5 comments about Streetwise London Map - Laminated City Street Map of London, England - with integrated London Underground map including tube lines and stations.

1. Very good map for the first time traveler...It is waterproof & will fit in your pocket..Many small streets are not listed & the Mass-transit system needs work...If you use the underground, don't buy this map...



2. Great item, perfectly suited needs. Sent to someone coming to visit London so they could get it in their heads where things were. To be totally honest the London A-Z is better, but as it's the standard among locals I guess that's to be expected.
   
   Good item, no worries about it. I'd buy it again. x



3. We just returned from nine days in London and I have to say that this map is the most useful thing we brought with us. It's laminated so that it didn't get ratty like our tube map. (There is also has a tiny tube map on it.) It was easy to slip in the front pocket of my swing pouch and it's small enough so that we didn't look so much like tourists unfolding a giant map when we had to consult it. The map had all the tiny streets in Covent Garden, the City and other areas, so I'm not sure what another reviewer had a problem with. As for covering all of London, maybe you'd need a different map if you were visiting the outer neighborhoods, but for all of the major and minor tourist attractions, this was more than adequate. It's like expecting a tourist map of New York City to cover the outer reaches of Queens and Staten Island. They're technically New York City but the majority of attractions are in Manhattan and the nearest parts of the boroughs. I would definitely buy this map again and I have already purchased a Streetwise Paris map for our upcoming visit.



4. Too small a map for my taste. It just hits the high points and you better bring some reading glasses.



5. You're going to need a map in London. This is a well crafted graphic, easy to read and understand, and appears to be constructed well enough to withstand lots of references, and probably lots of exposure to London weather.

5 comments about the Next EXIT (The Next Exit).

1. I rate this product a "FUNK". This means that the product is not what one
   expects.
   The problem?: The direction that the book avails info for ONLY goes from
   East to West direction or North to South.
   If you want the mile markers from West to east you are out of luck, they
   are not there. If you are going from East to west its wonderful.
   So the book is of NO VALUE to go from West to East.
   I emailed the company but they would not respond.
   I was ready to purchase another book for the West to East mile markers
   and/or South to North also but ALAS they probably dont have it.
   Maybe this is why they dont respond.
   T



2. This book tells what is at each exit. Haven't tested it out yet but do believe it will be a big help while going on vacation with our travel trailer.



3. My husband is a long-haul truck driver. He uses this book every single day to help him know where he can pull of, what food is available, truck information, flat repair, etc. It is absolutely priceless to him!



4. My husband and I love this book. We travel in the winter and find this to be so helpful as we travel on interstates mostly. There are no guesses as to what's at an exit. We know!! We had a 2000 version and found we needed to get the newer book. It's an invaluable tool.



5. It's a shame that other BETTER interstate travel guides are out-of-print and thus not 'updated', such as the original "The Next Exit Guide: North Atlantic Region." The Next Exit Guide: North Atlantic Region was much more advanced-ahead of its time, organized by interstate rather than by state, had boat loads more information (contact, phone #, points of interest, etc). Even with some non-updated information, I find it still is better. And then I use this book as a backup for changes.

4 comments about Frommer's New York City 2008 (Frommer's Complete).

1. All Frommer's guides are the best. This was really up-to-date with a new hotel opened in 07 where I have already booked a room.



2. I am so glad I listened to other people and purchased this book. It is very informative and lends a lot of insight into the many areas of New York and what it has to offer. Having never been there, I feel like I can go prepared and know the ins and outs of visiting this big city and seeing all there is to see, the smart way. Now I know why Frommer's is the best resource for travel!



3. Whenever I plan a trip, I want information about the place and what to do when I get there. I've bought many Frommer's guides over the years (National Parks, Hawai'i, San Francisco) and have never been disappointed. I suppose one criticism might be that it tries to be too comprehensive, but on the other hand, this gives you a lot of choices. It might be nice, say, to review fewer hotels and restaurants but to give more in-depth information on the one's they do review.
   
   One thing I really appreciate about Frommer's is that you know that if they mention it in the guide that there's already something to recommend about it. If a hotel isn't mentioned, then it's probably not worth mentioning for one reason or another. A good example is the Grand Hyatt near Grand Central Station. It's not a bad hotel, but it lacks character and, judging from the pictures on their website, it's very much like every other Hyatt/Grand Hyatt in other cities. You're, likely, paying a lot of money to visit New York so you ought to at least experience New York. That being said, we will probably spend a couple of nights at the Grand Hyatt because we will save a little money and get Hyatt points. :-) But, we'll go to another hotel for the remainder of the stay because it's more fun and we'll get to stay someplace that isn't like another hotel in another city. I got that information from this book and followed it up on line.
   
   And, for me, it's nice to have a book that covers all of the bases. I've never been to New York, so I want to do all the "essentials" like see Times Square, a Broadway show, the "big" museums, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, etc. This book does a good job of giving me the information I need to get that done.



4. This guide is very useful even if you already are familiar with New York City.

5 comments about King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking: Delicious Recipes Using Nutritious Whole Grains.

1. This book introduces the reader to many new grains, not just whole wheat, and has helpful tips about the new methods and ingredients. I have been having fun trying a few new recipes every week.



2. This is a great book. I love all the information at the beginning of the book about the different types of whole grains.



3. If you like to bake with whole grain flours this cook book has a lot of ideas. Really neat, different recipes any thing to do with pies, bars, cookies, breads & etc. I like the homemade tortilla recipe. Once you make your own tortillas you won't go back to the blah store tortillas. Happy Baking.



4. I have yet to make the many baking recipes, but to our surprise, there is a hummus recipe in the pages of this book that turned out to be just like a restaurant's! It is on the money for texture and flavor! Nice surprise and we are looking forward to trying more complex recipes in the future.



5. When I finished reading In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto , I was determined to eat whole grains baked without high-fructose corn syrup. My first try at whole wheat bread (whole wheat flour, yeast, salt, oil, water) was horrid -- dry, heavy, bitter -- and I almost gave up. Enter the King Arthur FLour Whole Grain Baking book. And it saved me!
   
   This cookbook is unique in that it explains the peculiarities of the whole grains and how they are best handled to produce baked goods closest to the fluffy, tender products we're used to eating. And, yes, adding orange juice to whole wheat actually does eliminate the "tannic" or bitter taste you sometimes get from whole wheat. Now I have to find me some whole wheat pastry flour so I can make the Peach Melba Jelly Roll... Mmmmmmmm.

5 comments about The Best Things to Do in New York City: 1001 Ideas.

1. Although I've lived in Gotham for several years, this book helped me to fall head over heels in love with the city again. After reading "The Best Things to Do in New York: 1,001 Ideas," I decided to take the authors' advice and give New York City every spare moment I had left in my very busy schedule. In 2007, I'm going to tour the tombstones at Trinity Church, take a 3-hour Circle Line cruise, record a story in Grand Central Station, drink afternoon tea at the Waldorf-Astoria, buy lunch at Zabar's and picnic in Riverside Park, take in a comedy show at Caroline's and walk through several neighborhoods just to revel in their historical and architectural treasures.
   
   This is a top rate guide to Gotham, one that's ideal for tourists, transplants or natives. Pick it up and I guarantee you'll be scheduling dozens of new adventures on your calendar as well.



2. Do you marvel at how sometimes, a complete foreigner knows more about your city than you ever cared to know? I have lived on the outskirts of Manhattan for my entire life: Brooklyn, Queens, and mostly Long Island. However, I made many frequent forays into Manhattan on the weekends, and I considered myself not the complete tyro regarding the nooks, crannies, and interesting activities that 'The City' had to offer. This book was recommended to me by a Russian immigrant, who had come to New York 10 years prior. I often marveled at all the interesting places she went, and how she knew so many good places to eat. It turns out that this is the secret! Although some of the 1001 ideas are very touristy, the vast majority are applicable to even native New Yorkers. So far I've had free hot dogs with my pints of red beer, had the strongest shots I've ever had (watermelon-flavored too!), spent more on one meal than I usually spend in one month, and I plan on doing so much more. This book doesn't only give you interesting things to do and see, it also stokes your curiosity to discover things on your own. I'm not a great reviewer, but I want to get across the point that I did thoroughly enjoy this book, and I plan on checking off the vast majority of things listed!



3. This book is right, the things to do in New York are endless. My family and I have made many trips to New York, everytime we go we find something new to do. I enjoyed taking my daughter to see the Rockettes at Christmas time and then taking her on a carriage ride. Last Thanksgiving we went to see the Macy's Day Parade and it was incredible. Always something exciting to do in the Big Apple. Read the book and then take your family on a new adventure!!
   
   Billy Wannyn



4. I got this books as a gift for someone and it looked good but there were no pictures and everything just seemed the same.



5. I bought this for my sister based 100% on these reviews. She loved the book and is very excited to start trying some of these activities. She lives in Queens but works in the city and is always looking for new things to do...this book helps her take advantage of all NYC has to offer.

5 comments about Lonely Planet China.

1. I spent a month in China with this guide book. The city maps were not great, but they were the best maps I found in any guide book. When I got back from my trip, someone gave me a hilarious new novel that takes place in China -"Sweet and Sour July"- about a group of tourists making their way from Hong Kong to Beijing and seeing everything in between. I highly recommend both of these books if you are planning a trip to China.



2. I used this book during my second trip to China in summer 2007. We did not take any organized tours. We used it in Beijing, Shanghai and Hunan province and we took its advice and avoided Shenzhen.
   
   That out of the way, I found the book eminently useful. There is enough Chinese script in it to show a taxi driver where you want to go by pointing to the characters. Every place name has a set of Chinese characters you can point to. The maps are particularly useful (of course), but I thought they could have edited out some of the color pictures for more maps. Can't get enough maps in a travel book.
   
   I did not really read this book until we actually landed in Beijing. From there it was pretty much a thing I could immediately pick up, figure out and use to get moving. The descriptions of things are acurrate.
   
   I'm not sure why some reviewers are complaining that the descriptions are too short or simple. China is a massive country of 1.6 billion people over a huge land with dozens upon dozens of cities -- more detail would double the book's weight.
   
   If you have to go to China (which I wouldn't really recommend) then you cannot go wrong with this book. It's a starting place, and a savvy travelor will find one of the millions of internet cafes available to look up more things in depth, or just ask questions of other travellers or hotel workers, shop clerks, waiters, etc. Anyone who wants more information than this book offers should just book an organized tour for their entire trip and have their hand held the entire time. Or better yet, take a cruise. Otherwise, this book will get you started and the rest is easy to figure out. It's very easy to travel around China. My first trip I didn't even use a book or a Chinese-Engilsh dictionary or even the internet.



3. I was born in China and lived there for more than 20 years. Since I moved to the States, I have traveled in China frequently on business and for family reasons.
   
   I am planning a trip to China with the rest of my family who traveled in China only once in 2006. To help them organized for the trip, I was looking for a guide book. I browsed this book in a local book store. I was shocked to see that it contains so much value-judging commentaries about Chinese history, customs, government policies, etc. Unfortunately the authors seem to understand little about Chinese history, culture, politics, economy and business. Some of their commentaries are blatantly racist. In describing Chinese moving around in their own country (whether Tibet or Xinjiang), on their own free will, the book's use of "hordes" and "flood" is derogatory, if not plainly racist.
   
   I do not intend to buy this book to brain wash my kids: They are going to China with an open mind and will be there to see with their own eyes and to judge on their own. Thank you very much.
   
   I also found quite a few misleading information about some popular sites. Other readers have already commented on some of them.
   
   So thanks to the authors for spending so much time on the commentaries and not enough time on providing accurate information for tourists, I am not buying this lonely planet.



4. An exceptional travel guide. Do not count on the prices being accurate but the big picture is spot on.
   
   There are two problems with the Lonely Planet guide: it is too heavy for a traveler; it is on the banned books list in China (but my copy was not taken in my last two trips).
   
   Death by Lonely Planet refers to guiding thousands of tourists to a once untouched spot. The Lonely Planet guide is a blessing and a curse.



5. We are independent travelers who usually travel with Lonely Planet. China is changing so fast it is hard to keep any guide up to date, but the travel and site information here was generally accurate and very helpful. I was disapointed in some of the restaurant recomendations.

5 comments about Rick Steves' French Phrase Book and Dictionary.

1. I'm using this for my French classes and these teenagers love it! Interesting little supplement for daily inclusion in language acquisition for the eager French student.



2. What I like about this is that it is pocket size so I can actually have it with me when I need it, and it gives more useful and practical phrases, like how to tell the taxi driver to SLOW DOWN!



3. Had three semesters of French in college. Grew up in the midwest, where an A sound like A, and a U sound like U. Didn't retain much, but can recover and survive with the help of this book. It is one of the most accurate in providing correct phonetic interpretations of how words and phrases SHOULD sound in French. Many of the other books do not! Don't leave for France without it!!!



4. While this is helpful, it is not a necessary purchase if you purchase the 2008 Paris Guide by Rick Steves. But it is a fun and entertaining read!



5. Great book! Highly recommended. Easy to use, easy to find the topics you need when you need them. The phonetic words are easy to understand, and are spot on with the real corresponding word (with some other phrase books I have tried, the phonetics were not quite right). There are phrases for real situations, even some funny situations, covering everything from being pulled over by police in your rental car to dealing with pushy street venders (which are abundant in Paris! - which came in handy for us when at the Louvre!). There is a menu and food decoder which we referred to quite a bit so as to know what we were ordering to eat. With this book, we were able to communicate easily everywhere we went: the metro, the train station, eateries, museums, grocery store, and even in the countryside where hardly anyone speaks English.
   
   My Spouse and I were in France last month and I had purchased this book weeks ahead of time and began reviewing the phrases inside. By the time we got to France, we both had learned enough to communicate nicely with the people. In Paris, there are a great many people that speak English, or at least understand it a bit, but it's still nice to be able to say something to them in French even if it's just a greeting. But we stayed in the countryside where English is rare, but we got on just fine at the grocery store, the villages, and the cafes with this little book in hand. The easy to use words and phrases are great in a pinch, but as a helpful tip: Don't just buy the book and wait to use it until your there standing at a ticket booth trying to figure what to say - familiarize yourself with the key phrases that are important to you, and where they are located in the book before you even get on the plane.

5 comments about Paris (EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE).

1. I loved this book! The maps are excellent as they are different from regular maps, it is like looking down on the town and you can see where each building is. Offers unusual sights to visit and a lot of needed information. I am excited about our upcoming trip



2. The maps, pictures and layouts in this book were all extremely helpful to our visit, as was the descriptions of major attractions.
   
   I found, however, that the recommendations and listing for hotels and restaurants (the key to any good vacation) were extremely limited (probably less than 1% of the places in the city were listed) and somewhat dated.



3. Upon receiving my Eyewitness Travel Guide I was so drawn into the detail and ease of use in finding many interesting facts and hints. My wife and I have both taken turns looking through the guide and have been able to create an itinerary, map our routes, and find places of interest and things we want to see. Everything is in an easy to understand format. There were things we found in the book that we had no idea were an option on our upcoming honeymoon. Traveling to a place you have never been to can be very intimidating but I can honestly say that after receiving this little gem of a reference tool my wife and I are even more excited about our trip.
   
   Jason S.
   St Cloud, FL



4. I must say that this guide was exactly what I needed, but also I must confess that another thing came up since I have been traveling to Europe for some time now. I didn't realize or wasn't even thinking about travel insurance?? I mean we all have insurance, that covers us while we are in the US, but not for traveling abroad. I recently planned a second trip to Germany, but wasn't sure if my insurance company policy would take care of minor details in my policy for things I am not sure I have thought about. I am not saying I might or might not be covered, but I need peace of mind when it comes to my family. I then called my HR to find out general things about traveling abroad and "What would happen if" scenario's. I wasn't going to read my lengthy policy, even if I did I wouldn't understand the legal double-talk anyway not being a lawyer and all.
   
   My HR told me everything would be ok, and I shouldn't worry. But some thing in the back of my mind said call again and asked the same questions to see if the results would be the same from another Representative, to my surprise, it was. Ok then, not feeling a warm feeling of confidence in my HR responses. I didn't have much time to keep doing the research, so I looked up travel insurance and started to focus my attention on getting some basic package to cover me and family while we were abroad. There are a lot to choose from, but again this became confusing. So I came across www.securemytravelonline.com which had an aggregate of different well known insurance companies. I choose AIG with a basic plan and the rest was history. Also I didn't know you can insure your travel and luggage also in case of theft, flight cancellation etc. I thought I would share something from one avid traveler to the next. Overall a GREAT Guide and I have bought another copy for my friend. Paris is in my opinion the most beautiful city in the WORLD...period.
   
   Take care.
   Carl>



5. We have just returned from Spring Break in Paris and the "Paris: Eyewitness Travel Guide" was our guidebook for our trip. Of course, the photo illustrations in any DK book are always impressive, and since I always like to see where I am going and what is to see there without having to Google everything, that was an obvious plus with this book. I must admit that II do not really think about this particular book as a guidebook for getting in-depth information about places; when I want that sort of information I get a guidebook at the place (only thing I bought on the trip were guidebooks and postcards). In practical terms this guidebook functioned as our menu for the trip, allowing us to see what was available and when you could visit, which was crucial because visiting hours change based on the month and the day (my biggest piece of advice based on this trip is that if you can go see the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay at night--Wednesday and Thursday respectively--you will enjoy them a lot more without the massive crowds during the day).
   
   For me the best part of this guide book ended up being the maps. Paris is gridded out in 18 maps in the back of the book and for each region of the city there is a general map of the entire area with "Sights at a Glance" marked along with metro and train stations. Add to the mix the Paris Metro and Regional Express Railway (RER) map inside the back cover, and we found it incredibly easy to find things. We got a 5-day Metro pass and had the fortune of our hotel being right down the street from the Montparnasse Bienvenile station, which was the intersection of several metro lines (plus linked to a train station which allowed us to go to Chartres and be back by 1 in the afternoon). Except for a bus tour/river cruise the first night and a side trip to Versailles, we did not have our trip planned out. We had a list of things we wanted to see and each day would pick a starting point and work out our other options as we went along. These maps were great for making that relatively easy. Nor did we feel that we were restricted to the restaurants in our area because we were able to use our maps to head off into the night and find them.
   
   The only exception would be the maps of the Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise and Cimetiere du Montparnassem because they were not extremely helpful in trying to find several of the graves I was trying to track down. Those of Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison are easy to find because there are also several people standing around them, but finding those of Moliere, Sarah Bernhardt, and Samuel Becket were much harder. The guide does provide tiny icons representing what the graves actually look like, but the locations can be troublesome, especially when the graves are not right on a walkway. But there are detailed maps for Pere Lachaise and signs at the entrances that you can photograph with your digital camera and reference as you walk about (courtesy of your magic zoom button).
   
   I bought the book a year before our trip, when my impromptu suggestion that we go to Paris for Spring Break was derailed by the lack of a current passport. So there is a minor concern that information is not totally current. On the one hand the Musee de l'Orange with Monet's water lily series was open, but the one place my wife wanted to go, the restaurant atop La Samaritaine, was derailed because the department store was closed. As long as you suspect that these sort of things are always going to happen (I felt sorry for the law students visiting the Louvre to discover that the Code of Hammurabi was not on display), you should be able to roll with these punches. Final word of advice regarding this particular guidebook: Make sure that you have a purse or a coat with pockets large enough to accommodate the peculiar not quite "pocket" size of this guide.

5 comments about India (Country Guide).

1. This book was very helpful. It has chapters on every region in India. It gives good hotel recommendations. It also describes what to see if you are only in a place for some number of days, which is very helpful. The only negative is that it is too big to carry around everywhere.



2. Right on time! Book in exact condition as described. Fortunately for me, the book gave me a critical piece of information that I needed a visa before I entered India that I had not realized I needed as a tourist.



3. The book was quite helpful in most respects. I was disappointed with one of the eating suggestions, it was the worst meal we had in India. The book saved us in Shimla when we were planning to fly back to Delhi. There is a strict weight restriction on luggage which we had missed in our travel documents. We still flew back, just sent the luggage by an alternate means. The book is quite complete and was very useful in many ways.



4. I like Lonely Planet Guides - having enhanced holidays in places from Myanmar to Maine using them. The LP India is particularly useful for independent travellers.



5. The book was informative. I was hope for a little more cultural and regional info and map content, but you can't have everything I suppose. The problem is how many books can you carry, especially this size? Do your homework before you go and then carry this book for hotel, transportation, and other info. I understand the rough guide to India is a good complimentary book. But you'll need another backpack to carry both.

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

1. Rick Steve's books are so full of great information. I have a friend who planned their trip around his books, and everything Rick recommended was just as stated. I have planned my upcoming trip the same way.



2. Rick Steve's Spain was the second travel book I purchased; I had gotten Rick Steve's London for a previous trip. Rick covers everything, and it's easy to read (not dry like other travel books). He covers the history on down to finding local restaurants with the best ambience and food. I plan on purchasing his books for future international travel.



3. Good book with good comments. Maps are useful but could be more detailed. I generally also like more pictures.



4. 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!



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