Eyewitness Travel Guide to Germany [Paperback]

DK Publishing (Author)

Book Description

Series: EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE | Publication Date: August 1, 2001

The guide that shows you what other travel books only tell you! With over 1,700 full-color photographs, unique cutaway pictures, easy-to-follow graphic illustrations and 3-D maps of Berlin and Munich, DK's Eyewitness Travel Guide: Germany helps you explore this fascinating country while providing history and a glance of Germany throughout the year. Whether taking a hike through the Black Forest or exploring Frederick the Grate's Palace of Sans Souci, the guide highlights everything important in each of Germany's 16 states. Includes lists of restaurants, hotels, attractions and museums, as well as key sights and sporting events.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Encyclopedic in scope, it's meant to be used before, during, and after your stay. (Travel & Leisure) Both novice and experienced travelers will be captivated. (U.S. News & World Report) Each book is a visual as well as informational feast about a particular place. (The New York Times) The best travel guides ever. (Sky Magazine) For comprehensive advice that is attractively presented, publisher Dorling Kindersley's guides for serious travelers are tough to beat. (US News & World Report) Hats off to DK for the Eyewitness Travel Guides...[they] raise the bar for all others. (Dallas Morning News) The most graphically exciting and visually pleasing series on the market. (Chicago Tribune) Eyewitness Travel Guides are marvels of writing, color photography and illustration. What makes these so special is their thoroughness. (New York Times Syndicate) This is a guidebook series that always seems to inspire smiles...You feel, looking at them, as if you could close the book and step into the street. (Contra Costa Times ) Want to know where to get a great espresso on your way to the Uffizi? Or how much to tip a hotel maid in New York City? Try these travel guides, each an intricate trove of 3-D aerial views, landmark floor plans, color photos and essential eating, shopping and entertainment info. With titles covering Paris, Prague, and London, these pocket-sized guides are like a Michelangelo fresco: deliriously rich in detail. (People Magazine) Eyewitness Travel Guides, considered to be the world's best travel resource to over 30 destinations around the world, make it easier to plan a splendid vacation. (North American Press Syndication) Each new Eyewitness Guide adds more of the world to this wonderfully visual series.... What sets these guides apart from others is their striking, three-dimensional cutaways of key sites. (New York Daily News)

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: DK Travel; 1st edition (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789466465
• ISBN-13: 978-0789466464
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,136,144 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Travel Guide, Beautiful Coffee Table Book!, May 19, 2002

By 

Doulos (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eyewitness Travel Guide to Germany (Paperback)

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Summary:
Every Dorling Kindersley Guide has been a great and interesting book... and delightful to have and use, even if you are not traveling to that location, but are only interested in learning more!

The Guides are well organized in a logical and easy to follow manner. They are beautifully illustrated, well developed with accurate information (it is unusual for hotel and restaurant information to be that accurate), have enough history to help the reader understand the people and cultural background, and have a lot of useful travel information and useable maps in the appendixes.

But, the really great attraction to this book is several fold; it is:
............Very complete
............Easy to read
............Beautifully and artistically completed
............Good shopping, safety and other tips
............Gorgeous photographs too numerous to list.

Summary Negative:

The country books are too general to really satisfy all your needs in any given location. So, if your entire trip is spent in Munich, for example, you will also want to get the specific guide for that city (but, the Berlin Section is fairly good)

Guide Specifics:

The guides are organized as follows:

How to use this guide
Introduction to Germany
............Portrait of Germany
............History of Germany
............Germany Through the Year
Berlin, Area by Area
Germany by Region
............Eastern Germany
........................Specific Cities / Towns
............Southern Germany
........................Specific Cities / Towns
............Western Germany
........................Specific Cities / Towns
............Northern Germany
........................Specific Cities / Towns
Travelers Needs
............Hotels
............Restaurants
............Shopping
Survival Information
............Practical Info.
........................Police, safety, buses, trains, etc.
............Travel Info.
........................Maps, tours, currency, etc.
............General Index
............Phrase Book

Discussion:
The book begins with "A Portrait of Germany", including a complete map, a review of Germany, it's history, and Germany's History (very interesting), and Germany thought the Year - including events, etc.,

Region with an "At a glance" overview, then has subsections of Cities / Towns, then specific locations, churches, historical monuments, bridges, galleries, etc.

Architectural reviews include various views, and cutaways; given greater understanding and better perspective. They are all attractive, if not works of art - honestly.

The travelers' Info. offers good and valid info. on prices, currencies, customs, important words, etc. I used the reviews on resorts, hotel's restaurants and nightclubs, etc. and found they were useful and accurate, and helpful with my touring and site decisions

The books are so well thought out that it has multiple maps, with various lookup tables, and the book's flaps are designed to be used as bookmarks for map pages.

Negative:
The country-wide guides are by definition more general than the specific city guides. So, if you are going to Munich, get the specific "Munich" guide (another great guide). If you decide to get the "Germany" guide for your 3, or 4 city tour of Germany, understand that this guide may be a little to general for all your local travel needs.

Conclusion:
As the President, CEO of an International Meeting Planning Corporation we have many resources and techniques to learn about places we have meetings / groups at as well as the cities and sights. But, as a traveler, this book really is top notch and I would recommend it to anyone going on a personal trip, or wanting to learn about a city, or location.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Winner! Photos, photos, photos!, August 30, 2001

By 

Penny Lewis "pennysfbay" (Santa Clara, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eyewitness Travel Guide to Germany (Paperback)

Eyewitness Travel Guides continue to impress me. This is the best series of travel books available! The book's content is set up by first introducing the country or city (Germany, in this case) through history, timelines, and maps. Then, the country or city is broken into sections (German states, in this case, and also special sections on the cities of Berlin and Munich), each clearly identified on the inside of the front cover and also color coded.
The content within the sections shows you all different types of activities and sights for each state. It includes maps, walking tours, and points of interest. Each point of interest gives a description as well as tells you contact information, hours, nearest U-bahn or S-bahn stop, method of payment accepted, etc. But the biggest plus of this series of travel guides is not what they tell you but how much they SHOW you! There are many, many color photographs and drawings that accompany the points of interest. This is definitely the BEST part of the book.
The back section offers helpful travel information, such as currency, getting around, visas and other travel requirements, shopping, dining, and lodging. If you are looking for a travel guide that will tell you all of the best hotels/motels as well as rate restaurants, this is not the travel guide for you. This information is pretty thin and I would recommend one of the other books on the market for that. However, if you are looking for a guide that will show you what to do once you arrive, this one can't be beat!
This series also has a map section in the back, and usually it is a great map of the city that the book is about. However, since this is a guide for a whole country, the map portion is an overall map of Germany, which is helpful for getting to and from a city, but not so helpful once you're there. The sections on Berlin and Munich do, however, have the city maps I have come to know and love.
These are also great books to explore a destination, even if you can't physically travel there. Since it shows you so many things through photos and descriptions, you almost feel like you've been there without ever leaving home! Great series!!!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forget American Express. Don't leave home w/o Eyewitness!, October 13, 2002

By 

Jane Higgins (FPO, AE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eyewitness Travel Guide to Germany (Paperback)

I am in the US Navy and am stationed over seas. I have relied on Eyewitness Travel Guides (ETG) for travelling throughout Italy (and specific ones for Florence, Venice, Sardinia, & Naples), Germany, and France. ETG descibes the qualities in every location so that you can tailor the trip to met your agenda and desires. They describe everything from churches to ruins to castles to festhalls. I even knew where to purchase tickets for watertaxis, buses, theatres, and shows. I once was stuck unintentionally in an area due to a flight problem, but due to ETG, I had the time of my life. I would not have known what was in the area without it. Don't leave home without it. Forget Rick Steve's guides. They are too specific and assume that you don't want to know about what else is in the surrounding areas.