Reviews (12)

Great Travel Book
This book is a gem!!I love the colorful photographs and the chapter on the history of St. Petersburg.

You can't go wrong with Eyewitness Travel Books!
I typically buy 3 or 4 books for each city I visit and I would have to say Eyewitness Travel Books are my favorite... Their list of hotels, resuraunts, clubs and sites are dead-nuts!

St. Petersburg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
Beautifully photographed, very easy to follow, informative, great guide for what to do first.When I got home, I could look at the book to mark my photos!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Russia    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel / Russia   

Reviews (11)

Eyewitness Travel Guide Vienna (2003)
Rugged bound handbook for touring Vienna. Outside cover is plastic coated card stock, doesn't soak up water when lying on the lunch table, easily cleaned. Glossy paper throughout its 288 information packed pages: a district map on inside front cover and public transport map on the inside back cover.
As rich as a piece of Viennese cake
The Eyewitness DK guides are beautiful books in their own right--you would enjoy reading them even if you didn't make the trip. The text is well organized and extensively illustrated with artwork and 3-D pictures of the major tourist attractions. The directions are excellent and they direct you to the important things to see at each location.
Excellent reference material to plan your Viennese vacation
There are two kinds of travel guides, and both are useful: those guides that help you to plan your trip, and those to carry in your shirt pocket when the shoes hit the pavement.This Eyewitness Travel Guide is one of the best, if not the best, guidebook to use for planning your Vienna trip before you go.There is a tremendous amount of material, so the book uses small fonts and thin glossy paper; still, it has quite a bit of heft and may not be convenient to carry in your shirt pocket (and if you think this is thick, you should see the China guidebook).But I read about a lot of attractions here that I couldn't find in other reputable publications, and found more details in DK.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - Austria    2. Guidebooks    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel Guides    6. Vienna (Austria)    7. Travel / Europe / Austria   

Editorial Review

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive, engrossing, and just plain fun-to-read guidebook than the Read more

Reviews (18)

Best Planning Guides I have used
We have traveled to France the past 3 years and are in the process of planning the 4th at this writing. As always (since discovering these guides)I started with this guide to determine which part of France we will visit and the potential route. I also own the guides to Paris, Loire Valley and Provence. The Green Guides offer much more detail but are infuriatingly arranged in alphabetical order. Eyewitness guides are arranged by area and include some theme tours (wine,cheese,troglodyte, etc)This and the beautiful pictures make planning a joy. I just wish they published an area guide for Southwest France, where we are headed in 2003!!

Great Travel Guide, Beautiful Coffee Table Book!
. A great handbook
We found this book to be compact and yet so complete with information and details about Paris and the rest of France.We used it much more than any other books we'd taken with us. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - France    2. France    3. Guidebooks    4. HotelsInnsetc.    5. Reference - Guides (General)    6. Travel    7. Travel - Foreign    8. Travel Guides    9. Travel / Europe / France   

Reviews (3)

Out of date and miss informatin
The book needs to be updated.It has a lot of miss information on costs and only provides phone numbers, no email address, for contact information.Good for the basics but Fodors, Fommers and Rich Steves' Venice are better.

Never leave home without it!!!
I am so happy that I had this book with me when I went abroad. My parents had been given a different tour book, but it was retired during the trip. Italy for Dummies was so simple to use. The maps were accurate and the hotel information priceless. Even if you've been before, this book is a godsend in a pinch. It helped me make great choices during a hectic time in Italy-"Holy Week" A must for any traveller.

not fancy but packed full of information
I am not a big fan of dummies books but I am acting as my own travel agent for our families 2nd trip to Italy.I was in the middle of planning and lost this book so I am reordering.This book is so full of useful information on how to save money, where to eat, museum information.I pack very light but this is the one book we are planning on hauling with us. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Reference - Guides (General)    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel Guides    6. Italy    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / Europe / Italy   

Editorial Review

In this memoir of her buying, renovating, and living in an abandoned villa in Tuscany, Frances Mayes reveals the sensual pleasure she found living in rural Italy, and the generous spirit she brought with her. She revels in the sunlight and the color, the long view of her valley, the warm homey architecture, the languor of the slow paced days, the vigor of working her garden, and the intimacy of her dealings with the locals. Cooking, gardening, tiling and painting are never chores, but skills to be learned, arts to be practiced, and above all to be enjoyed. At the same time Mayes brings a literary and intellectual mind to bear on the experience, adding depth to this account of her enticing rural idyll. ... Read more

Reviews (415)

Lemon Tree
The cover of mine was decorated with the actress from the movie so I expected it to be the tragic romance with a happy ending on the DVD. Instead I got a description of a couple of college proffessors who cash in their investments to buy a million dollar run down house in Cortona Italy in which they only planned to live in 3 months out of the year.
Beautiful Tuscany
Frances Mayes and her boyfriend Ed are college professors in San Francisco.Since her own college days, Mayes has rented houses in Italy, and dreamed of one day buying a home of her own in Tuscany.After looking at endless houses, ranging from ruins to the opposite extreme, they finally came upon Bramasole, a country home long abandoned and surrounded by terraced hillsides with old olive trees.As other reviewers pointed out, Mayes has a lot of money and whines about spending it.She does not become one of the locals, and when school starts she flies back to her apartment in California.But her descriptions of working on the house and the land around it really appeal to me.I enjoyed a story she told about rebuilding the falling stone walls with a team of Polish workers who worked for her contractor and stayed at the local church.She does love her new home and the land, and the layers of history she and Ed discover as they work on the house.She writes descriptions of the wonderful local produce and cooking, and you can feel the warmth of the sun, a visit to the weekly market, or the drama of a thunderstorm in her writing as if you were there.

Drew me in!
Long having toyed with the idea of retiring in the south of France, my interest was piqued when friends told me about this book.They were ready to lend me their copy, but seeing that this was a topic close to heart, i.e. the buying of a house in Southern Europe, I decided to go out and buy it.Admittedly, the narrative started off slowly for me.However, once Mayes started to recount the tale of actively looking for a house, and ultimately finding one, I was hooked.Since I am a bit of food-lover, the recipes were of interest as well.In all, I read the book in two sittings, it's that interesting once you get going.If I could proffer some criticism, I would point out that the book has little insight for those hoping to find a true cultural observation.The author and her boyfriend deal with the locals in various capacities, from notary to carpenter, but they befriend too few to really get at the heart of the real Tuscans.Of course, given that friendships in Europe develop at glacier speeds this is normal.Nonetheless, my hope is that all the years spent in Italy Mayes will be able to address this lacuna in her next book...the one I picked up today.All in all, Under the Tuscan Sun is an eloquent, worth-while story about a fascinating part of the world. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography/Autobiography    2. Cookery, Italian    3. Description And Travel    4. Essays & Travelogues    5. Europe - Italy    6. Mayes, Frances    7. Social life and customs    8. Travel    9. Travel - General    10. Tuscany (Italy)    11. Biography: general    12. Italy    13. Travel / Essays & Travelogues    14. Travel writing    15. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (4)

less than meets the eye
If you've never been to Scotland, or want a feel for how it is to play the Old Course and the others in St Andrews regularly, you'll enjoy this book somewhat.
Loved every sentence - thanks, George!
I've taken two trips to St. Andrews and can definitely relate to George's Peper's outstanding take on the place.I treasured every sentence of these 299 pages.He's really nailed the spirit of St. Andrews, both the setting and its people.I'm not a mad, keen golfer, and my wife - like Peper's - is disinterested in the sport itself.But - like me - she loves the atmosphere of the place.One of the greatest things in the world is to sit on the steps in front of the 18th green and watch group and group tumble home with big, goofy grins on their faces.It's a fabulous way to spend an early evening.
Contrasts in Golf and Life for Two
An experienced wordsmith, Peper memoirs his decision to spend two years in their invested real estate lining the sacred 18th at golf's home.
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Subjects:  1. Description And Travel    2. Europe - Great Britain - General    3. Golf    4. Golf - General    5. Golf courses    6. Scotland    7. Sports    8. Sports & Recreation    9. Sportswriters    10. United States    11. Sporting venues    12. Sports & Recreation / Golf    13. United Kingdom, Great Britain   

Reviews (5)

Best of Travelguides
My family used Frommer's Ireland 12th Ed. extensively before, during ,and after our trip to Ireland in July of 2002. The first two chapters Best of..., and Planning your Trip... were worth the purchase price alone. All of the Best of tips we followed were excellent choices. Frommer's Ireland, 12th ed.
My wife and I traveled around Ireland for two weeks this summer, and Frommer's Ireland was an amazingly helpful tool. Hurray for Frommer's!!
I planned a trip to Ireland for my Mother, 4 sisters and Myself.Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Ireland    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Ireland    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Europe / Ireland   

Reviews (30)

Come back to Pete's Pub, Mr. McCarthy
Loved the book. Truly a witty and lyric journey through Ireland (and an alcohol-fueled haze). It was especially nice to see my local, Pete's Pub in Boston, mentioned in the Prologue. Come visit us again sometime, Pete McCarthy. The fat barman wants his shirt back.
Hilarious and Informative
If you love wit that is both droll and fey, then you'll love this book. McCarthy has observed and then served up the Irish and many parts of Ireland very accurately. In the words of my Irish friend who gifted me with the book, "He actually got it and didn't make a caricature of it." He wanders through his various observations, settling upon many thoughts and subjects, which is a big part of the book's charm. But if you need a straight style and less complex sentence structures, then you may be one of the folks who won't provide a great review. I, however, couldn't recommend the book more.

A very dissappointing book
This book was recommended by a friend (not Irish) who thought it was hilarious. I found the book so lacking in humour and wit that I couldn't believe someone could enjoy such a read. National stereotypes are amusing but when they are not funny they come across as patronising, as did this book! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays & Travelogues    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign   

Reviews (5)

Scotland ~~ Eyewitness Travel Guides
As always, this Eyewitness guide provides lots of beautiful pictures and basic information. If you just want to preview the country before visiting it's great. If you are going on your own, I'd suggest a guide with more detailed information.

The best one book for planning a vacation to Scotland
The DK Eyewitness Guide to Scotland is a superb one book resource for planning a vacation in Scotland.DK's combination of pictures, maps, facts, and commentary allow the visitor to find not only the major tourist attractions but also the places and events off the beaten path that are often even more worthwhile.The Eyewitness guide includes a nice history of Scotland as well as practical information on travel, custons, money, safety, and climate, as well as tips on food and uniquely Scottish souvenirs. The cut-away sketches and diagrams of castles and historical sites increase the visitor's appreciation of the place.The guide provides some useful tips on places to hike.This reviewer and his wife found this guide, supplemented by local roadmaps, entirely adequate to plan and enjoy two weeks in the Scottish Highlands.This guide is highly recommended to the traveler planning a vacation in Scotland.
Excellent overview
Fantastic book if you are thinking of visiting Scotland but are not sure which parts of this beautiful country to visit. Maps and drawings are great; cutways of castles and homes very interesting; sections on history and culture excellent. The book divides Scotland into geographical regions, describing the climate and terrain of each, the highlights of the area, sites to see; even walking or touring maps to follow.Perfect for an overview of the country as a whole, and if you are planning to travel there, use this book to narrow down the parts of the country you want to visit and then get more specific information on them.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - Great Britain - General    2. Europe - Gt. Britain/Scotland    3. Guidebooks    4. Scotland    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Travel / Europe / Great Britain   

Subjects:  1. Europe - France    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. France    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Europe / France   

Reviews (6)

Pretty pictures, no details -- maybe good for riding a tour bus.
This book looks impressive, but when I tried to get down to details of actually traveling in Portugal, they just weren't there.
Everything You Need and More
I have just returned from a 10 day trip to Portugal during which this travel guide was a valuable companion.The layout of the book is easy to use and it is chocked full of extra information on wine regions, the making of port, cork and regional food.While I did not use the guide to select hotels, it was great for information at the various stops.Highly recommended!

Great Book!
I have to say, eyewitness travel books are definately the best travel books there are. They provide many pictures, and explain the history of places in portugal. This book gives a brief overview of everything, you do not have to read big lengthy travel books to find out about a place. The pictures are very helpful, and they allow get a glimpse of what you are going to see, if you deciede to go there. Although, if you want a very extensive travel book, I would suggest something other than this book, lonely planet has some good travel books. Overall, really good, and the sites in Portugal are absolutely beautiful! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Azores    2. Europe - Spain & Portugal    3. General    4. Guidebooks    5. Madeira Islands    6. Portugal    7. Travel    8. Travel - Foreign    9. Travel / Europe / Spain & Portugal   

Reviews (3)

Great resource for travelers
We used an Eyewitness guide for our trip to London years ago and found it the most helpful of all the guidebooks we had purchsed.The real photos and accurate information made our first trip to Europe go very smoothly.As we plan our second trip, we have not been disappointed by the Amsterdam Eyewitness guide.Again, the striking photographs, maps, and well-organized information makes planning a trip a breeze.Our kids enjoy seeing the places we will visit.

Best travel guide around
I've used some of the Eyewitness Travel Guides on a trip around Europe, they were so useful that when I came home I've bought some more. They are more than travel guides, they are also a souvenir. I totally recommend them. Great pictures, great 3D street maps with suggested routes, great explanations.

Loaded with information
I have used several different travel guides in the past, and the Eyewitness series is one of my favorites. They are colorful and loaded with images, but it's not just eye candy. The images shown are helpful to decide if an attraction interests me enough to actually visit it.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - Benelux Countries (BelgiumNetherlandsLuxembourg    2. Europe - Benelux Countries (BelgiumNetherlandsLuxembourg)    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel / Europe / Benelux Countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)   

Reviews (3)

Accurate and tough the Streetwise Map
The Streetwise Biblao was sure a helop to me as a tourist. Bilbao is a city in which few speak English (even at the hotels) and I found the map a godsend. It was to scale and accurate even as to the difficult Basque spelling of words. I had another map with me (It will go un-named) and it was a joke. I've come to rely on Streetwise over the years and have neve been disapointed except when they don't have a title for the city I'm visiting.

old
This map is generally useful and the plastic format is very convenient, but although this site says the map is c. 2001, the map I got was a 1996 version, and therefore missing some significant developments since then, e.g., the Raval Rambla.
This map is missing detail
In engineering we learn that when you optimize for one feature
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Subjects:  1. General    2. Reference / Maps    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Barcelona    5. Barcelona (Spain)    6. Maps    7. Maps, charts & atlases    8. Reference    9. Spain    10. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Reviews (2)

A great guide with only one flaw.
My buddy and I just got back from our trip to the U.K. We used this book almost exclusively and it was a huge help in planning our time. The only flaw is that there is very little info on the eastern portion of the big Island from lower Scotland to Cambridge.
Very helpful!
Unfortunately, the only well-worn portion of my book is the 'London' section, but the rest will eventually get used!This book was such a great help to me in not only finding a moderately priced hotel (prices...yikes!) but in getting to all the places I wanted to see.The color maps of London and the Tube system up front are easily accessible!If I needed a quick look at a map, they were right up front so I didn't have to dig through the book and stand out as a tourist.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - Great Britain - General    2. General    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel Guides    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Europe / Great Britain    8. United Kingdom, Great Britain   

Editorial Review

Let's face it. Finding the best of the fabled cuisine in Paris can be difficult for us Americans. We're thrown off by the language, the numerous terms for eateries, and the French themselves, who love to pretend they don't speak English.Read more

Reviews (22)

Not just a restaurant guide
Yes, some of the restaurant reviews are out of date, but this is so much more than just a restaurant guide.It also gives details about markets, boulangeries, pattiseries and other treats and traiteurs.Gold dust.
A Truly Marvelous Guide
Just came back from 8 days in Paris and I had studied and marked on a map Wells' recommended cafes, boulangeries, patisseries, fromageries and specialty food stores. Note that I wasn't so much interested in restaurants but I've NEVER known Patricia Wells to be wrong so I can't imagine her recomendations wouldn't be excellent. Although it would be great if her book were updated again since it hasn't been in 5 years I found most of the places still there and loaded with thoroughly delicious treats. Her website patriciawells.com has updates for restaurants for those interested. The French really do food right and the baguettes, cheese, wine and pastries were exquisite. Each place has certain items that are especially delightful. Gosselin really does have a superb baguette, Calixte has croissants and pain au chocolat that are really magnificent, Malineau has fruit tarts which are exquiisite, Martin has wonderful baguette sandwiches to take with you and munch on and Kayser has many wonderful delights. Go to Paris and you will come to know what Bon Appetit can really mean.

Desperately needs an update
I brought this book to Paris on a recent week-long trip, and had very mixed feelings about the reviews.About half of the recommended establishments were closed, moved, or under new names/management.If you use this book, calling ahead to verify that the restaurant exists is a must!The copyright date on this book is 1999, and many of the reviews must have been written or checked earlier than that.The reviews quote all prices in francs, which constantly reminds you of the age of the reviews, and the age of the quoted prices.
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Subjects:  1. Cookery, French    2. Cooking    3. Europe - France    4. France    5. Grocery trade    6. Guidebooks    7. Paris    8. Regional & Ethnic - French    9. Restaurants    10. Travel - Foreign    11. Restaurant & pub guides    12. Travel / Restaurants    13. Cooking, Food & Wine   

Reviews (3)

Lovely reflection of Spain
Published in 1968, 'Iberia' is James Michener's tribute to Spain, drawn from his travels there beginning in the 1930s through the late 60s.Not only does he describe the different regions of Spain, but as he does in his novels, he delves into Spain's culture, politics and history and even its ecology (there is a beautiful chapter written about Las Marismas, a large swampland in the south).This is a wonderfully written and fascinating book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about or travel to Spain.

Spain and family
In the summer of 1976 I read this book shortly after Franco died and before I arrived for a years's study in Madrid. I found it a terrific read. I arrived in Spain with more knowledge than most of my American friends.
Iberia prepared me for a memorable visit to Spain
I read (and looked at) Iberia while preparing tovisit Spain in 1969. I had already read Hawaii andCaravans by Michener, which are 2 great stories,but this photo essay about Spain astounded me. Although Ithought I was prepared, I knew how tospeak Spanish, I had lived in Perufor about 3years, I had seen bullfights, I knew aboutgeography, etc,Michener's short but in depthreflections about places in Spain made mehungryfor a trip there, to try to experience some ofwhat he wroteabout.The photos are an integralpart of this book, I can't remember thename ofthe photographer.Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Civilization    3. Description and travel    4. Europe - Spain & Portugal    5. Spain    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Travel / General   

Reviews (5)

The Italian Way
Secured Packaging.Prompt.I would do business with them again.

Interesting read for those that want to understand Italian culture
In the introduction the authors tell us that the purpose of the book is to provide snapshots of daily life.If you have ever been to Italy you know that they have a different notion of what it means to live.Every visit that I have every made to Italy there has been a general strike that has taken place.The first time I visited Italy this fact mystified me.Now, I just know that this is what happens and I don't let it bother me.
You can live without it, but...
This is NOT a must read for the traveler to Italy. If you have disposable income and are planning a trip to Italy and have a few concerns about culture, buy it. My experience was that it didn't make a difference to my experience of Rome and Florence, but it certainly helped me feel more comfortable that I wouldn't offend anyone.
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Subjects:  1. 1945-    2. Europe - Italy    3. Italy    4. Social life and customs    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Customs    8. Reference works    9. TRAVEL & HOLIDAY    10. Travel / Europe / Italy   

Reviews (7)

Bundle with Party Europe
This guide rocks. If you really want to have the best time of your life, buy a copy of Party Europe as well. Let's Go tells you where to stay and eat, Party Europe will tell you how to have fun. Great combination. Can't wait to head back to the old country.

Too tight of a squeeze for all of Europe
I lived in the UK for a year and did quite a bit of traveling through Europe and will do nothing but rave about the Let's Go series, however the Let's Go Europe is not what I would recommend.
Just take what you need
The maps in the book are ok for planning a little but pick up a mapfrom the tourist office when you get in to you next city to actualy find your way around.The book is cheap enough that i didn't care what i did to it so i just cut out the cities i was visiting and brought the pages instead of the book.Good for lightening the load.The info was mostly accurate but some prices were out of date.Especialy transit and shuttle prices in a few places, but never more than a little change.I still think i prefer my lonely planet books. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Europe    5. Sport, Travel and Leisure Interests    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Europe / General   

Editorial Review

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive, engrossing, and just plain fun-to-read guidebook than the Read more

Reviews (21)

Pretty but One-sided
This is a very good-looking book and has good information. However, it is only recommended to those who only wish to see picturesque villages, Buckingham Palace and the like. It contains almost no information on anything modern or even slightly off-the-beaten-track and many major sights are completely ignored.

Great Britain( Eyewitness Travel Guide)
I love this book, and would recommend it to anyone!

Eyewitness travel guides are great
I loved this comprehensive guide.The pictures and information are well presented. When planning a trip I first buy an Eyewitness guide.Its easy to understand and covers the history, food and other interesting areas.A great buy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Great Britain - General    2. Great Britain    3. Guidebooks    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. Travel / Europe / Great Britain   

Editorial Review

The title of