Customer Reviews

Hanging Out in Europe

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got this book as a going-away gift for my best friend who is studying abroad. She was raving about how useful it has been and how she and her flat mates used it religiously. Then when I went to visit her for spring break, we used the book to find the Best hang outs in England and Spain. The book has honest feedback, helpful maps, commonly-used phrases/lingo, price informations, dress code recommendations, and describes the scenes of all the best places to eat, drink, sleep, sight-see and party.

This book, is the reason why my treck all through Europe was so successful. I am in college and I studied abroad in London for a semester, and on the weekends my friends and I would travel. We did not even know where to book hostels, and what parts of town are good to stay in, until we consulted this book. This book guided us from where to stay in Amsterdam, to the best outdoor cafes in Rome... It is the perfect guide for the college budget traveler, that does not have alot of time in one city. From the best party sights, to the best views, this book has it all.

This is great. Especially if you are looking for something a little more trendy. Lodging is accurately described. Clubs were all a hit.

A great humourous guidebook that didn't put me to sleep reading it. Unlike alot of other travel books out there I was able to sit down and read this and stay as thourghly entertained as if I was reading a novel. I also credit this book for my trip to Prague, a city I had no prior interest in visiting until I read about it in this book. However alot of the directions to the clubs in this book, especially for bigger cities like Berlin or Rome, are horribly inaccurate or badly written. Do what I did in every city I went to, find a bar or trendy looking restaurant and grab one of the little monthly booklets(free) of all the club listings in the area, I have yet had this method fail me, even in Venice (you'll know what I mean if you've ever tried looking for a club there, and the "Cassanova" does not count!)

This book was somewhat helpful, but there were some significant inaccuracies when I traveled throughout Europe in 2002. The lodging sections were useful and accurate, as well as the "touristy" information.

The sections on pubs and clubs were a bit out dated. One of the clubs in Barcelona no longer existed. The Paris section sent us into a part of the city that was a high crime area (two Parisians we later spoke to were amazed that we had gone there). This type of information is difficult to keep up to date because of the nature of these establishments. The information seemed outdated in 2002, so as summer of 2004 approaches it is only going to be more so.

The book is useful, but take it's recommendations on bars and clubs with a grain of salt, as they say. Don't be shy. Talk to local people your age about where the cool spots are; they'll have the best ideas.

I studied abroad in Paris before I bought this book and must say that I felt a little clueless on where all the cool bars and clubs were. I wish I would have had this book from the beginning. It gives great advice on where to stay and meet people, which is not always easy to figure out in a big city. This book will help you get beyond the boring touristy stuff and help you get the most out of your european vacation.