Austria: A Rough Guide, First Edition (Rough Guides) [Paperback]

Rob Humphreys (Author), Jonathan Bousfield (Author)

Book Description

Series: Rough Guides | Publication Date: September 1, 1998

Austria is often seen as a skiing destination, but this guide speaks to a wide audience, who want to get the most out of their schillings. Features include: informed accounts of all the attractions; practical tips on a range of outdoor activities; and coverage of Austria's contemporary culture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Strong on cultural detail but also offers the lowdown on less highbrow activities. -- The Times, London, UK

About the Author

Jonathan Bousfield is a regular visitor to Austria and author of Rough Guides to Bulgaria, Poland, Croatia and the Baltic States. Rob Humphreys joined Rough Guides in 1989. He has travelled extensively in Central and Eastern Europe, writing Rough Guides to Prague, the Czech & Slovak Republics and St Petersburg, as well as London. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Rough Guides; 1 edition (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1858283256
• ISBN-13: 978-1858283258
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,462,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Writing is good, but difficult to use, November 12, 2003

By 

mhnstr (Christchurch, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Austria 2 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

I used this book during a three day visit I made to Vienna. I only used the book in Vienna and therefore, I can not critique the book for the rest of Austria. However, based on the coverage of Vienna, I would have a difficult time recommending this book. The main flaw with the guide is the index which is inadequate. For example, if you want to find the opening hours of one of the museums in Vienna, you have the skim through the entire Vienna section of the book in hopes that the name of the museum will jump out at you because the museum will most likely not be in the index. This in itself is terribly frustrating.

This is the only book that I used, so I can not say if one of the other guide books would be a better option. Just be aware that the Rough Guide Austria has its flaws.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Decent Guide to Austria, November 30, 2003

By 

Ron Hunka (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Rough Guide to Austria 2 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

ROUGH GUIDE TO AUSTRIA
Jonathan Bousfield and Rob Humphreys
ISBN 1-85828-709-X

Earlier this month, my wife and I completed the most recent of several trips to Austria in the last few years. On the whole, the coverage of Austrian towns and cities in this book is so comprehensive that it would be difficult to judge much of it fairly without having been to these places. However, I reviewed the parts of this book about some of the places with which I had familiarity. Generally, I found the descriptions insightful and accurate from my own observations.

We stayed once in a tiny town with the two-letter name of "Au" in Vorarlberg, the western-most province of Austria, next to Switzerland. This book says that it is "an undeniably attractive spot" and "If you are looking for a rural break, this as good a place to stay and rest up as any." After spending a couple of days in Au, I had concluded pretty much the same thing.

Regarding the village of Heiligenblut, which sits at the base of the Grossglockner, the highest mountain in Austria, in the southern province of Kaernten, the authors describe it as "one of the most attractively situated villages in the Austrian Alps". Indeed, it is. The writers characterize the valley where Heiligenblut is located as remarkably steep-sided. Having stayed in a farmhouse far up one of those slopes, I can attest to the fear of a slight misstep in parking near the edge of the incline. But the view of the village far below was spectacular.

As regards accommodations, this book seems to favor hotels over smaller more reasonable accommodations such as those of the "Urlaub am Bauernhof" or "Vacation on the Farm" type, which are widely available across Austria. For example, there are several in Au and Heiligenblut. These accommodations are quite popular with Germans and the Austrians themselves. The atmosphere and hospitality at such places is most often quite warm and friendly. The Internet would provide more information about these accommodations than this book.

I would not bother much with the authors' recommendations about restaurants and places to eat. The fact of the matter is that there are far more good places to eat than mediocre ones in the whole of Austria.

The authors have researched the historical background of Austria well. It is often difficult to understand the significance of many of the things one sees in a country like Austria where history is rich and deep. For example, Aggstein castle in the Wachau is just another ruined castle without knowing that it was twice in its long history the stronghold of robber barons who preyed on ships on the Danube and lies in ruins from the actions of the Turkish army in the 16th century.

If you are debating whether or not to buy this book, consider two things. It is relatively inexpensive, and it is much more often accurate than not.