Netherlands Books

Frommer's Europe (Frommer's Complete)

Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince, George McDonald, Sherry Marker

Amazon Price: $16.49 List Price: $24.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Frommers Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $13.76

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Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> Belgium -> Brussels
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Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> Germany -> Berlin

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

tells you everything for your trip to england 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have been considering taking a trip to london, so i bought this book for information on england and london included. it is a very through book and loaded with information on where to stay and things to see when there.

Most Comprehensive England Guide 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

It's probably too much to ask any one book to cover all of England in detail. But Frommer's has packed this 800-page monster with all the information they could in an attempt to do just that. Did they succeed? Mostly. For starters, they offer over 20 "Best of" lists that help you zero in on the finest the country has to offer in all sorts of categories ranging from museums to pubs and everything in between. Basic travel information is offered for those completely new to the country to help you start off on the right track. There's even a short offering to help you learn a bit about art and architecture so that you can better appreciate what you will see on your visit. And, of course, there are four suggested itineraries for complete trips. Finally, the remaining 700 pages detailed information on the various geographic areas of England.

Without diminishing the rest of the book, I found the "Best of" lists and the itineraries a great starting point because it helped me zoom in on the part of England that I would most want to visit. From there, I started worrying about the specifics of what I would do there and that's when the rest of the book started to come in handy. But I also purchased The Unofficial Guide to England (Unofficial Guides) and found that I often went back and forth between the two. For information on the Cotswolds, Lake District, and some other aspects of the trip, I found Frommer's to be the most helpful. At the same time, when it came to reviewing the sight-seeing attractions in London I preferred the content and format that the Unofficial Guide used. It's not that Frommer's didn't cover it at all, or that the coverage was poor. But comparing the two, I definitely found the Unofficial Guide easier to use for touring London. Leaving London aside, Frommer's has certainly put together the most comprehensive guide you will find on England. It has every city you could possibly be interested in as well covering the Lake District, the Cotswolds, and other rustic areas of interest to tourists.

In summary, I found the Frommer's Guide to be highly useful and I certainly recommend it to anyone planning a trip to England. I also believe that no one book will have everything when covering a place as diverse as England, so don't limit yourself to just one book.

Editorial Review:

America’s #1 bestselling travel series

Written by more than 175 outspoken travelers around the globe, Frommer’s Complete Guides help travelers experience places the way locals do.

• More annually updated guides than any other series
• 16-page color section and foldout map in all annual guides
• Outspoken opinions, exact prices, and suggested itineraries
• Dozens of detailed maps in an easy-to-read, two-color design

Rick Steves' Amsterdam, Bruges, and Brussels

Rick Steves, Gene Openshaw

Amazon Price: $12.89 List Price: $18.95 Not yet published By: Avalon Travel Publishing

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Packed with opinionated advice on visiting top sights, such as Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum, Bruges' 14th-century belfry, and La Grand Place in Brussels, this new edition offers a healthy dose of back door intimacy with visits to local markets, community theatres, and family-run chocolate shops. It provides a broad array of dining and lodging options, from cheery cafeterias and backpackers' dorms to trendy cafes and elegant B&Bs. It also recommends self-guided walking tours that mix the famous and not-so-famous and includes practicalities, such as when to go, planning your time, estimated costs, red tape and taxes, and banking hours. Rick Steves guide feature the most current information available in any European guidebook, based on research conducted during the summer before publication. He shows travellers how to delve into European culture, make friends with the locals, and experience each region's natural wonders-economically and hassle free. Inspiring yet practical, Rick Steves' guidebooks are perfect for anyone hoping to make the most of their limited holiday time.

A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople: From the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube (New York Review Books Classics)

Patrick Leigh Fermor, Jan Morris

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: NYRB Classics Amazon Marketplace: 64 new & used starting at $6.29

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Simply wonderful 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Patrick Leigh Fermor's work is a joy to read. I brought it with me this past summer when I was living/traveling in the former Yugoslavia and I have as many fond memories of reading that book on long bus rides as some of the places I experienced. I ended up giving it away to a friend I had met as a present and I miss it dearly now and plan on purchasing it again when I have the funds. His description of the beer hall in Munich is my favorite part.
Having read numerous works of Kaplan and Rebecca West, I feel that Fermor is the best in the league, at least with this series. Speaking of which, I read them out of order so it is not entirely necessary to read Time of Gifts first. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Fermor finishes the third book before he passes, though I cannot find any news of it. Does anyone know?

I highly recommend this work.

Editorial Review:

At the age of eighteen, Patrick Leigh Fermor set off from the heart of London on an epic journey—to walk to Constantinople. A Time of Gifts is the rich and sparkling account of his adventures as far as Hungary, after which Between the Woods and the Water continues the story to the Iron Gates that divide the Carpathian and Balkan mountains. Acclaimed for its sweep and intelligence, Leigh Fermor's book explores a remarkable moment in time. Hitler has just come to power but war is still ahead, as he walks through a Europe soon to be forever changed—through the Lowlands to Mitteleuropa, to Teutonic and Slav heartlands, through the baroque remains of the Holy Roman Empire, up the Rhine and down to the Danube.

At once a memoir of coming-of-age, an account of a journey, and a dazzling exposition of the English language, A Time of Gifts is also a portrait of a continent already showing ominous signs of the holocaust to come.

Amsterdam (EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE)

DK Publishing

Amazon Price: $15.64 List Price: $23.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: DK Travel Amazon Marketplace: 41 new & used starting at $11.57

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Compact and helpful 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This book offers worthwhile information to a range of different readers. The first pages, "Four great days," offer itineraries for art lovers, shopping fans, history buffs, or families with kids to please. I don't think anyone will stop there, but I imagine many readers starting with those day-trips and filling in the edges.

The rest of the book presents the city in lush photography, legible maps, and clearly organized descriptions. The part of the book (about two thirds) divides Amsterdam into seven geographical districts. For each, the reader gets a bit of history and general layout, followed by detailed descriptions of many attractions. The remainder of the book talks about out-of-town points of interest and general information about food, culture, and other helpful travel information.

I'm going to Amsterdam soon on business, and have just a little time to enjoy this amazing city. This guide has been very helpful in planning those scraps of free time. Maybe this book won't meet every traveler's needs, but it meets mine.

-- wiredweird

Editorial Review:

A pocket-sized travel guide of Amsterdam, for both independent and package travellers. It provides a background to the destination and a full gazetteer of the best places to see, including opening times, addresses and telephone numbers. Walks and motor tours with maps, plus information on sport, entertainment and other practical details are included too.

Streetwise Amsterdam Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Amsterdam, Netherlands - Folding pocket size travel map with tram lines, metro lines, water bus

Streetwise Maps

Amazon Price: $7.95 List Price: $7.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Streetwise Maps Amazon Marketplace: 4 new & used starting at $6.43

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Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> Netherlands -> Amsterdam

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Streetwise Amsterdam Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Amsterdam, Netherlands - Folding pocket size travel map with tram lines, metro lines, water bus

This map covers the following areas:
Main Amsterdam Map 1:14,500
Central Amsterdam Map 1:9,000
Amsterdam Surrounding Area Map 1:80,000

Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful small scale cities in the world. Before or after a journey through the Netherlands, spend some time here and enjoy the atmosphere of a beautiful European city without the jarring intensity of a larger urban environment.

From the winding waterways to its world famous museums, there’s much to see and do in Amsterdam, though finding your way around the canal system can be confusing, so don’t forget your STREETWISE® Amsterdam city map.

The STREETWISE® Amsterdam Map will enable you to visit all the cool and cultural sites. Walk among the 17th and 18th century architecture, join with the fleets of bicycles to tour the city or just meander through leafy Rembrandt Park to experience the funky mix of locals and foreign backpackers. Whether you want to walk or take public transport to the famous Riksmuseum, the STREETWISE® Amsterdam Map will help get you there.

Dam Square, about five minutes’ walk south of the main station, is the center of town and much more is within walking distance. Leidsplein, with much of the city’s cultural life and nightlife, Rembrandtplein and Musemplein are just a few of the special places that make Amsterdam a joy to explore on foot or bike.

A complete index of hotels, points of interest, cultural sites, and parks, are clearly listed, as well as tram lines and museum boat stops.

Our pocket size map of Amsterdam is laminated for durability and accordion folding for effortless use. The STREETWISE® Amsterdam map is one of many detailed and easy-to-read city street maps designed and published by STREETWISE®. Buy your STREETWISE® Amsterdam map today and you too can navigate Amsterdam, Netherlands like a native. For a larger selection of our detailed travel maps simply type STREETWISE MAPS into the Amazon search bar.

Road Map to Holland: How I Found My Way Through My Son's First Two Years With Down Syndrome

Jennifer Graf Groneberg

Amazon Price: $11.90 List Price: $14.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: NAL Trade Amazon Marketplace: 81 new & used starting at $0.73

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

An exceptional memoir that provides emotional insight and practical advice.

It's like planning a trip to Italy, only to get off the plane and discover you're actually in Holland. You need a new road map, and fast...

When Jennifer Groneberg and her husband learned they'd be having twin boys, their main concern was whether they'd need an addition on their house. Then, five days after Avery and Bennett were born, Avery was diagnosed with Down syndrome.

Here, Jennifer shares the story of what followed. She dealt with doctors-some who helped, and some who were disrespectful or even dangerous. She saw some relationships in her life grow stronger, while severing ties with people who proved unsupportive. And she continues to struggle to find balance in the hardships and joys of raising a child with special needs. This book is a resource, a companion for parents, and above all, a story of the love between a mother and her son-as she learns that Avery is exactly the child she never knew she wanted.

Europe For Dummies (Dummies Travel)

Donald Olson, Liz Albertson, Cheryl A. Pientka, George McDonald, Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince, Hana Mastrini, Bruce Murphy, Alessandra de Rosa, Neil E. Schlecht, Tania Kollias

Amazon Price: $16.31 List Price: $23.99 Not yet published By: For Dummies

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Title covers it all 4 out of 5 stars.
20 of 20 people found this review helpful.

Europe for Dummies is a perfect book for a first or second time traveler to Europe. In March I went on a trip to four countries in Europe and took three different travel guides with me. Europe for Dummies was used much more than the other two that I had brought, and with justified reasons. A previous reviewer said it was too vague, and although I agree with them in some aspects, Europe for Dummies saved us more time and even money in some cases than I ever expected any of the books to. The descriptions are short and full of information, which is what I want when I am traveling. Detailed maps and directions also hellp make Europe for Dummies a great travel guide. Whether or not you would be buying this book to take with you, or to read it before you go on a trip to Europe, Europe for Dummies is a great source of information to prepare and inform you for the many awesome and surreal sights Europe has to offer. Definitely recomended.

Editorial Review:

For Dummies Travel guides are the ultimate user-friendly trip planners, combining the broad appeal and time-tested features of the For Dummies series with up-to-the-minute advice and information from the experts at Frommer’s.

• Small trim size for use on-the-go

• Focused coverage of only the best hotels and restaurants in all price ranges

• Tear-out “cheat sheet” with full-color maps or easy reference pointers

Get Lost! The Cool Guide to Amsterdam

Joe Pauker, Joe Joe Pauker

List Price: $13.00 By: Get Lost Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 13 new & used starting at $2.10

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 48 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Well organized and not cluttered 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

A great guide for finding your way around Amsterdam. Unlike other guides, the descriptions and information are very opinionated and to the point--don't expect 12 page picture tours of museums. There is a decent section on "coffee houses" (High Times recommends Barney's), but very little attention is given to the oldest profession. Pauker does recommend some escort services that don't exploit women (for the socially conscious individual) and a few voyeuristic experiences such as live intercourse. And although this guide may be geared toward the college student or other individuals with similar tastes, the suggestions for breakfast, late night snacks, quick eats, shopping, and hanging-out in general will benefit even the most conservative traveler (though she'll probably be annoyed by the author's naive understanding of economics). Definitely worth the $10, though I recommend that you accompany this book with a mainstream detailed supplementary guide such as Frommer's, which also comes with a good map.

Editorial Review:

This ultimate listing of most underground places in Amsterdam is better than ever--completely revised and updated. For travelers who want to go beyond convention and sample real life in the world's hippest city, it lists bars, music clubs, cannabis cafes, movable restaurants and other enticing attractions that "Grandma's Guidebook" never considered. This legendary guidebook, written by an Amsterdam resident, leads alternative travelers to the real thing.

Amsterdam (City Guide)

Jeremy Gray

Amazon Price: $13.59 List Price: $19.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Lonely Planet Amazon Marketplace: 49 new & used starting at $7.24

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Good list of cheap eateries 5 out of 5 stars.
36 of 38 people found this review helpful.

The value in "Lonely Planet Amsterdam" is in the thumbnail sketches of cafes and reasonably-priced restaurants. The descriptions of the establishments that I am familiar with were right on the money. They are grouped by neighborhood and have basic information, such as opening hours. I was disappointed that Indonesian restaurants were short-changed, because they "aren't authentically Asian." True, but an Indonesian rijstafel shared between half a dozen or more people is not too expensive and is an authentically Dutch form of entertainment. The biggest problem with the book is that it doesn't open flat. You need both hands to force it open wide enough to read comfortably and then it's hard to flip through the pages. And you will do a lot of flipping, because there's no good index to help you find things.

There are about half a dozen pages of photographs of the Amsterdam area, unnaturally sunny and uncrowded. Amsterdam is one of Europe's most interesting and picturesque cities, but nobody goes there for the weather, and the crowds of pedestrians and bicycles are part of the charm. The description of Dutch culture was spot on. Amsterdammers in particular are very broad-minded-one of the reasons that Amsterdam is a favorite vacation spot for gays and lesbians--but they're not part of the have-a-nice-day crowd. Expect them to be polite and helpful, rather than effusive.

I have half a dozen guides to Amsterdam and find that no one of them covers all aspects of a visit. "Lonely Planet Amsterdam" is most useful as a way of finding somewhere quick to eat when you're out sight-seeing.

Editorial Review:

Discover Amsterdam

Uncover a grand church hidden in an attic in the Red Light District

Visit a shoe-shaped home and the office of the future at the Living Tomorrow Pavilion

Sip jenever (Dutch gin) at a traditional tasting house or distillery

Practice your dangling skills sampling herring from a street stall

In This Guide:

42 days of in-city research, five walking tours, three cycling tours, 18 detailed maps

Color Architecture chapter shows the contrast between Amsterdam's classic and modern styles

Local insights from a film director, a boat-tour operator and an author

Frommer's Belgium, Holland & Luxembourg (Frommer's Complete)

George McDonald

Amazon Price: $14.95 List Price: $21.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Frommers Amazon Marketplace: 41 new & used starting at $10.50

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

A Travel Guide Without a Focus 2 out of 5 stars.
24 of 30 people found this review helpful.

When I first started travelling to Europe 25 years ago, the Frommer guides were like beacons. They had a very definite goal in mind: To let you enjoy Europe for $XX dollars a day. Their books were fun and informative; but somewhere along the line, the Frommer people lost touch with their leadership.

When you try to write a book for everybody, you wind up writing for nobody. Let us take accommodations as an example: They are classified as Expensive, Moderate, and Inexpensive. Now I am not on public assistance by any means, yet I can barely afford Frommer's Inexpensive accommodations, which average around more than $100 a night.

There are guidebooks which are good at accommodations and restaurants but not on sights; and there are others (like the superb DK Eyewitness Guides) which concentrate on the sights. I am hard put to place Frommer on this spectrum. In the Netherlands, he downplays the Zuider Zee Museum in Enkhuizen and the Open Air Museum in Arnhem, yet spends 3 chapters on Luxembourg, including one on "Planning a Trip to Luxembourg." Hello! When was the last time you got the wife and kiddies mobilized for a fun filled 3 week vacation in the tiny Duchy of Luxembourg?

On the plus side, the "Best of..." lists are a useful counter to the general lack of emphasis in this guidebook.

If you were visiting the U.S., you would want a guidebook to show you why you might want to spend more time in New York than Youngstown. Once the best of guidebook series, Frommer has been reduced to cataloguing sights. Where's the excitement? Not here.

Editorial Review:

• A highly informative guide to a great trip in the Low Countries
  Leads travelers to the best of the Netherlands (almost 1 million North American visitors in 2001), Belgium (capital of the European Union and headquarters of NATO), and Luxembourg (which has more Michelin-starred restaurants per square mile than any other country)
• Delivers the scoop on top cultural attractions in Brussels, Bruges, Amsterdam, Luxembourg City, and other urban centers
• Reveals the best local experiences, from the forests and resorts of Belgium's Ardennes and the wine trail of Luxembourg to the windmills, tulip fields, and carnival celebrations of Holland
• Thoroughly updated to reflect the latest changes in hotels, dining, and attractions