Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

Rating:
Summary: Colourful Digest Of Places To See In Europe
Review: I bought this book to help me plan my trip to Europe and it was so useful, it was the only book I packed to take on my trip. The book covers mainly Western Europe along with Poland, Czech Republic, Hungry, and Greece. The former Soviet Union, former Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia are not covered and neither are the islands of Iceland, Malta, and Cyprus. Similarly, of the "tiny" countries, only Monaco and the Vatican are mentioned; Liechtenstein, Andorra, and San Marino are not.

The book describes what is available to see in Europe. For each country, about six to twenty cities/regions are discussed and for major cities (e.g. London, Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, etc.) there is more detailed coverage, such as six to twenty sights within that city along with a city map. Usually, each attraction gets about a four-paragraph write-up plus a photograph. A few major attractions (e.g. Louvre, British Museum, St. Peter's Cathedral, etc.) are devoted two to four pages plus a larger diagram. Also, each country usually has another dozen or so pages covering its history and culture as well as a discussion about practical information such as climate, banking, methods of travel, shopping, etc.

The book doesn't teach you everything you need to know about Europe (e.g. nothing about foreign languages), or will want to know (e.g. hotels, restaurants, and food have modest coverage). Nor does it include everything you'll do - only places, not events, are written about (e.g. Oktoberfest only warrants a photo). But the book does an excellent job at detailing what popular, famous, interesting, or important places there are in Europe. The pictures and illustrations make the book come to life. The maps help you judge the relative positions of sights within a particular city. The descriptions are usually detailed enough so you can determine how interesting you'll find a particular place. Some people might criticize the book because it doesn't judge how "good" each sight is. However, I find this nice because everyone has different tastes and I like to have the opportunity form my own opinions.

If you want to know what is available to see in Europe then this is the book for you.