Rating: 
Summary: As Someone Who Lives in Germany
Review: Before I moved to Germany from the States I received this book from a friend of my mother's who had spent a few years attending university in Spain and said that Rick Steve's books were what everyone at the university used. Since moving to Germany this book has been great. I carry it around with me whenever we travel because it has so much valuable information.
Some of the other reviews have been extremely negative, but as someone who uses the book on a regular basis and actually lives in the country, I know that this book is great. It is less expensive than others and it gives great suggestions for places to stay. He does spend more time with Berlin and Munich, but considering these are two of the largest cities that have long histories, it only makes sense. The hotel suggestions are great, the last time we were in Berlin we opted to choose our own place that was less expensive. It was neat with all the Bears around (it was called the Bearliner), but it smelled. So, if you plan on travelling to Germany I really suggest getting this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much information was not enough
Review: I am generally a fan of the Rick Steves series and just wrote a glowing review of the Paris 2004 guidebook. But this particular entry is simply too much crammed into too small of a space. Germany deserves its own guidebook, and in fact, there are cities in Germany that probably deserve their own guidebook. By lumping all of Germany, Austria and Switzerland together, Steves fails to go into the kind of great detail about any one destination that makes the Paris 2004 book such a winner.
In usual Rick Steves form, this book attempts to answer the questions that you probably wouldn't think to ask before being on the ground in an unfamiliar land, e.g. how to buy train tickets, what the street signs mean, wie sagt man "ATM Machine" auf Deutsch, etc. And it is for this reason that I recommend these books, especially to first-time travellers who are going without a seasoned veteran to guide them.
I ended up travelling around Germany and Austria without using this book much. I bought an ADAC map of the Autobahn and drove around, taking in the various little Alpen towns and having a great time. But when I made it to Salzburg at the end of my trip, Rick Steves once again proved to be a helpful guide and I used his walking tours to navigate the city, and although I ignored his advice about the quality of different sights, I had a blast and I think the helpful tips and navigation aids in this book can get most of the credit for that.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely basic, almost insulting
Review: I bought this book because I had seen (and suffered through) Steves' amateurish and infantile videos on visiting Germany. I was curious to see if his books were as bad as his videos. The verdict: they are equally as bad. The problem is, Steves isn't an innate or talented traveler, though he apparently has performed a miracle and makes money fooling others that he *is* a great traveler. The Arthur Frommer Guides are much better than these Steves offerings.Problems abound. Steves concentrates most of his time on two cities: Berlin and Munich. He hasn't a clue on how to locate a low-cost Pension and opts for dingy tents on the outskirts of town. His suggestions on eating are obtuse. Snacking in Germany is a cinch: go to a bakery in the morning, buy your rolls, cheese and coffee and be on your way. His suggestions of hanging around railway stations and saving a few pennies are insulting and poorly rendered. Similarly wretched is his advice on getting about the country. Forget the railway, you can rent an econo car for about $150 a week. Yes, gas is expensive, but driving is the only way to see these three beautiful countries. Another weakness is Steves' summation of Austria, which basically consists of 10 pages divided between Vienna and Salzburg. If that's all there is to see in Austria, then we're all in trouble. Truly, this is a terrible book written in plodding, patronizing style, guaranteed to set your nerves a-jangle.
Rating:
Summary: Travel guide for the intellectually challenged
Review: I bought this book before going to Austria and Switzerland and was shocked by how primitive and incomplete it was. On Geneva, he offers 2 lines - 'The most boring city, not worth a visit.' Hello? Guidebook? Same deal on Zurich. The author packs certain sophomoric smugness, a know-it-all frat brother who tells you how to sneak for free into the second half of a show, that sort of clever little corner-cutting. If you have any serious curiosity about a country and want to get a bit off his beer-drinking trail, his book becomes useless. I bought it here, returned it for a refund (thanks, amazon!) and bought a very smart Lonely Planet guide in Vienna for twice the price of this website. Get the Lonely Planet and get it here!
Rating:
Summary: What's good is very good. What's bad...oy.
Review: I'm both attracted and annoyed by Rick Steves' travel guides. I'm giving this book a 3, not because it's generally okay, but because it's an average of 1 and 5. Steves does some things really well. His maps are really good, for instance. Rather than try to show every street (you'll have an ordinary map for that), he makes it easy to find the places you probably care about (or the ones he thinks you should care about); the museums, train station, etc. are easy to find -- like the map you'd scribble on a cocktail napkin for a friend. Plus, he's reassuring about distances from one place to another (a ten-minute walk to the museum from the train station, etc.). He also does a good-to-excellent job at, hmm, how shall I put this -- describing the experience of a place. I haven't been to Munich, yet, and his is the only guide that tells me that the biergarten tables with no tablecloths are reserved for customers who are drinking only (no food, in other words). And to look for a vomitorium in the bathrooms (!). When I'm traveling, I'm tripped up by the "ordinary" things I didn't know -- so this sort of information is reassuring. (Why do none of the guide books tell you that "Ausfart" is the word for "car exit" on the autobahn? As a friend of ours said, "The first time I saw all those Ausfart signs, I thought, 'Wow, this is a really big city!'" Ausgang, by the way, is the word for *people*-exit, a helpful item to know when you're in an underground parking garage, looking for the way out.) Also, Steves is better at orientation than most. I think his is the only book that says you can get tickets ahead of time for the big Bavarian castles, so you don't spend time waiting in line. That sort of stuff is incredibly useful. On the other hand... his priorities and taste do not coincide with mine. As another reviewer pointed out, Steves gives you the itinerary *he* thinks you should follow, and ignores or disparages other destinations. Maybe he thinks that Triberg is a tourist trap, but I spent 3 days in the area (in Hornberg, a few miles north) and I thought it was both a lovely town and a great base of operations for Black Forest exploration. What finally turned me off was realizing how differently he travels than we do. (There. That doesn't seem so negative.) Steves gives a one-day itinerary through the Black Forest, starting in Frieburg and ending in Baden-Baden. To accomplish that, he has you zoom through the Clock Musuem in an hour (we spent two, though maybe it could have been less), and 1.5 hours at the Volksbaurnhof in Gutach. That's way too little time; we spent 3 or 4 hours there on two trips (obviously, we liked the place). Yes, in an hour and a half you can walk around this open-air museum, but you won't have time to watch one of the demonstrations, or read more than a few expanatory signs. If I followed his itinerary, I'd be skimming the surface of every destination rather than experiencing the place. I own several guidebooks to Germany. It's probably worth looking through this one, especially if you happen to be planning to visit the sights he says are worthwhile. But it's far from a complete guide to the country, and you're stuck relying on HIS opinions -- which may or may not agree with yours. I'm glad I read through this book, but it's sure not being stuffed into my backpack.
Rating:
Summary: You're going to LOVE GERMANY!
Review: I've been to Germany several times.....Frankfurt, Koln, the Mosel and Rhine wine tours, etc. Here are my reviews of the best guides to meet your exact needs.....I hope these are helpful and that you have a great visit! I always gauge the quality of my visit by how much I remember a year later......this review is designed to help you get the guide that will be sure YOU remember your trip many years into the future. Travel Safe and enjoy yourself to the max!
Rick Steves' books are not recommended. They may be an interesting read but their helpfulness is very poor. They don't do well on updates, transportation details, or anything but the first-time-tourist routine and even that is somewhat superficial on anything but the mega-major sites.
Frommer's
These are time tested guides that pride themselves on being updated annually. Although I think the guides below provide information that is in more depth or more concise (depending on what the guide is known for), if your main concern is that the guide has very little old or outdated information, then this would be a good guide for you.
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet has City and Out To Eat Guides. They are all about the experience so they focus on doing, being, getting there, and this means they have the best detailed information, including both inexpensive and really spectacular restaurants and hotels, out-of-the-way places, weird things to see and do, the list is endless.
Blue Guides
Without doubt, the best of the walks guides.... the Blue Guide has been around since 1918 and has extremely well designed walks with lots of unique little side stops to hit on just about any interest you have. If you want to pick up the feel of the city, this is the best book to do that for you. This is one that you end up packing on your 10th trip, by which time it is well worn.
MapGuide
MapGuide is very easy to use and has the best location information for hotels, tourist attractions, museums, churches etc. that they manage to keep fairly up to date. It's great for teaching you how to use the public transportation system. The text sections are quick overviews, not reviews, but the strong suite here is brevity, not depth. I strongly recommend this for your first few times learning your way around the classic tourist sites and experiences. MapGuide is excellent as long as you are staying pretty much in the center of the city.
Time Out
The Time Out guides are very good. Easy reading, short reviews of restaurants, hotels, and other sites, with good public transport maps that go beyond the city centre. Many people who buy more than one guidebook end up liking this one best!
Let's Go
Let's Go is a great guide series that specializes in the niche interest details that turn a trip into a great and memorable experience. Started by and for college students, these guides are famous for the details provided by people who used the book the previous year. They continue to focus on providing a great experience inexpensively. If you want to know about the top restaurants, this is not for you (use Fodor's or Michelin). Let's Go does have a bewildering array of different guides though. Here's which is what:
Budget Guide is the main guide with incredibly detailed information and reviews on everything you can think of.
City Guide is just as intense but restricted to the single city.
PocketGuide is even smaller and features condensed information
MapGuide's are very good maps with public transportation and some other information (like museum hours, etc.)
Michelin
Famous for their quality reviews, the Red Michelin Guides are for hotels & Restaurants, the Green Michelin Guides are for main tourist destinations. However, the English language Green guide is the one most people use and it has now been supplemented with hotel and restaurant information. These are the serious review guides as the famous Michelin ratings are issued via these books.
Fodor's
Fodor's is the best selling guide among Americans. They have a bewildering array of different guides. Here's which is what:
The Gold Guide is the main book with good reviews of everything and lots of tours, walks, and just about everything else you could think of. It's not called the Gold guide for nothing though....it assumes you have money and are willing to spend it.
SeeIt! is a concise guide that extracts the most popular items from the Gold Guide
PocketGuide is designed for a quick first visit
UpCLOSE for independent travel that is cheap and well thought out
CityPack is a plastic pocket map with some guide information
Exploring is for cultural interests, lots of photos and designed to supplement the Gold guide
Rating:
Summary: Steves abandons the east
Review: It's clear that Steves does not want to put out exhaustive, encyclopaedic guidebooks. They wouldn't be Rick Steves' guides if they were. But, this book is completely west-centric. Berlin seems still divided in Rick Steves' chapter on the capital, given that he hardly covers the east. I question some of the tacky sites he recommends within western Berlin: were they pulled out of a guidebook from the Cold War era? Information on other cities and sites in the former east is practically non-existent. Maybe Steves wants to keep his information about the friendlier, more affordable regions of Germany to himself.
Rating:
Summary: Great Guide
Review: My husband and I used this book to plan our honeymoon and found it to be phenomenal. Steves does a great job of rating what you should see with the time you have. So it was great for planning our scant two weeks. He very candidly describes different places and explains what he likes about them or why he rates them low. This is helpful in deciding what you absolutly have to do since time is limited. Steves also has wonderful tips for drivers, where parking is located for example, and for accomodations. We loved all of our hotels and they were all well located and reasonably priced. This tour guide has two drawbacks. One are the crude maps. They are fine for getting a general lay out, but buying detailed maps is a must, especially for drivers. It also has no pictures. Since I'm a visual person I also bought the DK Guide to Germany. It lists EVERYTHING and has a picture of EVERYTHING. So, once I used Steves to decide what to do and where to stay I would find out what it looked like elswhere. We are planning a trip to England for next year, I'm certainly not going without his guide.
Rating:
Summary: DON'T GO WITHOUT THIS GREAT GUIDE
Review: My teen-aged daughter and I used this book extensively on our recent trip to Germany and Austria. (My sixth visit to Germany.) No one has the time to poke around in every corner of a country during a vacation and Rick helps minimize wasted days by offering great tips and suggestions. His sightseeing recommendations all proved to be 'right-on', and we never regretted staying in one of his recommended lodgings, or following his suggestions for meals. We appreciated Rick's recommendations for rooms in Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, Salzburg and Hallstatt. The hotels were centrally located, clean, quiet, offered great breakfasts, and were staffed by friendly and helpful personnel. All at attractive prices. I have five guidebooks for each country that I used during planning, took my favorite two about each country to Europe with us, but it was Rick's book that we carried as we left the hotel each morning.
Rating:
Summary: Needs new title - "The Incomplete Guide to Germany"
Review: The book excludes Hamburg, Germany's second largest city. Big, big deficiency. Otherwise, this book is well written and easy to read. Very informative. I suggest this book as an alternate. Pick up this and another Germany guide or indivdual city guides.
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