Customer Reviews

Frommer's Greece (Frommer's Complete Guides)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I found this book very useful. I used it mostly as a guide on a walking tour of Athens. I only had three days in Athens and wanted to see as much as possible. I spent a few hours browsing through the pertinent section and made my plan of action. Everything was as described. I also referred to it when making my hotel reservation and when looking for good restaurants. I stayed at the Hotel Philippos near the Acropolis - a great little place. Eating I went through great troubles one night to find the Taverna Sigalas in the Monasteraki area (because of subway construction,) but it was well worth the effort. I still drool at the thought of the wonderful Greek salad I had and the very best moussaka I've ever eaten. Going to Rome this year and I plan to buy a Frommer's for Rome because I only have three days there and I know I can depend on this book.

I have numerous copies of 'Frommer's Greece' for the past 30 years, and I consider it the bible of Greek travel. There are other good guides, and they have their particular niches, but Frommer's stands out for clear writing, logical indexing, and especially for running the gamut from budget tourism to the more affluent. His starred system with comments for value or attractiveness to family is understandable with good common sense. In the end, if I have to choose one guidebook for Greece, its Frommer's. Studying it helps me make the decisions I personally want to make. It will save you many times the price of the book and make your stay much more enjoyable.

Reviewed by David Lundberg, author of Olympic Wandering: Time Travel Through Greece

My group of friends, who had all travelled Greece in our backpacking days, benefited greatly from this book. As our trip in July 2002 progressed, we relied more and more heavily on the book. The recommendations from sites to food to hotels proved to be excellent every time. I particularly liked that the lodging and restaurant recommendations had inexpensive through expensive listings, which we used as our budget-mindedness changed during the trip. For anyone beyond backpacking and Lonely Planet, this book is a must.

Don't get me wrong, I read all about the places I wanted to go and noted all the things I wanted to see. I was disappointed to see that there was no information about Evvia, the second largest island.

The prices in the book were right on or a tad higher. I didn't try the restaurants mentioned in Santorini because they were very over priced.

Also, the book could have used more pictures and maps. There was not a map of the Athens metro unfortunately.

This book tries to cover too much about Greece. As a result, it ends up with too little detail about most areas. The book is thick and bulky and not convenient to travel with.

Today, with the ease of getting hotel information on the Internet, the hotels sections of these travel guides are almost outdated before they hit the press. The guides should stop devoting so much detail to hotel information and focus more on the sites, experiences, culture, and history of the destination.

Also, we disagree with the guide's recommendations of certain highly suggested sites- In particular the mountain villages in and around Andritsena which was a total waste of 3 days on our trip- The book called the area beautiful, friendly, with authentic food etc. Instead, most of the area was destroyed in the fires three years ago, they were the coldest and most unfriendly people we met in Greece, and only the most basic accommodations existed. Restaurants here were the worst we had in Greece.

Another example is the recommendation of Fish Taverna Takis To Limeni (Limeni, the Mani) as one of the best restaurants in Greece. The fish was good, but it was hardly worth the price of $135 for the two of us. In addition, the owner (who waited on us) was rude and couldn't be bothered to stop smoking and drinking with his friends to check on us or see how our meal was. Also, the owner made no offer to fillet the fish for us when serving it etc. This was definitely not worthy of one of the top 10 restaurant suggestions in Greece.

Anyway, things like that which we felt were bad suggestions from the book and the fact that it lacks the detail we would have liked about certain places (Olympia, etc)made it a book we would not recommend

It had guides on where to stay and how to get around... didn't offer much in the way of background information/history that actually makes the site-seeing interesting!

Also, most of the 3-star rated restaurants or high-rated hotels, I would downgrade a bit. I'm not sure they lived up to all of the hype.

True to Frommer's style, you feel as though you are almost there. Also included are excellent safety tips, the roads (islands) less traveled, best ways to carry (or rather not carry) money, weblinks, passport information, political concerns and so much more. Great maps, an invaluable aid.

This guide is quite complete and could be helpful not only to foreigners planning trips to Greece, but also Greeks who would like to travel around their country. I am Greek myself and I found this book quite informational.
It is very detailed, and prices, descriptions and current state of places seem very up to date.
If you like guides with pretty pictures, this is not for you as there are barely any. But there is detailed information on everything that you would need to know during a trip: where to stay, where to eat, what to see, with tips and prices for all budgets. It is really a great resource for organizing your vacation.
There are of course places and islands not included in the book, but there is a quite large and representational selection of locations across the map that will not leave you unsatisfied.
I will almost certainly buy the book again, as I gave away my first copy, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to visit Greece.

Took the Lonely Planet (published in 2006) and Frommer's (published in 2008) to Greece. The somewhat out-dated LP is so much better than the Frommer's and we used LP almost exclusively after the first 3 days. The Frommer's maps are frustrating and misleading. There is no (bus) directions for day trips out of Athens so you must either drive or join a tour. The information (history, background, etc) is fine but you can find similar information on the LP too.

I am a big fan of Frommer's but very disappointed in this Kindle edition. The "next chapter' feature doesn't work so you have to scroll through all of the pages. The majority of the pictures are removed and it is difficult to see and zoom in on any of the maps - essentially making them useless. Also, I'm fairly certain not all of the pages are included (in comparison to the print edition). One of the main reasons I wanted a Kindle was so that when I travel, I didn't have to lug around my beloved and essential travel books. Perhaps as the Kindle-world continues to expand, the travel books will get better. But for now, I'd stick to the paperback edition.