Customer Reviews

Insight Pocket Guides Moscow

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Greetings,

As the founder of a company devoted to enriching cultural and business travel to Russia, we are always looking for a good, general guidebook for clients. We give "Moscow Eyewitness Travel Guide" to all of our full-service clients going to Moscow. It is a good visual and historic guide to St Petersburg,

We call "Moscow Eyewitness Travel Guide" the "Moscow for Dummies" as it is designed to be browsed. The thumbnail-sized color photographs will inspire you to read a bit more about the attractions, so it is ideal to review before the trip, as well as during the first meeting with a local tour guide ("Gee, this building looks interesting, how do I see it?"). Most of our clients read the book before going, and put Post-It notes on pages with interesting attractions to ask about.

"Moscow Eyewitness Travel Guide" is also ideal for the cruise ship visitors who will be in Moscow for less than three days, as the photos give a good appreciation to the visitor of what there is to see, especially in a limited amount of time.

The history and art sections are reasonably good for a guide book. The restaurant and hotel suggestions are accurate (as far as quality and general pricing range, although the pricing itself is not accurate)..

Note, however, that we always tell clients and other visitors to Russia that you should get the most current guidebook, as attractions, hotels, restaurants and transportation options do often change--AND THEN VERIFY THE INFORMATION! All in all, we recommend "Moscow Eyewitness Travel Guide" as the first guidebook to purchase when planning on journey of Discovering Russia's capital city, Moscow.

Marc David Miller, Discovering Russia, New York

This book does a good job covering all the main sites of Moscow. The illustrations are very detailed and intense. I think it would best fit someone who is only in Moscow for a day or two, and just wants to hit a few of the touristy attractions. I bought this book, but also purchased the Fodor's guide to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Fodor's has much much more practical information - such as best days and times to see certain things, places to avoid, where to buy the best souvenirs, where to stay away from .. etc. It is also much more subjective and they offer their opinions on certain sites. This guide does not offer this subjectivity, and only offers very general and limited practical information.

I have travelled to Moscow several times and bought this book for my nervous parents who are soon coming along with me for the first time. What I like about this book is that it preps you for what to expect in Moscow without having to do extensive research. The pictures are really helpful, and I found the portrayals to be very accurate (pre-Kosovo). However, I did buy the book with the thought that I will be able to help my folks along. If you have a guide or host to help you with your trip, than this book is ideal.

If I was taking just one guide, 'Eyewitness Travel Guide to Moscow' would be my first choice. Although it is starting to age (published in 1998) it is a good visual and historic guide to Moscow, with enough color photographs to both inspire and guide you.

As other reviewers have noted, this book is ideal to use to review with a tour guide the sights and areas that you want to see because of its diagrams, pictures and suggested itineraries.

The history and art sections are reasonably good for a guide book.

The restaurant and hotel suggestions are a bit stale, and the pricing is out of date (although the range of pricing is still reasonably accurate).

Greetings,

This book has been replaced by a newer edition (published at a cheaper price!). Look up 0789497263. It is still a great guide for your journey of Discovering Russia.

Went to Moscow in December 2002 for 2 weeks for a funeral with my mother (I'm a hardened traveler in my 30s). I speak very little russian and read even less (i.e. none). I also took the Rough Guide book on Moscow. Didn't use the Rough guide after the 2nd day, stuck to the Eyewitness guide. Why? Because if you can't read russian your screwed - the cyrillic alphabet is like reading arabic; if you want to toodle around on the subway or walk the streets - nothing makes sense and it all looks the same. Pictures and maps (with the actual and phonetic spellings on them) are how you're going to make it work. Rough guide has no pictures - Eyewitness boatloads! I explored Moscow on my own - with no guide, no translator and no dictionary - only my eyewitness guide. I didn't get lost and I saw everything that I wanted to see. I didn't care that Eyewitness Moscow was published in 1998 - churches, museums and other places of interest do not move - prices change frequently anyway. It also cuts out a lot of the crap that other guides spend too much time on. This is a guide for seeing, doing and exploring. If you want a hotel guide, get a travel agent.

I bought this for a business trip to Moscow, since I really do not like to arrive @ a city I have never been to before without a clue. The guide was pretty good and accurate, but honestly and without any intention of criticizing Russians, the only thing that works in Moscow is having your interpreter to go about with you.

Incredibly helpful - the best Moscow travel guide available. My advise to anyone who wants to go to Moscow: go in the Spring and take this book with you.

I would like to second the other reviewers about the practicality of this guide. I've been to Moscow twice and know a little Russian. The maps and pictures in this book work really well. I was going to the Tretyakov art gallery for the first time. I came out of the metro stop found the well drawn landmarks and the street names and was able to find the gallery without taking a single wrong turn.

The other guidebooks have more scholarly information, but this one seems better for basic getting around. Although I highly recommend learning at least a little Russian; its not that hard. The Pimsleur method is my favorite for getting started on your own. You can learn the cyrillic alphabet very quickly. I also like the Rosetta Stone programs. Both of these are far more expensive than average - but their quality shows.

Its up to the minute information is invaluable as you travel around St. Petersburg. But, its AAA apearance is so dull you hardly want to use it. My recommendation is to buy this for the current info. and the EYEWITNESS GUIDE for its intelligent and beautifully illustrated usability.