Reviews (1)

Whet your Appetite!!!
I read this book cover to cover before my first trip to Costa Rica and had highlighted a number of places I intended to visit.This book was EXTREMELY helpful in giving an accurate description of geographic regions, landmarks, customs, and general travel information.It made my trip much easier knowing what to expect.In addition, after returning, it was fun to compare the photos in the book to the ones I had taken.The beautiful photos in the book were not just "travel" photos to entice you to visit, but accurate photos of how beautiful and incredible Costa Rica is! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Central America    2. General    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel - General    6. Travel Guides    7. Costa Rica    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / General   

Reviews (8)

Excellent Introduction for the Serious Traveler
I found this book invaluable on my recent trip to China. It is not a typical tourist book, however, it provides a treasure of genuinely valuable background information for the serious traveler.

Nat Geographic Traveler China
Excellent book for general knowedge on planning a trip. worththe $.

China book limited
The photos and color are beautiful, as you would expect from National Geographic, but the actual guides to major sightseeing areas are fairly poor. They are somewhat "snobby" with too much criticism of places "for tourists." The book is actually hard to handle since, I assume for the sake of the photos, the paper is very heavy and glassy, certainly nothing you could actually bring with you on your trip to China. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. China    3. Description and travel    4. Museums, Tours, Points of Interest    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / General   

Reviews (1)

The best of both worlds!
I have gathered several books on travel to Egypt, Lonely planets, Passport, Travelers Key, DK eyewitness(second fave) and this one I would rate the best.Its got tons of great pictures, some of which I haven't seen in other books, plus its very full on information.Usually with such books its either tons of info and few pictures or vice versa.This one balances both well.It also has some nice maps and diagrams (tomb layouts, pyramid chambers)a section rating hotels and restaurants, a small section on usefull arabic terms, and a book and movie guide with egyptian themes. Read more

Subjects:  1. Middle East - Egypt    2. Museums, Tours, Points of Interest    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Egypt    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / General   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Travel    3. Travel - General    4. Travel - United States    5. Travel Guides - U.S.    6. United States - Mid Atlantic - New York    7. New York    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / General   

Reviews (1)

Fine guide
This is my first national Geographic travel guide, from an interesting author. He once biked 10,000 miles around Australia, getting into remote areas where he was all alone, 100 miles from the nearest habitation just on his bicycle. As he went, his travel commentaries were published in the Australian papers, and the story was even picked up by the international newspapers at the time, making him something of an international celebrity as a travel writer. He now lives in Victoria and freelances for various Australian magazines and publications. It's more topically oriented the say, the DK guide, with perhaps fewer subjects covered but with more coverage per article. This is just my subjective impression but I offer it for what it's worth. The DK guide's look busier per page and this one is less.
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Subjects:  1. Australia & Oceania - Australia    2. Australia & Oceania - General    3. Museums, Tours, Points of Interest    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. Australia    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / General   

Subjects:  1. Asia - Southeast    2. General    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel - General    6. Travel Guides    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / General   

Subjects:  1. Guidebooks    2. Los Angeles (Calif.)    3. Museums, Tours, Points of Interest    4. Travel    5. Travel - United States    6. United States - Pacific - Los Angeles    7. United States - West - Pacific (General)    8. California    9. Travel & holiday guides    10. Travel / General   

Subjects:  1. Travel    2. Travel - United States    3. Travel Guides - U.S.    4. United States - Pacific - Alaska    5. United States - West - Pacific (General)    6. Alaska    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / United States / West / Pacific (AK, CA, HI, NV, OR, WA)   

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. General    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel - General    6. Travel Guides    7. Hong Kong    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / General   

Reviews (4)

Excellent before trip book
Lots of strong colour photographs, very good artwork/floor plans of sites, excellent descriptions of the sites that take their time and really describe the place, it's feel and art.You could carry this with you in the streets as you went from place to place, or use it in your hotel room to review where you are going or what you have seen, or a good book to read while sitting at a cafe in Rome taking a break from sightseeing.
Extremely Helpful ~ Great Buy
I am very picky with my travel guides and I think this was the best purchase I ever made. I expected the beautiful pictures; however, the content was also amazing. I personally prefer more than a 4 line blurb about an attraction and in this book, I found there were amazing detailed descriptions for each place I visited to identify the history, important characteristics and must see items. The maps were very helpful while navigating each district and the recommendations were well suited.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC travel book very similar to travel shows
your typical travel guidebook (a little on the heavy side) with the most detail oriented information at your disposal.good for the plane ride over to italy, it's full of information about everything you wanted to know about rome, starting with history and culture.the guidebook is not very practical for pulling out of your sack especially if your burdened with cameras and other heavy travel items.the book is very very very informative and true to national geographic, chock full of beautiful pictures!this guidebook offers a series of walking tours with national geographic as your guide; extremely useful if you have the time to walk and read as you go!while travelling i found it a little difficult to find the maps when i needed them (during those vacation rush periods).this book is useful for reference; with every point of interest explained thoroughly. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Guidebooks    3. Middle East - General    4. Rome (Italy)    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. American English    8. Italy    9. Travel & holiday guides    10. Travel / General    11. c 1990 to c 2000   

Reviews (1)

A beautiful book
This book has wonderful pictures, which is why I bought it.It doesn't have a lot of practical information about hotels and such, but it will give you ideas about what you'd enjoy seeing, then you can go to the Rough Guide or something for the nuts and bolts. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Greece    2. Greece    3. Guidebooks    4. Museums, Tours, Points of Interest    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / General   

Reviews (1)

Great Series
I have a few of these National Geographic Traveler books.This is a great series of books.This one on Florence and Tuscany is my favorite.The images and thick glossy paper make these books really stand out.After reading the one on Florence I was hard pressed to actually go there because I felt like I saw everything there is to see from the pictures in the book.The maps are great and make getting around the cities easy.I have been through Tuscany a lot in the past year and this is the only guide book I've used. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Florence (Italy)    3. Guidebooks    4. Museums, Tours, Points of Interest    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Tuscany (Italy)    8. Italy    9. Travel & holiday guides    10. Travel / General   

Subjects:  1. Asia - Southeast    2. General    3. Travel    4. Travel - General    5. Travel Guides    6. South East Asia    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / General   

Reviews (3)

GREAT book!
This book is a wonderful companion to any trip to Italy. The pictures are beautiful (what I would expect of National Geographic) and the information within the book is full of history. We went with a tour group and from reading the book, we were a step ahead on the guides information many times. It also suggests not only the major tourist sites to visit, but also out of the way sites that you might not hear about otherwise. I did give this book four stars because, like another reviewer said, it doesn't give too much information on accomodations and where to eat. Other books may be better for that. Great Preparation Guide, not a getting around guide
What we love about the national geo series is that they entice you into getting ready for your trip.the photos, proposed walks and drives - these get a 5 out of 5.However, they are not good for finding a reasonably priced place to stay, eat, shop and in general finding your way around.For this I recommend a good road map and the Lonely Planet guide.We did 14 days Italy driving from Rome through Tuscany to Florence and the Nat'l Geo guide was essential for planning the trip.

The Best Italy Travel Guide Ever
I just returned from a two-week trip to Italy with my family.My sisters and I had bought every guide to Italy possible - except this one.My father brought this National Geographics' version of a travel guide to Italy with him - and it was the one guide that we all fought over.The color pictures in this guidebook were amazing.Not only did it list everything interesting to see in a variety of different towns in Italy - it described the history and myth behind everything that you were seeing (and this is what is missing from most tour books in my opinion).The book even included interesting side sections, such as one on the old fashioned "Grand Tour of Europe".It was a pleasure to read about places that we never even made it to on our trip.This is a wonderful book to use during travel in Italy - or even as an interesting coffee table book.(The paperback version is light to carry and fits in a large pocketbook).Now that we have returned home and that the well used book is back in my father's possession, I am thinking of buying my own version just for memories (the pictures in the book I know will be better than the ones I took myself.) P.S.The book also includes a practical section that lists great hotels and restaurants. ... Read more

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

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Places & peoples: general interest    6. Sicily    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / General   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. General    3. Guidebooks    4. Italy, Northern    5. Piedmont (Italy)    6. Travel    7. Travel - Foreign    8. Travel Guides    9. Italy    10. Travel & holiday guides    11. Travel / General   

Reviews (6)

Just information not a good guide book.
Gives you good info about Costa Rica for reading before you go but not a good guide book for what to do while there.Frommer's is better for that.The NG book offers more information on actual country not vacation.

Beautiful photos, good essays, and average maps
We recently spent 8 days in Costa Rica and used this guide. I will start the review with comments on the layout of the guide. Then I will give specifics regarding the content of the guide and our experiences. Then I will identify a few of the weaknesses of the guide. I will end the review with a general comment on travel in Costa Rica.
Caters to more intellectual travelers
This book is much better at diving into the details and characteristics of the places and events than many of the other travel guides I considered. I wouldn't use this book if you're looking for a specific place to stay or cheap eats, but rather the historical context or anectdotal information that makes traveling more insightful. Don't get me wrong; there are plenty of lists, walking routes, maps and key data that will make travel easier. But National Geographic prides itself in making the leisurely travel experience much more encompassing to your senses. The photographs are incredible, and the text is in-depth. I would make this book (and the entire Series for that matter) a supplement that rounds out your vacation, alongside your "best restaurants and hotels" guide that will help find the basics. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Central America    2. Costa Rica    3. Description and travel    4. Guidebooks    5. Museums, Tours, Points of Interest    6. South America    7. Travel    8. Travel - Foreign    9. Travel & holiday guides    10. Travel / General   

Reviews (2)

J. Holbrook
This book had excellent pictures and background information.For a resource to read before you go it is informative and helpful but as a resource on the ground it lacks some details.I did find the resources in the very back helpful.I used the book to plan the generals of my trip but relied on tour gides and local friends for the details.I liked this book, it was helpful and I'm glad I bought it but I don't recommend it to be your only resource on Taiwan.

Nice pictures, but not so useful
This guide is full of pretty pictures and nice background text, but practically useless on the ground.For all the information that this book contains you will have a hard time getting where you want to go.Unless your destination is on the MRT (subway) or Taipei City buses, there are no directions.The maps are so general that only major highways are included.Forget trying to navigate street level.Worst of all, many of the destinations are named in English and the Romanized Chinese, but there aren?t any characters for you to point at when conversing locals.Taiwanese taxi drivers are great, but that won't help if you can't tell them where to go! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Asia - Far East    3. General    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel / Asia / Far East   

Reviews (1)

Smart
This guide is beautiful and very thorough, including information on even small towns and good subway maps for Barcelona and Madrid.It is also thorough in noting all the attractions each place has to offer, providing historical information as well as contact information, subway stop, operation hours, and free days!Most museums in Spain are closed at least one day a week, and we used this everywhere we went.It discusses major museums, churches, and mosques and points out important artists, carvings, or architechtural peculiarities in each.Another great feature is suggested walking routes in interesting neighborhoods in major cities - Spain has plenty of small streets, and we would've definitely missed some amazing places if not for this guide.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - Spain & Portugal    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Spain    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / General   

Reviews (3)

SADLY LACKING
After using the very thorough NG traveler guides for Boston and New York, I found this one to be a disappointment.Many of the attractions in Hawaii are overrated and not as large in scale as the prospective tourist is lead to believe.It was also disappointing to find megabuck admission fees at locations where there was no warning in the book.Of course everywhere you turn around in Hawaii, someone wants to relieve you of your money.There also appears to be a huge auto theft and theft from auto problem in Hawaii.Everywhere you turn you are warned not to leave valuables in your car.National Geographic has and should do better than this guide.

There are far better guides
I bought this guidebook and some others.What this has is great pictures, and some highlights.If all you need is something to start your planning, this is good.But if you want a guidebook that recommends lots of hotels, restaurants, and other outings, look elsewhere as well.

Ready to go to Hawaii!
This book is GREAT!!!The color pictures are fantastic and are something that everyone can enjoy. This book also has detailed information about the history of Hawaii. Your travel agent probably could not give you this much info. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Guidebooks    2. Hawaii    3. Museums, Tours, Points of Interest    4. Travel    5. Travel - United States    6. United States - General    7. United States - Pacific - Hawaii    8. United States - West - Pacific (General)    9. Travel & holiday guides    10. Travel / General