married to a Swiss and has made some genuinely funny observations on Swiss culture. I finished reading this book thinking the author genuinely loves and respects his adopted country, but gosh they do some funny things sometimes. A little joshing and humor never hurt anyone-even the staunch Swiss. We should always be able to laugh at ourselves and that's what this book sets out to do, and to my thinking, it succeeded.



4. This is a short simple to read book about the Swiss. I am Swiss, born there, but did not grow up in this very clean state. My wife who is a U.S. citizen bought me the book for my birthday. Because of my rowing career we traveled to Switzerland a fair bit and I observed the Swiss way through the eyes of my wife. I think this book is great for Swiss who live abroad because it reminds them why they miss Switzerland and why they don't. This book is great for Swiss who live in Switzerland and need motivation to go see other corners of the world. Since we have friends of different nationalities, Swede, Dutch, and German, we offered them their respective Xenophobe's Guide. They all loved their new booklet.
   Happy reading, XENO www gorow com



5. I bought this book because my husband is Swiss and I thought it would be fun to read together. While reading it, I laughed out loud because some of the cultural differences are pretty accurate and also funny... especially if you are married to someone with a difference of opinion about saving versus spending money. Well, my husband was not so amused and found it all very insulting. I guess this book is good for those who just need to know there are other people out there who notice the peculiarities of the Swiss and need to commiserate. :-)

No comments about The Rough Guide to Switzerland 3 (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

5 comments about Switzerland's Mountain Inns: A Walking Vacation in a World Apart.

1. I'm a compulsive trip planner, and our recent trip to the Alps sent me into trip-planning overdrive. This book was my favorite resource for finding out-of-the-way lodging in the mountains of Switzerland. From the descriptions of the Hotels themselves, to the guides to Switzerland's various regions, to the suggested hiking trails, we found Marcia Lieberman's advice to be impeccable.

   Our favorite was the Hotel Waldrand Pochtenalp, a place so far from the beaten path that we never would have found it without the help of this excellent guide!




2. This book introduced us to a new way of experiencing Switzerland, the Alps, and the great outdoors. Staying at a Berghotel is truly civilized hiking! Spectacular views, challenging hikes, and an evening ended with a cold beer overlooking the terrain you have just climbed. The hikes, hotels, accomodations are all clearly described. The food, at the hotel we stayed was excellent, family style. We're returning this year for a longer hike to a series of huts/hotels. Highly recommend this book for planning a trip to the Swiss Alps.



3. Ms. Lieberman is an expert on Euro hiking, and her books are always extremely helpful in trip planning and execution. This title is no exception. She has identified some of the best inns, and I used her recommendations with great results on a recent trip.



4. As of June 2006, this was the only book I could find with the information I needed to plan a trip through the Bernese Oberland section of the Swiss Alps. Even the internet proved less helpful than this cohesive, complete guide to hikes and accommodations in a fairly remote area. The book helped me plan a wonderful, memorable trip. My only wish is that the maps were drawn to scale.



5. This book describes inns that you do not find on line or in the usual search engines. We stayed at two of them in Sept 2008 and felt very happy to have "discovered" both.

5 comments about The Eiger Obsession: Facing the Mountain that Killed My Father.

1. 
   An absorbing tale of adventure and exorcising personal demons. John Harlin III is an outdoorsman and mountain climber and successfully navigated climbing the face of the Eiger, where his own father had died some forty years earlier. Notwithstanding the book's subtitle, the mountain did not kill his father, a broken rope led to his father's fall.
   
   In any event, the reader does not get the impression that the younger Harlinis obsessed by any particular Oedipal complex. We can empathize with his plight of living in the shadow of an iconic, larger-than-life mountain climber. At one point in his life, he is tormented by the question, "What have you done in life, other than be the son of a famous man?"
   
   We may all overtly or subliminally have the challenge of surpassing the accomplishments of our fathers. John Harlin III provides a touching memoir of struggle and transcendence, freeing himself from the haunting memories of his father's unsuccessful attempt to climb a mountain that became his obsession.



2. This book is up there with Houstons K2 the Savage Mountain and Krackauers Into Thin Air. John the III doesn't seem to be as obsessed and reckless as his father. I came away from the book feeling that his father cared more about climbing than anything else. At one point he told his wife he felt oppressed by his children and only felt alive when they were not around. I thought that very strange. The other incident that bothered me was when Harlin the III made friends with a young climber named Chuck and took him climbing with him. He pushed Chuck pretty hard, hard enough to where Chuck fell off Mount Robson and killed himself. Harlin the III pointed the dead body out to the authorities and hightailed it out of town, that friendship lasted all of two weeks. That incident struck me as very strange. Overall the book was an entertaining read.



3. The north face of the Eiger Mountain in the European Alps has taken the life of many climbers. The author's father fell 4000 feet to his death when he was almost at the summit. This is the unforgettable story of conquering your fears and making an IMAX movie.



4. The book would be more aptly entitled "The Dad Obsession". There is far too much whiny introspection and far too little discussion of the technical difficulties and triumph of the ascent. A terrible job of editing which allows the author to constantly share his obsession with his memories of his father and their effect on his life. A far better tale is Heinrich Harrer's "The White Spider" (Paladin Books, 1989) written by one of the team of four which first successfully scaled the Eiger in 1938, which book, by the way, respectfully mentions John Harlin II more than once and cites the first successful ascent of the direct "John Harlin Route" in 1966; the one during which Harlin II's rope broke leading to his tragic death. Harrer's is a first-class treatment of mountaineering and ascending the Eiger.



5. John Harlin III climbed above his fear and finally made it to the summit of the mountian that killed his father. He gives us a timeline of events from when his dad was alive to when he finally completed his climb. A good story and read. Although I do feel bad that he lost his father, he has had more oppurtunities and adventures in his life then dozens of people combined. So life for him wasn't all that bad. But then again, I bet he'd trade it all to have had a life with his father. Can't wait to watch the film. Hope it's as good as the book.

4 comments about Michelin the Green Guide Switzerland (Michelin Green Guides).

1. I bought this guide because Eyewitness and Knopf do not make a guide to Switzerland. These are always my 1st choice. I guess I'm just a pretty picture addict. But I must say that this is a well-done book. It reminds me of the Baedeker's guides. In fact it's set up very similarly. The front section has information about Switzerland, history, famous people, plants, animals, etc. The center section contains information on places in Switzerland in alphabetical order. The back section contains helpful travel information. Things like traveling by plane, boat, car, train. It contains a listing of sights, their opening times and admission charges.

   They like Baedeker's, have a rating system for the various destinations with 3 being must see, and 1 being interesting. Keep in mind though when using these ratings that even if somewhere is rated 3 stars doesn't mean that it will be a 3 star experience for you. If the rating is for a modern art museum and you just "don't get it", then you probably shouldn't visit just on the strength of the book rating.

   Another helpful feature is a map giving tours. Unfortunately, the description of these tours leaves a little to be desired. They could use some fleshing out. The map is good but the written description is confusing and lacking.

   They do list restaurants and lodging for the more major destinations, but these are limited and you'd be better off using a book dealing specifically with lodging (I'm sure Michelin would suggest their Red Guide).

   Overall this is a good general, getting started guidebook. Not the best, but a good second choice.




2. I have been to Switzerland at least six times. Recently I sat down with my daughter who has worked at a hotel at Interlaken in Switzerland during her years in Business Administration at McGill - up to last summer - and we went over the Switzerland guides to see how they ranked, and what was currently the best guide in our humble opinions. We are not experts but have certain requirements and preferences. It helps if one can get a feel for the area in advance of a trip, and generally that is helped by good maps and color photos. So those guides do better in our review. We like to make reservations by internet and telephone and just use the Guide as a "guide".
   
   Generally it costs more to publish a book with color photos so when all else is reasonably equal, one feels that they get better value with a guide with photos. Also we wanted to see if the ambiance at certain hotels and resorts was accurately portrayed in the text based on our knowledge. So those aspects of the guides determine our ranking. Incidentally all the books are excellent. When we did our review the new DK Eyewitness guide was not yet available, but in any case it will be short, under 400 pages.
   
   For the Swiss guides we separated the guides into three groups, 5, 4, and 3 stars.
   
   5 Stars (this group has nice color photos plus maps and text).
   
   A. Green Guide to Switzerland published February 2001 by Michelin, 395 pages, $14., ranked 24,380 on Amazon.com, 0.64" x 9.4" x 4.7", lots of photos, maps, text, accurate portrayal of areas. Gives a nice idea of what you will find. Goes right down to small villages in detail even though it is just 395 pages. First choice.
   
   B. Lonely Planet Switzerland published July 2003, 335 pages, $ 14., ranked 29,913 on Amazon.com, .69" x 6.42" x 6.5". Solid effort, lots of good photos and descriptions.
   
   4 Stars (this group mainly text and maps).
   
   C. Rough Guide to Switzerland published June 2003, 704 pages, $13.27, ranked 30,209 on Amazon.com, 1.08" x 7.8" x 6.38". Solid effort lots of things to see and do and best "text and maps only" books.
   
   D. Frommer's Switzerland published February 2003, 512 pages, $15.39, ranked 47,638 on Amazon.com, 1.1" x 8.5" x 5.08". Similar to Rough Guide but shorter.
   
   E. Fodor's Guide to Switzerland 42 edition, published December 2002, 448 pages, $14.7, ranked highest in group on Amazon.com at 3,172, 1.2" x 8.98" x 5.01". The smallest in the group, do not know why it is so popular?.
   
   3 Stars
   
   F. Michelin Red Guide published in 2004, 563 pages but in four languages: Italian, French, German and English so English sections are just a fraction of the book.



3. General Overview:
   I traveled to Switzerland by myself in 2005. In preparation for my trip I bought two travel guides from amazon: Michelin's Switzerland: The Green Guide and Lonely Planet's Switzerland. I used both guides to aid me in deciding which cities I would visit during my two week vacation.
   
   Since I've bought and used other Lonely Planet guides (Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium and Luxembourg), I found myself relying more on the Lonely Planet Switzerland book than the Green Guide when planning my trip in advance. In fact, it was based on the Lonely Planet's great section on Lausanne that I opted to include that beautiful city as part of my holiday. However, I did make use of the Michelin Green Guide to supplement the Lonely Planet guide (particularly for scoping out Grindelwald, Zermatt, and Zurich). All of my actual hotel decisions were made using on-line reviews, but both guide books gave me a reasonable feel for how far it would be for me to walk from the train station to my hotel.
   
   I ended up bringing both books (both are small and light weight) with me on my trip, and found that I did not need either book during the day. In Switzerland most cities have a tourist information office located in the main train station. These offices provide free stadtplans (city maps) that point out major points of interest, and I found these maps were easy to fold into my back pocket and enabled me to "be bold" and head off in places that were only vaguely described in the guide books.
   
   Comparison of the Two Books:
   The Green Guide really seems to focus more on tourism where you have access to a car. All of the points of interest are linked to colorful major road maps, but the Green Guide is lacking in providing the foot/train traveler in good directions to and from the train stations. Lonely Planet guides tend to be made with this type of traveler in mind, and though the Lonely Planet does a great job in describing self guided walking tours through major Swiss cities it too would sometimes talk about interesting castles, glaciers, or ice caves without providing specific foot or public transit directions (I ended up just asking the locals for directions ... and the Swiss are very friendly and easy to talk to).
   
   Since part of my joy about experiencing Europe is living without a car, if I had to choose between the two guides, I'd recommend the Lonely Planet for most people. However, in describing where I went and actually reading about the people and land itself, the Green Guide is a much more complete book. When I return to Switzerland I'll be carrying the Green Guide and not the Lonely Planet. The maps are really much better in the Green Guide, and the first 75 pages of the book offer a very detailed and comprehensive primer on what makes Switzerland unique and worth traveling to!
   
   If you can afford both books, I would buy the Green Guide first and read those first 75 pages as a primer. Then I start reading the Lonely Planet and use it to help narrow down which cities you'll visit. Thought he Lonely Planet has some history information (~60 pages), it also mixes in general travel advice in the introduction to Switzerland section that really waters down the fun of reading about a new place!



4. This guide is OK. The pictures are nice. It includes a number of hotel and restaurant recommendations, but I think the attractions info is probably the most useful. But, that info is also available free on the net. I wish there was a little more info regarding how to use the trains.

No comments about Chamonix to Zermatt: The Walker's Haute Route (Cicerone Guide).

5 comments about Frommer's Switzerland (Frommer's Complete).

1. I purchased a copy of this book to help with my summer research internship in Switzerland in 2001, and found it to be less useful than the Rough Guides.

   The Fromer book is written as a fairly terse reference book, listing a few restaurants, hotels of various price ranges, and not much else for the different cities. Sure, there are listings of attractions for the different cities, but the way they are presented is not very helpful to plan trips. On the other hand, the Rough Guides have suggestions on things to do for the different places.

   So all in all, it depends on your style of planning but I feel that this book is more suited to business travelers.




2. I find this guide to be well organized and comprehensive.
   The walking tours of the major cities is the feature I like
   best, but there are also descriptions of major attractions
   which help one decide which to see and which to miss if time
   is short. I had an older Frommer's Switzerland guide and find
   the format improved in this edition over the 1994-95 one.
   The one objection I have is that in the listings of side
   trips such as to neighboring villages, too often the only
   directions given are by car. Perhaps there are no other ways
   to get there, but I would have liked it if they had said so,
   such as "No access by train or bus."



3. Just visited Switzerland this past April 2003 and used this guide to get around from Fribourg to Geneva, Zurich, Bern, Montreaux and Gruyeres.

   This guide provides a lot of useful travel details like AMEX offices in Switzerland and directions by car, train and plane to cities in Switzerland.

   In general the guide is good and the walking tours reccommended are well done. I personally followed some of them and they are up to date.

   The only part lacking in the guide is the fact that the maps require more detail. I had to use the visitor's maps available at the tourist office to get around with more detail.

   The restaurant options may be outdated in some cases as my Fribourg friend pointed out, but this is a good guide to take along with a more detailed city map.

   It has good background information on the places visited, but I would reccommend another guide or a map to be really complete.




4. I have been to Switzerland many times. Recently I sat down with my daughter who has worked at a hotel at Interlaken in Switzerland during her years in Business Administration at McGill - up to last summer - and we went over the Switzerland guides to see how they ranked, and what was currently the best guide in our humble opinions. We are not experts but have certain requirements and preferences. It helps if one can get a feel for the area in advance of a trip, and generally that is helped by good maps and color photos. So those guides do better in our review. We like to make reservations by internet and telephone and just use the Guide as a "guide".
   
   Generally it costs more to publish a book with color photos so when all else is reasonably equal, one feels that they get better value with a guide with photos. Also we wanted to see if the ambiance at certain hotels and resorts was accurately portrayed in the text based on our knowledge. So those aspects of the guides determine our ranking. Incidentally all the books are excellent. When we did our review the new DK Eyewitness guide was not yet available, but in any case it will be short, under 400 pages.
   
   For the Swiss guides we separated the guides into three groups, 5, 4, and 3 stars.
   
   5 Stars (this group has nice color photos plus maps and text).
   
   A. Green Guide to Switzerland published February 2001 by Michelin, 395 pages, $14., ranked 24,380 on Amazon.com, 0.64" x 9.4" x 4.7", lots of photos, maps, text, accurate portrayal of areas. Gives a nice idea of what you will find. Goes right down to small villages in detail even though it is just 395 pages. First choice.
   
   B. Lonely Planet Switzerland published July 2003, 335 pages, $ 14., ranked 29,913 on Amazon.com, .69" x 6.42" x 6.5". Solid effort, lots of good photos and descriptions.
   
   4 Stars (this group mainly text and maps).
   
   C. Rough Guide to Switzerland published June 2003, 704 pages, $13.27, ranked 30,209 on Amazon.com, 1.08" x 7.8" x 6.38". Solid effort lots of things to see and do and best "text and maps only" books.
   
   D. Frommer's Switzerland published February 2003, 512 pages, $15.39, ranked 47,638 on Amazon.com, 1.1" x 8.5" x 5.08". Similar to Rough Guide but shorter.
   
   E. Fodor's Guide to Switzerland 42 edition, published December 2002, 448 pages, $14.7, ranked highest in group on Amazon.com at 3,172, 1.2" x 8.98" x 5.01". The smallest in the group, do not know why it is so popular?.
   
   3 Stars
   
   F. Michelin Red Guide published in 2004, 563 pages but in four languages: Italian, French, German and English so English sections are just a fraction of the book.



5. This is the only book I bought for my trip to Switzerland, and I was able to get by very well with it. I visted Zurich, Lucerne, Lugano, Bern, Interlaken, Zermatt, Montreaux, Lausanne, and Geneva, and found the book to have all the information I needed for each city.
   
   The format is easy to use, with listings of hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, bars, nightclubs, etc., for each city, and the book includes info on virtually every city and town in Switzerland that a tourist could want to see. For major cities, the book even has maps showing where hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions are located, as well as more detailed maps of proposed "walking tours."
   
   There are no photos of Switzerland in this book, except on the front and back cover. Although the lack of photos doesn't bother me, if you want photos of Switzerland in your guide book, I would suggest the DK Eyewitness guide.

5 comments about The German Way : Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes, and Customs in the German-Speaking World.

1. I really enjoy this book. The average tourist may not get as much from it, if only passing through. I am an American, living in Germany. I found much of the book incredibly helpful. Yes, some sections are dated with the intro of the Euro, but it's true, stores close by 1800, some open til 2000. Nothing open on Sunday, except at the train station.
   
   Highly recommended if you will be living or travelling for an extended time!



2. This slim volume presents dozens of aspects of German culture. For example, why do Germans value privacy? Why do they always close windows when they feel a draft? I definitely learned a lot from this book. My only complaints is that it could have gone a little more in depth about the causes of German behavior. Also, this book is a little out of date. It was published in the 90's, so there is a lot of talk about Marks rather than Euros, and you read a lot about the reunification of Germany, which is not as hot a topic as it was in the 90's. Even with these weak points, I think you'll be able to learn a lot. I wish that the author would release a more up-to-date version, though.



3. Just to let everyone who is reading this know, I was assigned this book for a class I took while studying abroud throughout Europe. I was specifically interested in using this book for information on Austria. Here's what I think:
   The book wonderful for providing a reader/traveler with basic information about the three predominately speaking German countries. It is broken down in a form that a reader of any age can comprehend. Hyde Flippo simplified the navigation process by putting the chapters in alphabetical order and not the order of importance. The book does a good job of briefing a reader on Germany, Austria and Switzerland--giving very basic information and history on each country. Some of the specifc topics covered in the book include climate, culture, family, gestures, transportation, money, communication, etc. Germany clearly appeared to be the main focus of this book, and seeing as how I personally was looking for information on Austria, I did not find it to be quite as helpful.
   The book was published in 1997 and again in 1999, and after reading it anyone should notice that it is very outdated. The book talks about currency as the Austrian schilling and the German marks, yet both countries have converted to the Euro over five years ago. It presents information in a manner that is too brief for one to actually benefit from or sustain a substantial amount of knowledge after reading. The book is written very factually, and consequently has little or no enthusiasm present. Additionally, it is difficult to read from start to finish. However, it would serve as a good guide and is a quick and easy reference to virtually anything one could want to know about the German-speaking world. Therefore, I would only recommend this book to anyone who may be traveling to Germany in the near future.



4. This is a great book even though it is ten
   
   years old and slightly outdated. It gives
   
   really good information on everything from
   
   shopping to food. You will surprised on how
   
   different the United States is from Germany.
   
   
   .Skurvy.



5. This book is loaded with pertinent details, and the information is presented in a readable, interesting style. The book is well organized so that you can use it to reference particular subjects, like dining, public transportation, the government, etc., or you can read it like a book, chapter by chapter. Very well done. Inside Germany would have been a great title too! I discovered many new things that should have been apparent to someone who has lived in Germany as long as I have.