decent guide, but not much in the way of hotel choices
357843
If you do not know where you want to go in Greece, then this would be a good guide. But I bought this primarily to fine tune a vacation to greece I was already planning (6 nights in Santorini and 7 in mainland) and it really did not give me much more insight than I had gooten through internet research, but it did give me some.  I bought the kindle addition of this an frommer's, and I will say I have the same criticism of Frommers, and do like Rick Steve's better because it does have many maps and if something the manner a which attractions are reviewed (for instance, for cape sounion, he did state that if you are seeing out ruins in greece, it may not be worth going here, and this is the only place I've seen that type of comment on any destinations).  We was hoping for some direction on hotels, and the book will only pick a handful to review where 100's are available.  And I read in trip advisor for one hotel were reviewers state this is where the Rick Steve's tours stay in Athens, and this is not even one of the hotels mentioned in his book. Although that said, it is still worth the price to have if you are planning a trip to Greece.
1393503
I have had mixed results with Frommer's books.  I like their maps and guides to attractions... BUT... The hotels they recommend in the lower end category often fall short.  I especially did not like their recommendations for Rome.
The book has a great layout but the hotels need to be rechecked.  I would make sure to balance this book with another guide like Karen Brown's or Fodor's... I make sure any hotel I stay in has a good rating in at least two sources....
108334
Was going to Cairo and Luxor, thus was looking for something specifically to help me plan that. This little book has the essentials about the places of interest and relevant information like ticket prices as well as maps. It basically help acts as a directory to plan places to visit, but do not have the extras like warnings on tourist traps.
2858983
This book does a balanced job of describing history and tourist sights in London.  It covers some great places to go for daytrips away from London also. However, as a guidebook it fell very short by not suggesting any places to stay.  Even three in each area would have been helpful--perhaps one in budget, one in moderate and one in expensive.  Realizing that London is expensive and finding quality accommodation is difficult, the guide was NO HELP at all. I bought it off the internet so was unaware of this shortcoming.  Other "Daytrip" books had accommodations and so I was left holding an expensive book and still looking for places to stay.  I also though more food recommendations or better descriptions of the food at recommended places would have been helpful.  The author didn't rave about food very often and that left me feeling like he either didn't find good food or food wasn't all that important. Unlike other "Daytrip" books, this one had a tired feel to it.  It covered all the standard places to go, but didn't give me an enthusiasm for "gems" or special experiences.  As a general planning guide for what to see, it does the job, but as a "keeper" book, it needed more enthusiasm.
599566
Fodors had slowly grown on me as I get older and I can see their merit. If you've never been to Ireland before, this might be a good book for you, provided you're not on a budget and want to be a tourist but not truly explore "off the map."

The book was pretty lacking on lodging, which was disappointing. It does cater to the high-end of lodging, so if you have a budget, this book might not be for you. In that case,&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Rough-Guide-to-Ireland-Rough-Guide-Ireland/dp/1848364369/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Rough Guide to Ireland (Rough Guide Ireland)</a>&nbsp;might be for you.

My rule for travel books has always been to get two - one for indepth research and one for the pocket that you can quickly refer to. I don't know if I'd get this book for the indepth research though since I tend to travel more on a budget and don't golf.

Fodors does a good job overall targeting slightly older, slightly more affluent tourists/travelers. If you fit into this category, then I recommend this book for you. If you're more adventurous, I'd recommend Lonely Planet or Rough Guides.
1518384
It was an o.k. overview.  The bias of some of the writers, though, seemed to come through, with tips on the best pubs and bars and higher priced restaurants but less on castles, ruins, abbeys, economical b&bs. Lonely Planet has always helped me economize when traveling with less expensive,though quirky accommodations and restaurants, so I was not completely satisfied with what this one had to offer.
In addition, it was not as user friendly as some other publications, necessitating one to jump around from map to map when planning a tour itinerary.
733573
I am an experienced traveler (30+ countries) who is nearing retirement and plan to travel extensively, who has recently become obsessed about finding "good" guidebooks. So this review is a comparison of the books I looked at for Madrid.
I started with the Insight Guide. I was seeking to get background, history, etc. The Insight Guides seem to vary enormously from one to the next in both quality and orientation. I think they are good for an entire country if you are trying to decide where in the country or what parts you want to see. I thought the guide for Madrid was useless. It provided very little information about the city or the culture. It seemed to be best if you were planning on moving to Madrid and wanted to find out the differences between the various suburban areas. I suggest you forget this one.
I looked at the Mini-Rough Guide. I didn't like the format and it was too terse for my taste. In my opinion, Rough Guide still needs to produce a guide for Madrid that is a regular, not a mini Rough Guide. The LP Guide to Madrid seemed pretty mediocre. The stiff covers also made it awkward to use or hold open to a particular page. The information and descriptions were inadequate compared to some other guides. The Eyewitness Guide to Madrid is, I think, the best overall guide to Madrid. (Generally I prefer Eyewitness guides for City's much more than as a guide for an entire country.) The maps are good, the pictures of the food and other items are very helpful. The hotels and restaurant sections were pretty good, but not great. If you are looking for hostels, you will need the LP guide. Eyewitness does not give great historical depth, but it gives you some, probably enough for most tourists. Guide Books are not the best source for detailed historical and cultural information anyway. The Time Out guide was almost like a tourist's yellow pages, primarily a listing of hotels, restaurants, sites, services, etc. It had the best listing of restaurants and hotels and covered all price ranges. It wasn't as good as Eyewitness is describing the things to see and do.
I ended up getting the Eyewitness Guide to use while sightseeing, supplemented by the Time Out guide for picking hotels, restaurants and being able to look up things. Another reviewer recommended this same combination in order to visit Tapas bars. I'm not that much into Tapas, but I still think these two are the best combo.
Incidentally, the Spain Rough and LP guides Madrid sections do not cover Madrid as well as the Madrid-only guides. You are looking at a 60-page section, compared to the Madrid-only guides of around 300 pages length.
186519
I was happy to get this guide from Amazon to review, given that I've lived in SF for almost 15 years. (I'm also reviewing&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Fodor-s-San-Francisco-2012/dp/0679009450/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Fodor's San Francisco 2012</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Lonely-Planet-guide/dp/1741799236/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Lonely Planet guide</a>, though both publishers have more than one book for the area).

General impressions:

- The book is less neighborhood-oriented than LP or Fodors, and more experience-oriented (stuff you can do in one day, stuff to do for cheap, "City Strolls"). It has separate chapters for where to eat, where to stay, shopping, and the bar and nightclub scene, which is pretty typical.

- There is an in-depth discussion of SF history and culture.

- There is notable attention paid to LGBT culture (not just a review of "every gay bar in the Castro," though that's here too)

- There are separate indexes for eating and lodging, as well as a general index.

- There are separate chapters for "side trips" (Tiburon/Marin, Sausilito, Berkeley, and Oakland") and another for the wine country. This isn't mentioned in the title of the guide, but the coverage is pretty decent, and does acknowledge that some places in the wine country are frighteningly expensive.

Specifics:

- There are 214 restaurant reviews total. This is more than Lonely Planet or Fodor's.

- There is a pull-out map (on good glossy paper), and individual neighborhood maps bound in. The pull-out map extends to Golden Gate Park and Ocean Beach (not just downtown), which is a wider area of SF than the LP or Fodor's maps. Even better, the back page of the book has both Muni and Bart transit maps. Bravo!

- The discussion of transportation options (BART, Muni, etc.) is pretty in-depth with regards to lines and carriers, but doesn't mention the new Clipper Card, or warn you that getting caught on board without a valid fare receipt (paper or electronic) will result in a massive fine. (LP does mention this, Fodor's doesn't either).

- There is a discussion of the difficulty of finding public toilets (including the kiosks, though I think they do in fact have a time limit, while the book says they don't). Fodor's doesn't mention this at all.

Overall I found this book to be superior to Fodor's, and about on-par with Lonely Planet.
3176638
How to rank this book depends upon what you are looking for. In my case, I've been using Lonely Planet guides for many years and am accustomed to their assistance for traveling on a real budget. This book was different in that it focused much more on the mid-range of travel, and was really lacking on the budget end. For example, it assumes that you will use a tour and tour guide to visit many archeological sites instead of pulling it off using public transportation and your feet. And the least expensive hotels are often not covered.

ON THE PLUS SIDE, there are a lot of Americans traveling in Belize and they seem to be largely staying in the nicer hotels and using tours. For them, this book is more than adequate and easily recommended. For those who are really budget travelers, I'd suggest "The Rough Guide to Belize", which I ended up borrowing from other travelers.
1510628
I think this is self-published, but I am not certain.  It is a nice review of the areas with good info for cheaper places to stay.  Wish it had some more details on travelling from one place to the next.
2873992
Useful information on sites and attractions and many very useful maps.  Two shortcomings:  Too many personal comments such as a hotel's rooms being her favorite color (how does that help me, or even interest me?) and the writer thinks upscale is standard.  For example, restaurants and hotels whose prices seem to be top end are listed in the moderately priced category.  The prices of upscale ones are breathtaking.  One don't-miss hotel she urges the readers to try is a few thousand dollars a night.  She mostly ignores low priced lodging except hostels.  Maybe she is writing for the 1%.  We in the 99% would do better with Lonely Planet for restaurants and accommodations.  My four star rating is because the other information and the maps are so good.
4263677
For someone wanting an up to date travel guide to Kyrgyzstan in English, there are not too many choices. It basically comes down to the&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Lonely-Planet-Central-Asia/dp/1741046149/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Lonely Planet Central Asia</a>&nbsp;or this Bradt travel guide written by Laurence Mitchell. I did a journey through Kyrgyzstan last summer with the LP, but I recently checked out the Bradt guide to see how it might compare. I found that it can indeed be useful, but it seems directed at a specific demographic. In his travel guidance, Mitchell writes for an older crowd, who might be willing to spend money on tours and taxis instead of immersing themselves in local poverty.

While the guide portion itself is less than ideal for the type of traveler that I am--as well as everyone else I know who goes to Kyrgyzstan--the historical and cultural background of the Bradt is quite informative. However, I prefer LP's maps to here. The advertisements sprinkled in the Bradt guide also irked me. I wasn't happy with Bradt's typesetting. Somehow too much space on the page is wasted, producing a book much larger than it ought to be and thus less convenient to travel with.

If you are a budget traveler who needs basic info and hitchhiking tips, but are willing to discover the details of each place as you travel through them, AND you speak Russian, probably the most economical resource to get is the SREDNAJA ASIJA guide by Anton Krotov and the Academy of Free Travel (Akademija Volnyx Puteshestvij). You can get that through Krotov and the AVP themselves or in select Moscow and Kyiv bookstores. Otherwise, if you don't speak Russian, then get the LP. But if you are an older person desiring comfort and traveling with loads of cash, the Bradt might be just what you need.
3120644
Massive list of hotel/motel, but light on everything else.  I found pet friendly website more informative.
2078304
The Green Guides [this book is but one of many regions in France available] have long been considered reference level for tour information.  The book is primairly for visiting tourist venues.  It does have some hotel and restaurant suggestions, but its primary focus is tour information.  The copyright date of the book suggests many of the hotel/restaurant recommendations may be out of date.  There are many maps of various cities and most are coded with parking areas, very helpful when visiting unfamiliar cities.  In the past I have found these guides to be indespensible for an independent traveller.
3069477
This is not the Ireland I know and love, but Fodor's is probably good for the more typical American tourist, especially on a well-funded, short-term, do-it-all sort of trip. I lived there for several months on two occasions, staying on working farms and in independent hostels, with the occasional B&B thrown in for more comfortable lodging--not like the typical American tourist. The Fodor's Guide does not list hostels, and mentions few B&B's (an Irish specialty), but covers high-end hotels and tourist-y choices such as castles made over as "authentic, atmospheric" lodging. Tourist-centric restaurants featuring the "New Irish Cuisine" abound, but there's really nothing better in Ireland than a good pub meal (fresh salmon or savory stew, warm bread, and these days, a good salad). If you're young or just adventuresome, and you want to hike, explore the country slowly, on your own (on foot or bicycle), play music, write poetry, read Yeats and Joyce, and especially if you wish to get to know the Irish and your fellow-travelers from all over the world, I'd recommend the "Lonely Planet" guidebook instead of this one, and at least one stay in a hostel to prepare and eat a Tower of Babel-like communal meal with people from Holland to South Africa. Fodor's pays little attention to destinations that are off the beaten track, such as the gorgeous, wild-weathered, Irish-speaking Aran Islands (which may be a good thing, as they cannot support much tourism). It's emphasis is on the Top Ten Things To Do In Ireland (by rental car), and if that's your thing, or you want to play a game of golf on an emerald-green green, you'll do well with this book in your suitcase. If you're interested in a unique experience and tend not to carry a suitcase, this book will not give you much help.

That being said, the guidebook has a handy detachable map, a good overview of Dublin, snippets of comments by guidebook users from the Fodor's website, and a decent section on Irish culture and mores. The photos are acceptable, but not in any way remarkable, which is a shame because Ireland's villages are wildly colorful and its landscape breathtaking. Layers of history lie upon the land; ruins date from 2500 B.C., such as the fort Dun Angus on Inishmore, through early castles and churches bombed by Cromwell in the 17th century. Ancient standing stones rise from the middle of sheep pastures, which you'll have to walk through if you want to uncover the Ogham writing scratched upon many of them; Goddess circles, with their ancient holly and oak trees, are still maintained in places like remote Cong and An Burren, and women still make offerings to ensure fertility at sacred springs. To discover these things for yourself you'll have to strike out on your own, and I just realized I have no business trying to review this guidebook (which has been well-covered by others here), so I'll stop now, and just say this: There's really no way for any book to cover all of what makes Ireland such an extraordinary place, so thumb through a handful of them, make a few key decisions, then throw them all out and just go, preferably in a good pair of hiking shoes, with a minimum of stuff on your back, and give yourself up to the experience.
3174703
I bought this guide as it was the only one in available in the bookstore and I was unexpectedly going to Barcelona for a few days. I wasn't totally happy with it, and after using it, I still hold that opinion.

Here's a list of my criticisms: limited subset and poor presentation of hotel and restaurant options. It seems to offer a haphazard group of options. I'd rather use a the Lonely Planet guide (for inexpensive places) or a regular Fodor's guide (for mid-to higher-range places). Finally, I'd have found its shortcomings more forgiveable if it had been a pocket-sized guide.

Positives: useful transportation data, nice tips that help visitors to better see details that would otherwise go unnoticed, e.g., stylized bats in lamp posts, some nice pictures (but not nearly as nice as the DK Guides or the Knopf Guides).
2388079
My husband and I always use Rick Steve's books when traveling abroad.  This book was very helpful, but not my favorite.

Positives:
1.  The walking tours are a great way to get acquainted with the city and pick and choose what you want to do as you go along.  You can have a half to whole day of informative touring while spending very little cash or having to pay for a tour.
2.  The tips about prices and what days to visit things are helpful.
3.  His hand drawn maps are always great to follow.
4.  Back ground info about history and different sites is interesting.
5.  Take his advice about using cash instead of credit!  I didn't believe him, but he was spot on.

Negatives:
1.  He focuses too much on art and art museums which can get a bit tiresome.
2.  He talks down about some of the more touristy sites which are actually quite fun (Madam Troussands, Heineken Experience, Zanse Schans).
3.  The sections about food and restaurants are really focused on saving money rather than eating well.  I don't want to eat in a mall food court just because it's cheap.
4.  The TV version of this book is also one of his more boring episodes.

I would suggest using this for the walking tours and supplementing with Lonely Planet.