No comments about PassPorter's Walt Disney World 2009: The Unique Travel Guide, Planner, Organizer, Journal, and Keepsake! (PassPorter).

5 comments about Rick Steves' Spain 2009 (Rick Steves).

1. i'm thrilled with the purchase of our first rick steves travel book. his website and tv shows are VERY informative and practical and this 2008 book on Spain does not disappoint. it's not too clunky to take with us on our travels - yet, for day trips, we're photocopying a few "walking tour" pages so we don't have to take the book with us when we're travelling lighter. ... while he doesn't highlight EVERY inch of spain, he surely hits all the highlights! NO complaints and we look forward to experiencing more of the world through his expertise!



2. I always use Rick's books when traveling Europe! He is very detailed & walks you thru every step of your trip!



3. I used this book and found helpful information. In Madrid the two restaurant suggestions near our hotel were great. I was disappointed to find no information on Valencia. There is a reference to a website but that is after the fact once you are travelling. Also, the great buildup for Nerja at the Costa del Sol is not justified. We were at Torremolinos and thought we must go to Nerja since it was so fondly written about. However, we were extremely disappointed and the water quality was inferior to where we were. And it takes hours to get there by train and bus. I guess any travel book is good once you go for the second time, but, many of the references to places were confusing to me on a first time visit and I missed doing all that I wanted.



4. The book was great for our trip to spain. We are always able to see much more than if we went without the book



5. I bought Spain 2008 for my trip. My main language is Spanish, my second language is English so I was looking for a book in Spanish to guide me into my Spain trip. I look many books in Spanish and English I couldn't find a better explained book than this Spain 2008 by Rick Steves. I just came from my trip and I have to say the book is fantastic!!! it is literally a guide to what to see what not to see and how you can save money, the advices he gives you for each city what to do and see are great, very well explained, simple and easy. Also he explains a small summary of the history around the place you will see. He says where to go and how to go, buses #, timetables and prices. I have to say he was short by 10% on each of prices. I assume it is for the economic crisis Spain is going trough so the buses he said was 1 euro in the book when was 1.10, but that is something Rick couldn't knew off course.
   We met some tourist in our first stop, Madrid and see them in the next cities by the end of the trip all of them were with us following what the book suggest. You will never find a better written book that guides you in a trip to Europe. The book cost me $25.00 I saved way more thatn than just with the suggestion of the splitter (Rick suggest to buy a splitter in US $2.00 cost that can be plug in the audio guide and share it by headphones for two people so you rent only one instead two if that cost an average of 4 euro each) and I visited more than 8 places that use audioguide between museums and churches. I save at last 16 euros, so the book was paid. All of the tourist friends we made came to me like I was a local that can guide them trough the tourist places in the city, and more likely I was thanks to the book. I highly recommend you to buy this book!!!! Make yourself a big favor!!

5 comments about Turkey (Eyewitness Travel Guides).

1. The guide has beautiful pictures, but I found it a little lacking in content, especially for the Ephesus area. If you are going on a cruise and stopping in Kusadasi as we did, we wanted information on the Kusadasi and Ephesus areas, including how to navigate ourselves through town, what the highlights are (where to focus our time) and how to get there, as well as some historical and background information. The little information this book did provide on Ephesus was something any taxi driver could have told us.



2. Turkey (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
   My husband and I love to travel. We like to take at least two long trips per year. From all different travel guides we like the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides best.



3. If you like the ancient and modern Turkey, this book is for you. Beautiful descriptions and useful maps. It makes your trip to my country very pleasant.



4. This book looks nice, feels nice, and I suppose might taste nice. However, after living in Turkey for a year I found this book to be lacking in practical information. Eyewitness guides seemed to be geared more towards the tourist-on-a-tour rather than a person trying to make it on their own. There are three reasons I say this:
   1) The hotel information is mainly for nicer establishments and there are not many listed.
   2) The pictures are really nice, but there is not a lot of cultural, historical, or instructional information.
   3) The book is really heavy making it a pain to carry around.
   
   I also owned the Lonely Planet Turkey book and loved it, I would recommend it over the Eyewitness Guide. It got me to where I wanted to go and I found most of the information to be accurate. People I worked with also liked the Rough Guide of Turkey.
   
   One other suggestion, if you are just headed to Istanbul, or plan to be in the country for a long period of time I would purchase both a Turkey guide and an Istanbul guide in order to save having to carry around a huge guidebook to the entire country.



5. I like pictures. I understand a place I am visiting when I see it and not just have it described in words. This series of books are idea for those of us who want to know the history and context of what we're seeing. More than a Lonely Planet Guide to the best hostels in the world, this series provides a comprehensive guide to what to see and why.

5 comments about Lonely Planet Chile & Easter Island.

1. thanks to lonely planet we found chilestay apartments at www.chilestay.com an inexpensive alternative to a hotel. also, lonely planet provides a comprehensive and updated information about places to visit and enjoy.



2. I usually don't like the LPs but this one worked out great. I left it in Santiago with my sister. The thing about travel books is that they are just guides to give you ideas. Never go by the book, it makes for a boring life. The best adventures I have every had in South America were the ones that were not planned that goes for life too. The Easter Island part was good because it gave alot of info about the history and culture and gave directions to the museum so that we could get even more info if needed. I also like the Spanish vocab in the back because my Spanish is Mexican border now and guess what a sopa in SA is a bread and here in border land it is a soup. winter in Santiago you want soup not bread. Buy it and see the world the best thing in life is to follow you heart and dreams.



3. We just returned from 6 months in South America. We traveled with the Footprint guidebooks but had many opportunities to use the Lonely Planet, as that is what everyone carries.
   
   Almost everyone who was carrying this book complained about it. It is full of errors and the maps are hard to read. Hostal Nancy, in Puerto Natales, for example, is shown on the complete opposite side of town.
   
   Do yourself a favor and try out another guidbook. Get away from the Lonlely Planet people. Look at Footprint or Rough Guide.



4. I visited chile in early 2007-I credit this book with the best time of my life...I you go to Lake region around Puerto Montt, this book will tell you all the cool hostels to stay...Organized information and useful...lots of good restaurants and hostels. Also recommend Argentina guide from same publisher...



5. Going back to Chile and will visit more regions. This book is not only my perfect guide, but informs me of its history so I will not be totally ignorant and will be able to ask intelligent questions of the natives.

No comments about The Oxford Project.

5 comments about The Patisseries of Paris: Chocolatiers, Tea Salons, Ice Cream Parlors, and more.

1. This cocoa-dusted treasure hits that mythical sweet spot between practical, trusted travel guide and gorgeous, dreamy (if petite) coffee table book. Full of the kind of beautiful photos and evocative lyrical prose that you'll never find in any guide and jam-packed with all of the actionable, expert advice that's missing from all those exquisitely photographed gift books, this one has it all. Organized by arrondissements, you're meant to flip to the neighborhood you're visiting to find the author's recos for the best macarons, tartes or baguettes nearby. If I were visiting France soon, that's just what I'd be doing. Cramming bookmarks between the pages, grabbing a map and taking off before the sun came up. But for now, curled up on my couch in New Jersey, I'm literally reading this like a romantic novel. Cover to cover. Dreaming of Paris...



2. My sister and I recently returned from 2 weeks in France. While in Paris we visited several of the recommended patisseries and totally enjoyed the wonderful offerings. We actually planned some of our sightseeing and shopping around the location of a few of these. Good idea for Paris!



3. I love that this book is devoted to Paris' Patisseries, chocolate shops, and tea shops. When you go to Paris, these are special treats for the eyes and taste buds. Even if you are not traveling, it's a luxury to read the description of each shop's specialty and salivate at the photos.
   
   This book lists the vendors by Arrondissement; and there is an index by business type and alphabetical listing. There are beautiful photos and a description of each shop.
   
   Since the book is small (pocket size), the prints are tiny, I wish they used a bolder font. Also, you have to read through the text to find out what the author liked the most about each shop. The reading is great, but if I'm in one Arrond. and trying to figure out which shop to visit, it would be great to have the special dishes highlighted under each shop, to make them easier to find. Maybe make more use of a sidebar to highlight that info?



4. This book was everything I hoped it would be - exquisite photographs, evocative of a trip I'll never take, yet seems to be lingering in my brain. Love it ... hope there'll be more, just like it.



5. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1892145529/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title
   The Patisseries of Paris: Chocolatiers, Tea Salons, Ice Cream Parlors, and more
   With only nine days and a FULL program for my Paris vacation I won't have time for mistakes of 'so-so' restautants and patisseries. The book seems to be very thorough and well researched, many reviews agree with other 'foodies' opinions. I have 'tagged' the 'must visits' and 'possibles' and will give you my full review after I will have come back (April 2009).
   Again, very well organized, well researched and easy to follow.

5 comments about My French Life.

1. I've always had a fascination with anything french! Oh I loved this book so much and intend to read it again and again! BEAUTIFULLY DONE! BEAUTIFUL WRITING...I hung on every beautiful word!....Photography couldn't have been more spectacular! I feel closer to France now more than ever!



2. This book is just devine. It will inspire you to take risks, uproot your life and follow your dreams. Vicki and her husband David fell in love with a farmhouse in Provence while holidaying, and have lovingly restored the house and surrounding acreage. The house is truly beautiful and I now have Provence on my list of places I must visit soon. What is interesting is how she made this her new life, learnt a new language, gives us her viewpoint of the French and way of life. What living in France is like to someone who is not French but has chosen it as their new home.
   Vicki also covers Paris - I am thankfully going there next year!
   The photography, thanks to Carla Coulson is spectacular,and this is a beautiful book.
   Vicki also shares a list of shops in Paris and in Saint-Remy-de-Provence she recommends, plus movies, books and music that have have inspired her love of all things French.
   Thank you for sharing your journey with us Vicki.



3. I have never read anything so utterly pretentious -- how wonderful that Ms Archer found this paradise and, at untold cost, restored it brick by brick, stone by stone, using the best local craftspeople,artisans, antiquarians and the like (and who all, along the way, became her new best friends)-- and telling us in the most mundane style how lucky she is to be able to sit and watch the olives grow while also tripping off to Paris or London (her now home).
   
   Her ultimate coup, it seems, and which Ms. Archer proudly tells us she has received, was recognition,by the French Security person at the airport,of her HERMES BERKIN handbag. He informed her that she had bought the most perfect item in the whole world, made with utmost craftsmanship at Hermes-- and she has the privilege of owning it! MON DIEU!!!
   
   Luckily, I got this book from my local library and thus have not added a centime to her rather full coffers. SAVE YOUR MONEY! BETTER TO DONATE IT TO A WORTHY CAUSE!!!!



4. I remember doing a search quite a while back for French Life (or something similiar) and found this book right before it's release. I immediately put it on my Wish List and kind of forgot about it.
   
   A few months later, I found it again (going through my list) and decided I didn't want to spend $35 for this book so after much waiting it became available thru inter-library loan.
   
   Let me tell you that I am so glad I was able to get it this way rather than pay for this overly-plush, terribly written book. Such a letdown..boring writing with heady photographs.
   You will not learn anything new about the French in this book. It's the same thing: French style, food, politeness, slow pace, etc. And I got really sick of the author's constant referrals to her olive farm.
   
   Best book on French style: Veronique Vienne's French Style: How to Think, Shop & Dress Like a Frenchwoman...magnificient OOP book but absolutely worth the inflated price.
   Best book on French cuisine and life: Robert Arbor's Joie de Vivre.
   
   Don't waste your time with this one. You'll just be paying for padded fluff.



5. If you don't have the time or money to go to Paris, this is the next best thing. The photos are dreamy and really wonderful. Put on French music, poor a glass of wine and your there!!!

5 comments about Route 66: EZ66 Guide for Travelers.

1. I purchased "Route 66: EZ66 Guide For Travelers, I think mainly because of the spiral binding which it advertized would be easy to lay open as one was driving the road. I would say that was a plus. I drove the road with my wife from Ash Fork, AZ to Barstow, CA. It was a lot of fun and the EZ66 Guide was integral to the trip. It had larger section maps of the journey and smaller detail maps of tricky stretches. It's narratives provided valuable background information about each town along the way and fun descriptions like the berm between Essex and Amboy Calif where travelers have left messages using rocks and bottles, and the shoe tree near Amboy. Since this book was written in 2005 and 'bra' tree has now appeared down the road from the shoe tree. Fun stuff. I highly recommend this book for anyone planning a trip down the Mother Road.



2. I am planning a Route 66 trip - back to the 50"s and 60"s.
   
   Thanks for the book and the info in the book
   
   Jayne



3. Lots of information on what to see an do along Route 66. Maps are a little hard to follow.



4. We could not have followed route 66 without this book. Our vacation was absolutely wonderful and we stayed on the original route most of the way.



5. This guide worked great. If you email the author (email address in the guide), he'll send you updates.
   
   Came with detailed maps, turn-by-turn directions for both eastbound and westbound driving, and points of interest. Guide has a spiral binding and just the right size for use on a road trip.
   
   This guide made for a great, unforgettable, 3 week road trip during May/June 2008.
   
   Thanks Jerry!

No comments about Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip . . . with Recipes!.

5 comments about Rick Steves' France 2008 (Rick Steves).

1. Rick's latest book on travelling in France has already proven quite valuable as we plan our 2009 trip to France. He is knowledgable and his books provide a variety of easy to understand and implement options for touring and for overnight stays. I appreciate his honesty and suggestions. Thanks Rick!!



2. Pretty comprehensive. But the prices listed are not quite accurate, however it is a good starting point for bargaining. This a good guide to start with at home, combined with a couple of others one can really safely plan a trip to through France.



3. Having used many guidebooks, I think these are the best. Granted, the Rick Steves books are unique in that they are selective in the areas that they describe, but these areas are described well. With his guides, you feel like Rick is on the trip as your personal tour guide. Most guides (Frommers, Foders, etc.) give you a superficial overview of the whole country. Rick lets it all hang out. He tells what he thinks is a worthwhile stop and what isn't. Most of what "isn't" doesn't make it into the guidebook at all. Thus, I suggest taking another more comprehensive book (Lonely Plantet, Rough Guide, etc.) to fill in any gaps should you find yourself in a location Rick doesn't describe. On the whole though, I love his itineraries. Most people traveling to Europe have limited time (1 month or less). There's only so much you can see; why not have someone boil it down and provide a straight forward opinion as to what to see and do? In his books there is easily enough to keep you busy for two months. The real question is whether you are the type of traveler that would like Rick's suggestions. Here is a test. If you can answer "yes" to most of these questions, buy the book, you'll love it. 1)Are you a value seeker? 2)Do you want to venture off the tourist trail? 3)Are you an adventurer? 4)Do you appreciate tidbits on history and art 5)Do you have the stamina to tour a new town/city every 1-3 days? 6)Do you try to avoid tourist traps like the plague? 7)Is your idea of fine lodging simple, homey places in good locations, with moderate prices? I would not suggest this book for people who want to spend their vacation walled up in a luxury hotel, venturing out only to shop and tour the biggest of sights.



4. We just got back from France a couple of months ago. I have to say, this book gave us the best 4 days outside of Paris during our entire trip.
   
   Although I went in reverse order, I took his advice and went to the Loire Valley, then to Mont St. Michel, and then to Normandy. Rick Steve's map for the driving distance was right on target, so that helped us budget our driving time properly.
   
   Another great investment if you plan on going overseas. Our collection of Rick Steve's is getting pretty big. We also bought his book on Paris, which we used enough that i felt it was worth it, but there is certainly a lot of overlap.



5. I purchased this book last year before our 4 week trip to France. This book is interesting and informative. I especially liked the travel tips and recommendations for accomodations outside of Paris. The two places that we enjoyed staying the most I found in this book. Definitely check out this book!