General Books

Rick Steves' Germany and Austria 2008 (Rick Steves)

Rick Steves

List Price: $21.95 By: Avalon Travel Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 26 new & used starting at $1.99

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Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> Austria -> General
Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> Austria -> General AAS
Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> Germany -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

For Rick Steves sycophants only 3 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This book is typical Rick Steves. He has preordained that only certain places are worth visiting and has therefore excluded all others. It is true that his coverage of the Rhine and Mosel valleys is the best of any English-language guide book, but his omissions are many. He completely avoids any mention of the many castles and palaces in Bavaria, save the overly popular Neuschwanstein and a handful of others. Gems like Eisenach's Wartburg Castle, Coburg's Schloss Ehrenburg, Gotha's Schloss Friedenstein, and Kempten's Residenz are given a miss. Could it be that his guide books only cover the places his tours visit for obvious personal financial reasons? If you are a Rick Steves groupie, then feel free to buy his books. But if you want to see the best of Germany, read Eyewitness Travel Guides, Lonely Planet, or Rough Guides, and decide for yourself.

Editorial Review:

Who but Rick Steves can tell travelers how to take the Do-It-Yourself Dresden Baroque Blitz Tour or the Short and Scenic Black Forest Joyride? With Rick Steves’ Germany and Austria 2008, travelers can experience Steves' favorite destinations in Munich, Bavaria, Baden-Baden, Rothenburg, Würsburg, Frankfurt, the Rhine Valley, Dresden, Berlin, Vienna, and the Danube Valley — economically and hassle-free. Completely revised and updated, this guide includes opinionated coverage of both famous and lesser-known sights, friendly places to eat and sleep, suggested day plans, walking tours and trip itineraries, and clear instructions for smooth travel anywhere by car, train, or foot. America’s number one authority on travel to Europe, Steves' time-tested recommendations for safe and enjoyable travel in Europe have been used by millions of Americans in search of their own unique European travel experience.

Vienna (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

DK Publishing

Amazon Price: $15.64 List Price: $23.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: DK Travel Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $4.10

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great City, Great Guide 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Vienna is a fascinating place to visit and this is a great book to use. For once I did not find the subdivisions as useful in this book. Vienna can be a very confusing city to get around until you get the hang of it and sometimes the street maps in the book cut off in odd places. Despite that the recommendations of things to see and do and the smaller maps were top notch. I saw almost everything this book recommends within one jam packed three day weekend. Highly recommend.

Eyewitness Travel Guide Vienna (2003) 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Rugged bound handbook for touring Vienna. Outside cover is plastic coated card stock, doesn't soak up water when lying on the lunch table, easily cleaned. Glossy paper throughout its 288 information packed pages: a district map on inside front cover and public transport map on the inside back cover.

"Introducing Vienna" is the first chapter devoting 60 pages to an overview Vienna from a geographical, historical and cultural perspective. Then brief descriptions of major attractions, even the brief descriptions take 20 pages because Vienna offers so much to the visitor.

Next comes "Vienna by Area" with more detailed information on attractions with highlights of St Stephans Cathedral, the Hofburg area which was the Habsburg center of power now converted to civic and cultural uses, museums, palaces etc, too much to describe here as the book devotes 120 pages to guide the reader to sites, dining and maps.

Next comes "Further Afield" with adjacent areas like the Prater recreation area with it famous Ferris Wheel "der reisenrad" and more museums. Schoenbrunn palace also in this chapter as are recommended day trips outside the city and along the Danube river. Concluding the chapter are detailed walking guides for self directed excursions.

The section "Travelers Needs" has restaurants, hotels etc plus photos of local cuisine along with the German language name including the famous Sachertorte, it makes me hungry just looking at it.

Closing the book are suggested entertainment venues, casinos, music theaters followed with practical information on exchanging money, public transportation, how to use public telephones, posting letters and cards, street maps and index.

I selected this guide because it has plenty of information on sites and cultural attractions, its sturdy binding which will outlast me on the trip and its convenient size. I have travelled may places and a good practical guide is great for me, the explorer. I like to explore and discover on my own rather than join guided tours and be shown what others believe should interest me. This book givens me so much information I should not overlook anything major unless I choose to, and that's the point, I will choose for myself what to see and do. Vienna has so much to offer, the guide helps me sort it out.

I intend to spend a full day at the KHM Art History Museum, watch an Opera at the world famous State Opera House, listen to a Mozart concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the Music Hall, attend Sunday mass with Vienna Boys Choir, see Schoenbrunn, Belvedere etc. Still time in my schedule for day trips up the Danube to Durnstein to see the Castle where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned and if my wife is up to it, a day trip to Budapest. Of course each day in Vienna we plan to visit pastry shops and coffee houses to get the full "flavor" of Vienna. A ride on the ferris wheel is almost mandatory.

If there is anything more in the guide I could ask for, it would be more web site listings for music attractions as many of the venue tickets can be purchased in advance to be sure of getting seats. The guide has some web sites addresses, but a self planner like me could use more.

Editorial Review:

Includes: Stephansdom Quarter, Hofburg Quarter, Schottenring, Alsergrund, Town Hall, the Museum Quarter, Opera, Naschmarkt, and the Belvedere Quarter.-

Streetwise Venice Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Venice, Italy - Folding pocket size travel map

Streetwise Maps

Amazon Price: $7.95 List Price: $7.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Streetwise Maps Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $3.49

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

NOT AS HELPFUL AS OTHER STREETWISE PRODUCTS 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I am generally a big fan of streetwise, and have them for all of western Europe. This one was not great. The map is organized by neighborhood, so in order to find a street you need to know the neighborhood it is in, or you need to look in each of five areas. It also does not have a vaparetto map.

Pathetic ! 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

It's a pathetic small map of Venice.
Only room for main island, even that much to small.
No information at all.
If you want good map of Venice, buy the Borch.

Excellent Map 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have many maps from visiting Italy and have ordered some that were similar from the hotel lobbies, but this one is excellent compared to those. It shows all the little side canals and even has the canal where my future hotel is, which based on trip advisor comments, alot of travelers had a hard time locating. I am happy with this map - streetwise Venice; as well as streetwise Rome.

Editorial Review:

Streetwise Venice Map - Laminated Center City Street Map of Venice, Italy - Folding pocket size travel map

This map covers the following areas:
Main Venice, Italy Map 1:8,400
Murano Island Map 1:22,000

Austria (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

DK Publishing

Amazon Price: $16.50 List Price: $25.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: DK Travel Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $10.99

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Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great Guide! 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I love this brand of travel books. The images really help you to identify attractions, as well as the birds eye view maps. I also enjoy the "must see attractions" call outs within each section. This book helped make our trip through Austria more well informed and helped us plan our major stops. We also got one for Budapest which was equally great.

Virtual Austria in Print 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I had purchased a similar book for my son about France to help him with his French language courses in high school. I ended up spending more time with it than he did, and when I saw the other country titles, I decided to purchase a few more. The Austria book is excellent in that it condenses a lot of information into a very portable volume. The photos and illustrations are fabulous and the background historical and cultural information is superb. The listing of accomodations and restaurants also appears to be very well researched and provides a starting point for further Internet research. My favorite part of Austria is the Salzburg Region, and this book provides a genuine sense of what it is really like. I can definitely benefit from this book on future travel to Austria. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to know more about the country, as well as for experienced travellers. Well done to the authors, editors, and publisher!

Editorial Review:

Includes: In-depth coverage of famous districts and neighborhoods, special features on music, literature and painting, as well as detailed maps to help you find your way around.

German Survival Guide: The Language and Culture You Need to Travel with Confidence in Germany and Austria

Elizabeth Bingham

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: World Prospect Press Amazon Marketplace: 6 new & used starting at $12.55

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Subjects -> Reference -> Foreign Languages -> Instruction -> German
Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> Austria -> General
Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> Austria -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

German Survival Guide is a down-to-earth, bare-bones introduction to German that aims to make a trip abroad as smooth and enjoyable as possible. This information-packed mini-course concentrates on preparing readers to travel in Germany and Austria in a limited time by focusing on what is most useful or interesting to travelers and cutting out unnecessary vocabulary and grammar.

This Survival Guide helps readers communicate in the German language and culture. It prepares travelers for what to expect and how to deal with it, what to say and when to say it. It's like three books in one--a phrase book (so you know what to say), a grammar book (so you know how to say it), and a culture book (so you understand daily social expectations)--all focused on a traveler's needs.

Learn how to greet people and introduce yourself in German, how to line up lodging, order food and pay properly, how to shop and ask for directions in German, how to drive a car or take the train in Germany and Austria, how to get help in an emergency or talk about your family or discuss the weather, and much, much more!

Get key insights into German and Austrian social conventions: why not to use first names, how not to look like a tourist, how to tip, how to have good table manners, how to be a gracious guest, how to act on a nude beach.

Discover the fine points of ice cream parlors, grocery stores, train stations and the Autobahn. Read how to handle tricky room windows and grumpy bathroom attendants. Learn insider German words so commonly used that you will want to know them even though you don t have to.

This book is packed with culture notes, study tips, travel hints, and reality checks galore. It includes optional exercises for practicing material from the lessons, German-English and English-German dictionaries, and inside-the-cover Survival Summaries travelers can use on the spot. In addition, German pronunciations are written throughout the book, so users always have guidance on how to pronounce new words and phrases. Includes an extensive index to help readers find the topics they want, fast. All this packed into one volume small enough to tuck into a bag and take along.

Italian Survival Guide: The Language and Culture You Need to Travel with Confidence in Italy

Elizabeth Bingham

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: World Prospect Press Amazon Marketplace: 10 new & used starting at $13.54

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Subjects -> Reference -> Foreign Languages -> Instruction -> German
Subjects -> Reference -> Foreign Languages -> Instruction -> Italian
Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> Austria -> General

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

Editorial Review:

Italian Survival Guide is a down-to-earth, bare-bones introduction to Italian that aims to make a trip abroad as smooth and enjoyable as possible. This information-packed mini-course concentrates on preparing readers to travel in Italy in a limited time by focusing on what is most useful or interesting to travelers and cutting out unnecessary vocabulary and grammar.

This Survival Guide helps readers communicate in the Italian language and culture. It prepares travelers for what to expect and how to deal with it, what to say and when to say it. It's like three books in one--a phrase book (so you know what to say), a grammar book (so you know how to say it), and a culture book (so you understand daily social expectations)--all focused on a traveler's needs.

Learn how to greet people and introduce yourself in Italian, how to line up lodging, order food and pay properly, how to shop and ask for directions in Italian, how to drive a car or take the train in Italy, how to get help in an emergency or talk about your family or discuss the weather, and much, much more!

Get key insights into Italian social conventions: how to talk to people, how to avoid taboo subjects, how not to look like a tourist, how to tip, how to have good table manners, how to be a gracious guest, how to discourage unwanted admirers, how to overcome poor customer service, how to avoid petty crime.

Discover the fine points of city buses, grocery stores, train stations and coffee shops. Read how to achieve la bella figura--the style and classiness Italians prize. Learn gestures and geography and how to pronounce Giorgio.

Italian Survival Guide is packed with culture notes, study tips, travel hints, and reality checks galore. It includes optional exercises for practicing material from the lessons, Italian-English and English-Italian dictionaries, and inside-the-cover Survival Summaries travelers can use on the spot. In addition, Italian pronunciations are written throughout the book, so users always have guidance on how to pronounce new words and phrases. Includes an extensive index to help readers find the topics they want, fast. All this packed into one volume small enough to tuck into a bag and take along.

Austria (Country Guide)

Anthony Haywood

Amazon Price: $14.95 List Price: $21.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Lonely Planet Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $8.80

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Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> General

Editorial Review:

Discover Austria

Keep an eye out for marmots on the glorious Alpine trails
Get behind the wheel for breath-taking hairpin bends and blue glaciers on Gossglockner Road
Let your soul soar in the concert hall of Vienna
Indulge in Salzburg's Sound of Music kitsch then regain your cool at the hippest riverside bars

In This Guide:

Two German-speaking authors, 100 days of in-country research
New Walking chapter with 12 routes from challenging multi-day hikes to walks for families

Rick Steves' Germany, Austria, and Switzerland Map: Including Berlin, Munich, Salzburg and Vienna City (Rick Steves)

Rick Steves

Amazon Price: $5.95 List Price: $5.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Avalon Travel Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 31 new & used starting at $2.14

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

This is a review for the Rick Steves' MAP, not guidebook! 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

First and foremost, to clarify, this product that you are supposedly reading reviews for is Rick Steves' MAP of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It appears that the other reviews are of Rick Steves' guidebooks! Again, this product is NOT one of Rick Steves' famous guidebooks (which I would always rate as 5 stars, incidentally!). This map is very basic; don't count on using it to find your way around a country or city. Only the major cities and towns are marked. Likewise, in the city maps of Berlin, Munich, Salzburg and Vienna, only the major thoroughfares are mapped. You should use this map only as a reference to his guidebook of the region to plan your trip. You will want to get a 'real' map that's much more detailed, e.g. Michelin, when you arrive. Best part of this map? The cool water resistant paper on which it is printed. Especially if you have small children who are apt to spill liquid, as mine did on Day One upon receiving it from Amazon!

Editorial Review:

Designed specifically for Rick's travel audience (or users) these maps highlight choice destinations throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, from the shore of the North Sea to the towering Alps, in a colorful, easy-to-use format on high-quality paper that lasts over many trips:

• Cuts the Clutter: While big cities are left for navigational purposes, this map is otherwise stripped clean and filled in only with places that matter to travelers.
• Guidebook-Friendly: At a glance, all the places you read about in Rick's Germany, Austria, and Switzerland guidebook pop right out in a crisp, easy-to-read format.
• Rail or Road: Includes important train lines and highways (and ferry routes) for easy route-planning, no matter how you'll get around.
• The Back's Even Better: The reverse side includes detailed city-center maps of Berlin, Munich and Vienna, locating sights, hotels and restaurants from Rick's city chapters.

Michelin Germany: Benelux, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic: Tourist and Motoring Atlas (Michelin Tourist and Motoring Atlas : Germany, Austria, Benelux, Switzerland, Czech Republic (Spiral))

Amazon Price: $16.32 List Price: $24.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Michelin Travel Publications Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $14.40

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Michelin Spiral Tourist Maps 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The maps are excellent. The only problem I have is that I was only interested in Switzerland. Therefore, I would have prefered being given the choice of only the country of my interest. I like the spiral format which allows it to lie flat and easily open 360 degrees.

Necessary backup to GPS navigators 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

According to Rick Stevens, tourist atlas needs be 1/300,000 or larger scale in order to be useful as driving guide on the road. This atlas has the right scale. I am glad I brought this atlas with me as a backup to my GPS navigator during my 2-week European driving trip in June 2008.
I had a GPS Navigator (Tomtom GO 720), which worked perfectly for the majority of the time --- I almost thought the traditional atlas was no longer needed. But in two incidence, this traditional atlas proved its value.
For the first instance, GPS suggested me to drive from Lauterbrunnen to Lugano in Switzerland via the scenic Sustenstrasse Pass. I followed the GPS for about 2 hours, then found out the Pass was closed midway. I had to back-track and rely on the atlas to reroute.
For the second instance, I was on the motorway from Salzburg to Muchen. An accident occurred (probably a mile ahead) on the motorway. After all traffic stalled on the motorway for one hour, I decided to leave the motorway. This atlas was indispensible in guiding me step-by-step through the scenic country roads to my destination. The paper and printing of the atlas are in very good quality too. It's a worthwhile investment.

The German Way : Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes, and Customs in the German-Speaking World

Hyde Flippo

Amazon Price: $10.85 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $2.65

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Subjects -> History -> Europe -> Germany -> General
Subjects -> History -> Europe -> Germany -> General AAS
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> General

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

A Quick Read 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

This slim volume presents dozens of aspects of German culture. For example, why do Germans value privacy? Why do they always close windows when they feel a draft? I definitely learned a lot from this book. My only complaints is that it could have gone a little more in depth about the causes of German behavior. Also, this book is a little out of date. It was published in the 90's, so there is a lot of talk about Marks rather than Euros, and you read a lot about the reunification of Germany, which is not as hot a topic as it was in the 90's. Even with these weak points, I think you'll be able to learn a lot. I wish that the author would release a more up-to-date version, though.

Incredibly Helpful 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I really enjoy this book. The average tourist may not get as much from it, if only passing through. I am an American, living in Germany. I found much of the book incredibly helpful. Yes, some sections are dated with the intro of the Euro, but it's true, stores close by 1800, some open til 2000. Nothing open on Sunday, except at the train station.

Highly recommended if you will be living or travelling for an extended time!

Editorial Review:

For All Students Ideal for a variety of courses, this completely up-to-date, alphabetically organized handbook helps students understand how people from German-speaking nations think, do business, and act in their daily lives.