Rick Steves' Germany and Austria 2008 (Rick Steves)

List Price: $21.95 Discount Price: $7.75

Customer Reviews:

For Rick Steves sycophants only [Posted on 2008-06-02]
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.

Great for planning a brief trip [Posted on 2008-09-02]
Planning a brief trip to a country as varied and historic as Germany is demanding, but this book has been my best resource. As in all of his books, Steves states his approach to travel clearly: he doesn't cover everything, just the "best" places, the best according to him, of course. My tastes and orientation align with his (interesting, moderately priced travel, including as much local immersion as is reasonable), so I rely on his books to provide the wonderful backbones of great trips. For visiting places other than his "best" I use a more comprehensive guide book, like Lonely Planet, in addition to (rather than instead of) his.

For myself, a traveler with only a few days passing through Germany (on this trip), Steves' approach works well. His recommendations about transportation choices, especially the vast array of train tickets, are especially helpful. I imagine that I will want more detailed descriptions of major buildings and museums once I am on the spot, but his room-by-room descriptions are excellent for determining whether a particular site should be on my itinerary.

-Lynn Michelsohn, author of Roswell, Your Travel Guide to the UFO Capital of the World!

rick steves' does it again [Posted on 2008-10-14]
While we've not travelled yet...this book is full of helpful routes...places to see and to miss. Places to stay, good info on things to do, what to eat and where. We've used the internet to view areas that Rick mentions with the Trip Advisor and 9 out 10 times he's right on it.

Rick Steve's Germany & Austria 2008 [Posted on 2008-10-15]
Just got back from Oktoberfest in Germany. This book is invaluable to the traveler that wants to travel on their own. We used this book like a bible. I've been to Europe several times and have always use Rick's books and they really do come in handy.

A must have for Germany/Austria [Posted on 2008-10-22]
Rick Steve's does an amazing job with these countries. We spent time in Munich, Salzburg and Vienna and used this book for each city and for stops in between (we had a car). His suggestions we spot on and had all the things that you should do with all the insider tips. I would now buy any of his books for any other place I travel to in Europe. He does a great job with giving some history, but not too wordy. You should buy this book! Happy travels.

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