Rating: 
Summary: Great Book for DIY travellers
Review: I ended up buying three of Steve's books. The first time I used one, the book just paid off by itself. That says a lot since his books are not [inexpensive] and even do not come with any pics.It skipped many famous but over-rated sites or cities. If you are a person who wants to see 'everything' but do not care about how much quality time you would spend in places, join a tourist group, this book is surely not for you. But if you are a novice but want to experience real local cultures and travel like a pro while not spending too much money , Steve's books are very difficult to beat.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book for DIY travellers
Review: I ended up buying three of Steve's books. The first time I used one, the book just paid off by itself. That says a lot since his books are not [inexpensive] and even do not come with any pics. It skipped many famous but over-rated sites or cities. If you are a person who wants to see 'everything' but do not care about how much quality time you would spend in places, join a tourist group, this book is surely not for you. But if you are a novice but want to experience real local cultures and travel like a pro while not spending too much money , Steve's books are very difficult to beat.
Rating:
Summary: Great family trip planner
Review: I have dozens of guide and travel books and found this one of the most useful. I used Rick's GASP book to plan a trip that included children under 12 and a grandma in a wheel chair. With the information in this book I was able to contact the hotels by email and fax and save expense and time in reservations. (Although there is no specific help in finding handicapped-friendly hotels the centrality and convenience of the location was as important as any other detail) The cities/towns he recommends were all great and we liked each one better than the last. We used the train and found his tips on train travel extrememly useful. If you drive a car you need to invest in a good Michelin map no matter which guide book you use.
Since you can't see it all in a few weeks it is great when you can see some of the best and not spend a fortune. The audience for this book is people who want to feel part of the town when they visit and not stay in overpriced luxury hotels.
Rating: 
Summary: Austria
Review: I was looking for a book on Austria and this was recommended. It only had a few sections on Austria and did not give me the detailed information that I needed. There was a tremendous amount of information on Germany, which is fine, if you are traveling there. The book should read Germany, little bit of Austria and Switzerland...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Travel Guide
Review: If your doing these countries without touring agencies then this book is the best guide I have seen in a very long time. All the details of travel are contained within and Mr. Steves leaves nothing to chance in his in depth explaintations of your travel. We particularly enjoyed the insights of the different modes of transportation along with little tidbits of info on important yet not often thought of subjects such as how to get around once in country and advise on the different sites to see once arriving. We particularly liked his explaination of how to get to Murren, Switz and would use this as a good standard of which to judge the entire book. Thanks Rick for a very thorough and in depth guide to Germany, Switzerland and Austria of which we visited all three. You made our trip very enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Travel Guide
Review: If your doing these countries without touring agencies then this book is the best guide I have seen in a very long time. All the details of travel are contained within and Mr. Steves leaves nothing to chance in his in depth explaintations of your travel. We particularly enjoyed the insights of the different modes of transportation along with little tidbits of info on important yet not often thought of subjects such as how to get around once in country and advise on the different sites to see once arriving. We particularly liked his explaination of how to get to Murren, Switz and would use this as a good standard of which to judge the entire book. Thanks Rick for a very thorough and in depth guide to Germany, Switzerland and Austria of which we visited all three. You made our trip very enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Great family trip planner
Review: Rick Steve's takes his own approach to travelling. I used his book last summer travelling Air Mobility Command (MAC) to Kaiserslautern, rented a car and visited Grainau near Garmisch-Partenkirche. I found that his book was generally good information, although his idea of a good hotel and mine (with my family w/2 older children in tow) were quite different. He treats Salzburg with a lot of useful information, backed up by the Salzburg Tourist Web Site. His warnings to book online for the Neuschwanstein + Hohenschwangau were great. Overall, the maps were not effective for actual travel, and train travel is too expensive for 4 people.
I recommend this book as a planner, but it is of not much practical use once you're there, unless you failed to research an area first. A more comprehensive book would be a better planner, but most of them cannot, and do not cover the areas of your interest well enough for use. Rick Steve's book was small and easy to carry, as opposed to the "encyclopedias" that are also sold. Remember- he travels light, and enjoys the cramped spartan quarters of European travel. Also- spend the money and be comfortable in Salzburg. The quaint, and rustic inns on the Italian-like alleys were small, next to bars and red-light houses, and managed by unsympathetic Hausfraus.
Rating: 
Summary: RICK STEVE'S GERMANY, AUSTRIA, SWITZERLAND
Review: Rick Steve's takes his own approach to travelling. I used his book last summer travelling Air Mobility Command (MAC) to Kaiserslautern, rented a car and visited Grainau near Garmisch-Partenkirche. I found that his book was generally good information, although his idea of a good hotel and mine (with my family w/2 older children in tow) were quite different. He treats Salzburg with a lot of useful information, backed up by the Salzburg Tourist Web Site. His warnings to book online for the Neuschwanstein + Hohenschwangau were great. Overall, the maps were not effective for actual travel, and train travel is too expensive for 4 people.
I recommend this book as a planner, but it is of not much practical use once you're there, unless you failed to research an area first. A more comprehensive book would be a better planner, but most of them cannot, and do not cover the areas of your interest well enough for use. Rick Steve's book was small and easy to carry, as opposed to the "encyclopedias" that are also sold. Remember- he travels light, and enjoys the cramped spartan quarters of European travel. Also- spend the money and be comfortable in Salzburg. The quaint, and rustic inns on the Italian-like alleys were small, next to bars and red-light houses, and managed by unsympathetic Hausfraus.
Rating:
Summary: Austria
Review: Rick Steves' travel guides have a cult following and for good reason. They are practical, opinionated, fun to read, and filled chock full of good economical advice on how to enjoy the essence of the place instead of spending your money on sterile luxury rooms and tourist trap extravaganzas. My wife and I lived in Germany for 3 and a half years and traveled extensively within Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and I'll have to say that this Rick Steves' guide tries to tackle too much. In including Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in one concise guide...sure it makes it easy to carry...but it also makes it easy to leave things out. I suppose if you only have two weeks to spend and a limited budget for these three countries this book would more than do justice to your trip planning...but you just might miss Baumburg's Rauchbier (beer that tastes like smoke bacon if you can imagine that), that cool antique store on the pass between Austria and Switzerland where you can buy a huge cow bell for little to nothing, and the wine store in Lucerne on the lake where you can buy the rarely exported Swiss vino. So maybe Rick Steves' discrimination is well and good especially in the case of liquid bacon beer but the rest of Baumburg is pretty phenomenal. If you are going to live in Germany get a more expansive and complete book on each country. It's not economical, but you have time to wait until the dollar is good against the Euro. If you are going there with a Euro rail pass just graduating from College, by all means my dear Wanderlust, don't leave without this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Ambitious in its Concisiveness
Review: Rick Steves' travel guides have a cult following and for good reason. They are practical, opinionated, fun to read, and filled chock full of good economical advice on how to enjoy the essence of the place instead of spending your money on sterile luxury rooms and tourist trap extravaganzas. My wife and I lived in Germany for 3 and a half years and traveled extensively within Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and I'll have to say that this Rick Steves' guide tries to tackle too much. In including Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in one concise guide...sure it makes it easy to carry...but it also makes it easy to leave things out. I suppose if you only have two weeks to spend and a limited budget for these three countries this book would more than do justice to your trip planning...but you just might miss Baumburg's Rauchbier (beer that tastes like smoke bacon if you can imagine that), that cool antique store on the pass between Austria and Switzerland where you can buy a huge cow bell for little to nothing, and the wine store in Lucerne on the lake where you can buy the rarely exported Swiss vino. So maybe Rick Steves' discrimination is well and good especially in the case of liquid bacon beer but the rest of Baumburg is pretty phenomenal. If you are going to live in Germany get a more expansive and complete book on each country. It's not economical, but you have time to wait until the dollar is good against the Euro. If you are going there with a Euro rail pass just graduating from College, by all means my dear Wanderlust, don't leave without this book.
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