3 comments about Let's Go Austria and Switzerland (Let's Go).

1. I've been a budget traveler in Europe for 20 years, and have always relied on the "Let's Go" books to take me not only to the well-known spots cheaply, but point out some places I might not otherwise have seen. This edition of Let's Go made me wish I hadn't left my '00 edition in the train station when I left. It devotes a miniscule # of pages to Switzerland, and lists almost no side trips or off the beaten path sites. The restaurant and accomodations reviews seem likely accurate but superficial, and the numbers of places reviewed has dropped by about 50% in my estimate. Also missing are several former great spots, like La Chaux de Fonds, and its watch museum(probably the most interesting and well-set up museum in Switz), and the Museum of Art and History in Geneva itself. I'd recommend "The Rough Guide to Switz" instead. It has the kind of detail that the older editions had, especially if you want to see the real Switzerland.



2. The new Let's Go Austria & Switzerland book was pretty useful in leading me through my first travels into the two countries. I had picked it up because I had flipped through their Boston city guide and found that it was pretty good coverage, so I figured anything in the series wouldn't be too bad. Information was accurate and helpful, the writing was witty and concise, and it showed me some amazing places to see that I wouldn't have gone to if it weren't for their recommendations. Though i'm sure for a veteran travel, the book may lack depth, as the previous reviewer wrote (what can you expect w/ coverage of two countries in one book?), but I found it pretty good overall for a newbie like me. I figure if i ever go back, I probably wouldn't depend on the book so much and wander more. I'd definitely plan on using let's go again in the future, though one thing I did wish for was coverage of more places. Guess you can only fit so much in a book you can carry in comfortably in your backpack.



3. Good recommendations for inexpensive places to stay as well as places to dine and purchase groceries. Unique to the degree of outstanding in its recommendations of public laundromats which any fellow long term travelers out there know are worth their weight in gold since, for only heaven knows why, the Europeans suffer from a dearth of these locales. Does anyone know where the Europeans wash their clothes? It expresses its descriptions of places to see and things to do with a tongue in cheek attitude which I feel unfortunately borders on condescencion and distracts from an otherwise extremely useful travel guide.

No comments about Switzerland from Above.

No comments about Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia (AA Road Map Europe).

No comments about Tour of the Matterhorn (Cicerone Guide).

3 comments about 100 Hikes in the Alps.

1. This book was amazing! I bought it before my vacation to the Alps and it helped a lot! This book helps you find hotels and nice places to stay while you take your trip. It also gave me good ideas of where to go. The most interesting places. It showed you where the big sites were. At first I didn't want to walk the whole way, but this book showed me how beautiful it was. It has beautiful pictures and really gave you an idea of what it was like. Buy it! It is not very expensive! It was so good that I looked up for more books buy the author of this fantastic book! They were also great!



2. I didn't find this book that helpful, but I was looking for a more serious type of hiking. If you're just planning to do some day hikes, or are looking for a stroll in the mountains to break up some sightseeing then this book could be really useful. But if you're planning a serious hiking trip, then I'd recommend a different book - maybe Walking in the Alps by Kev Reynolds.

   My biggest complaint was that it did not provide enough info on long/tough hikes. The format was good - clear, concise with nice lists - but it was not geared towards long, multiday hikes. (It has two or three I think). But it also does not have the same level of info on resturants, pubs, places to stay, as in some of the better guide books.




3. Not only does this book do an excellent job of providing a good range (1/2 day hikes to 10 day treks) of the best hikes (it by no means covers all the hikes available - a task more suited for a set of encyclopedias as opposed to a compact guide book) in the Alps region. The descriptions are both accurate and cover the hikes in sufficient detail to give the reader a good idea of what to expect. They include vertical gain/loss info, approx. hiking time and distances in addition to descriptions of what you'll see along the way. It accurately describes the technical difficulty of the trails and if any special equipment will be required.

   I found the descriptions useful not only in deciding what hikes to do but also in deciding what areas to visit and what to see along the way. I plan to use the book again for future trips to the region.

1 comments about Insight Guide Switzerland (Insight Guides).

1. This series of books are interesting to read and have beautiful pictures and maps. They are wonderful for armchair travel and to help in planning a trip as they give a wonderful overview of the history, culture and most interesting places to visit of the areas they represent. There is no detail as to lodging or restuarants so this is not the guide if that's what you're looking for, but I have enjoyed them and packed them on trips for help in planning sightseeing excursions and to help me understand and appreciate the history and culture of the places I'm visiting. They have enriched my travel experience.

2 comments about Lake Geneva: Life at the Water's Edge.

1. As someone who was raised in Lake Geneva, and one who went to school with the author, it was a delight to see these great pictures of a Lake Geneva that I have been away from for too long of a time. I would highly recommend this book to everyone.



2. This book is lovely!!! Beautiful pictures, well done written sections.
   For anyone who has visited the area, loves lakes,lives in area,childhood memories etc. Or is planning to visit the area. Lovely ,Very much recommended!!!

5 comments about Lonely Planet Norway.

1. Deanna Swaney (along with and Mark Griffith's outstanding mapping and design) have produced the definitive travel guide on Norway.

   Deanna Swaney's writing is both engaging and descriptive. In my "must have" list, to qualify a guide as "excellent", are easy to read maps. This book has the best maps found in any Norway travel guide. The superb information and recommendations are reliable and though the publication date is 1999 (thus the information is pre '99). Norway is a stable nation with very low inflation and the prices are close to the quotes.

   "Lonely Planet Norway" has a solid introduction section that covers Norway's history, government, economy, ecology, climate etc. This guide has an informative, practical, travel section and, most important, a reliable and up to date listing of recommendations that Swaney has checked out (lodging, restaurants, entertainment, places to see and things to do). At the start of each section is a regional map, more maps, and a list of highlights or "must see" for that region. Great!

   Deanna must not be a motorcycle afficionado for there is no mention in her book of motorcycle rental in Norway. I rented a Harley in Trondheim for a week of travel through the Western Fjords, Central Norway and the Trondelag region. Brilliant way to see this glorious country, but, beware the weather is more temperamental than a manic Chihuahua. It can and will go from warm to cold to wet back to sun in the space and distance of one hours travel. My motorcycle rental did include the all-purpose riding gear, I brought my own helmet.

   A weak area is the intermittent use of email/web site addresses. These are very helpful, especially for hotel quotes and reservations. I am sure this will be addressed when the next edition comes out.

   This is the best guide out on Norway, my second choice is Norway: The Rough Guide (see my review). If you are heading to Norway, get `Lonely Planet', you will be glad you did. Highly Recommended




2. I've been recently travelling all around Norway, from South to North, including the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. I found this guide generally very useful, but weak when it comes to talk about the Nordland, the Far North (Troms and the Finnmark) and Svalbard. For example, Lofoten is surely a fascinating place especially for hikers - like I suppose the author is - but many description are exhagerated and you might be disappointed once there - like I was. The Nordland is not sufficiently covered and the information sometimes might be poor in contents. Same about the Finnmark. The Svalbard part of the guide could be more exhaustive, altought I agree is a surely less touristic place than Bergen as a matter of fact is. There is space for improvements, but you cannot find anything better packed.



3. Norway's a deceptively large country with many, many small towns and interesting regions, all of which are separated by large distances. This book scratches the surface of all of them.

   I found the guide fairly weak for southwestern Norway (Stavanger & Bergen areas). While it did direct me to the more obvious tourist areas, I felt as if I had no idea about 90% of the other things I could do.

   In summary, because they try to cover the whole country in one book, the coverage of any one area tends to be superficial.




4. After traveling in Norway for two weeks and staying at more than 5 cities, I have to say this is the worst Lonely Plannet I've ever had. Many unforgiveable mistakes. For instance, the opening date and hour of National Gallery, one of Oslo's major highlights, is wrong. It is close on Monday instead of Tuesday. I met a number of people holding this book standing outside National Gallery on Monday, and, unfortunatly, my wife and I were two of them. Other mistakes includes the business hour of some restaurants and background information of certain cities. For instance, the population of Voss is 13,000 instead of 5,500 (p.189)....



5. 
   I'm still patiently waiting for a good Norway Tour Guide to be written. The Eyewitness Book is terrible. But out of a bad lot, perhaps the only one worth mentioning as worthy of taking along in a backpack is the Lonely Planet Norway.
   
   This book isn't great; maybe it isn't even very good, but at least it does spend some effort to describe many of the amazing sites Norway has to offer. It's still quite hard for me to imagine why this great country hasn't been covered by a good book.
   
   I for one borrowed the following books for my latest trip: Kon Tiki, The Moon is Down, A Collection of Plays by Ibsen, a Munch book, and the Lonely Planet Guide. I left the Eyewitness at home.

No comments about Leocha's Ski Snowboard Europe: Winter Resorts in Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain & Andorra (Ski Snowboard Europe) (Ski Snowboard Europe).

No comments about Cycle Touring in Switzerland: Nine Tours on Switzerland's National Cycle Routes.