Map-Rick Steves Planning Germa (Rick Steves' Planning Map) [Hardcover]

Rick Steves (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2005 | Series: Rick Steves' Planning Map

Travelers can have an easy time planning their trips and getting around with Rick Steves' Planning Maps, which feature prominent sightseeing destinations in major cities, as well as little-known but important spots not found on most maps for Germany, Austria, Switzerland. This practical and user-friendly tool includes transportation information and listings for all the hotels and restaurants found in Rick's guidebooks to these three countries.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Today's tourists are as likely to be toting Rick Steves as Giorgio Armani, tasting the good life without burning through the Kids' college fund. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing; Map edition (November 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566919177
• ISBN-13: 978-1566919173
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,748,079 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rick Steves advocates smart, affordable, perspective-broadening travel. As host and writer of the popular public television series Rick Steves' Europe, and best-selling author of 40 European travel books, he encourages Americans to travel as "temporary locals." He helps American travelers connect much more intimately and authentically with Europe -- and Europeans -- for a fraction of what mainstream tourists pay.

Over the past 20 years, Rick has hosted over 100 travel shows for public television, and numerous pledge specials (raising millions of dollars for local stations). His Rick Steves' Europe TV series is carried by over 300 stations, reaching 95 percent of U.S. markets. Rick has also created two award-winning specials for public television: Rick Steves' European Christmas and the ground-breaking Rick Steves' Iran. Rick writes and co-produces his television programs through his company, Back Door Productions.

Rick Steves also hosts a weekly public radio program, Travel with Rick Steves. With a broader approach to travel everywhere, in each hour-long program Rick interviews guest travel expert, followed by listener call-ins. Travel with Rick Steves airs across the country and has spawned a popular podcast. Rick has also created a series of audio walking tour podcasts for museums and neighborhoods in Paris, Rome, Florence and Venice (with more tours, including London, coming in 2010).

Rick self-published the first edition of his travel skills book, Europe Through the Back Door (now updated annually), in 1980. He has also written more than 40 other country, city and regional guidebooks, phrase books, and "snapshot" guides. For several years, Rick Steves' Italy has been the bestselling international guidebook sold in the U.S. In 2009, Rick tackled a new genre of travel writing with Travel as a Political Act, reflecting on how a life of travel has broadened his own perspectives, and travel can be a significant force for peace and understanding in the world. Rick's books are published by Avalon Travel, a member of the Perseus Books Group.

In addition to his guidebooks, TV and radio work, Rick is a syndicated newspaper columnist with the Tribune Media Services. He appears frequently on television, radio, and online as the leading authority on European travel.

Rick took his first trip to Europe in 1969, visiting piano factories with his father, a piano importer. By the time he reached 18, Rick jokes, "I realized I didn't need my parents to travel!" He began traveling on his own, funding his trips by teaching piano lessons. In 1976, he started Europe Through the Back Door (ETBD), a business which has grown from a one-man operation to a company with a well-traveled staff of 70 full-time employees. ETBD offers free travel information through its travel center, website (www.ricksteves.com), European Railpass Guide, and free travel newsletters. ETBD also runs a successful European tour program with more than 300 departures -- attracting around 10,000 travelers -- annually.

Rick is outspoken on the need for Americans to fit better into our planet by broadening their perspectives through travel. He is also committed to his own neighborhood. He's an active member of the Lutheran church (and has hosted the ELCA's national video productions). He's a board member of NORML (working to reform marijuana laws in the USA). And Rick has provided his local YWCA with a 24-unit apartment building with which to house homeless mothers.

Rick Steves spends about a third of every year in Europe, researching guidebooks, filming TV shows, and making new discoveries for travelers. He lives and works in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington, where his office window overlooks his old junior high school.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What's good is very good. What's bad...oy., May 8, 2004

By 

Esther Schindler (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rick Steves' Germany, Austria, and Switzerland 2004 (Paperback)

I'm both attracted and annoyed by Rick Steves' travel guides. I'm giving this book a 3, not because it's generally okay, but because it's an average of 1 and 5.

Steves does some things really well. His maps are really good, for instance. Rather than try to show every street (you'll have an ordinary map for that), he makes it easy to find the places you probably care about (or the ones he thinks you should care about); the museums, train station, etc. are easy to find -- like the map you'd scribble on a cocktail napkin for a friend. Plus, he's reassuring about distances from one place to another (a ten-minute walk to the museum from the train station, etc.).

He also does a good-to-excellent job at, hmm, how shall I put this -- describing the experience of a place. I haven't been to Munich, yet, and his is the only guide that tells me that the biergarten tables with no tablecloths are reserved for customers who are drinking only (no food, in other words). And to look for a vomitorium in the bathrooms (!). When I'm traveling, I'm tripped up by the "ordinary" things I didn't know -- so this sort of information is reassuring. (Why do none of the guide books tell you that "Ausfart" is the word for "car exit" on the autobahn? As a friend of ours said, "The first time I saw all those Ausfart signs, I thought, 'Wow, this is a really big city!'" Ausgang, by the way, is the word for *people*-exit, a helpful item to know when you're in an underground parking garage, looking for the way out.)

Also, Steves is better at orientation than most. I think his is the only book that says you can get tickets ahead of time for the big Bavarian castles, so you don't spend time waiting in line. That sort of stuff is incredibly useful.

On the other hand... his priorities and taste do not coincide with mine. As another reviewer pointed out, Steves gives you the itinerary *he* thinks you should follow, and ignores or disparages other destinations. Maybe he thinks that Triberg is a tourist trap, but I spent 3 days in the area (in Hornberg, a few miles north) and I thought it was both a lovely town and a great base of operations for Black Forest exploration.

What finally turned me off was realizing how differently he travels than we do. (There. That doesn't seem so negative.) Steves gives a one-day itinerary through the Black Forest, starting in Frieburg and ending in Baden-Baden. To accomplish that, he has you zoom through the Clock Musuem in an hour (we spent two, though maybe it could have been less), and 1.5 hours at the Volksbaurnhof in Gutach. That's way too little time; we spent 3 or 4 hours there on two trips (obviously, we liked the place). Yes, in an hour and a half you can walk around this open-air museum, but you won't have time to watch one of the demonstrations, or read more than a few expanatory signs. If I followed his itinerary, I'd be skimming the surface of every destination rather than experiencing the place.

I own several guidebooks to Germany. It's probably worth looking through this one, especially if you happen to be planning to visit the sights he says are worthwhile. But it's far from a complete guide to the country, and you're stuck relying on HIS opinions -- which may or may not agree with yours. I'm glad I read through this book, but it's sure not being stuffed into my backpack.

46 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars You're going to LOVE GERMANY!, September 23, 2004

By 

Richard R. Carlton (Ada, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rick Steves' Germany, Austria, and Switzerland 2004 (Paperback)

I've been to Germany several times.....Frankfurt, Koln, the Mosel and Rhine wine tours, etc. Here are my reviews of the best guides to meet your exact needs.....I hope these are helpful and that you have a great visit! I always gauge the quality of my visit by how much I remember a year later......this review is designed to help you get the guide that will be sure YOU remember your trip many years into the future. Travel Safe and enjoy yourself to the max!

Rick Steves' books are not recommended. They may be an interesting read but their helpfulness is very poor. They don't do well on updates, transportation details, or anything but the first-time-tourist routine and even that is somewhat superficial on anything but the mega-major sites.

Frommer's

These are time tested guides that pride themselves on being updated annually. Although I think the guides below provide information that is in more depth or more concise (depending on what the guide is known for), if your main concern is that the guide has very little old or outdated information, then this would be a good guide for you.

Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet has City and Out To Eat Guides. They are all about the experience so they focus on doing, being, getting there, and this means they have the best detailed information, including both inexpensive and really spectacular restaurants and hotels, out-of-the-way places, weird things to see and do, the list is endless.

Blue Guides

Without doubt, the best of the walks guides.... the Blue Guide has been around since 1918 and has extremely well designed walks with lots of unique little side stops to hit on just about any interest you have. If you want to pick up the feel of the city, this is the best book to do that for you. This is one that you end up packing on your 10th trip, by which time it is well worn.

MapGuide

MapGuide is very easy to use and has the best location information for hotels, tourist attractions, museums, churches etc. that they manage to keep fairly up to date. It's great for teaching you how to use the public transportation system. The text sections are quick overviews, not reviews, but the strong suite here is brevity, not depth. I strongly recommend this for your first few times learning your way around the classic tourist sites and experiences. MapGuide is excellent as long as you are staying pretty much in the center of the city.

Time Out

The Time Out guides are very good. Easy reading, short reviews of restaurants, hotels, and other sites, with good public transport maps that go beyond the city centre. Many people who buy more than one guidebook end up liking this one best!

Let's Go

Let's Go is a great guide series that specializes in the niche interest details that turn a trip into a great and memorable experience. Started by and for college students, these guides are famous for the details provided by people who used the book the previous year. They continue to focus on providing a great experience inexpensively. If you want to know about the top restaurants, this is not for you (use Fodor's or Michelin). Let's Go does have a bewildering array of different guides though. Here's which is what:

Budget Guide is the main guide with incredibly detailed information and reviews on everything you can think of.

City Guide is just as intense but restricted to the single city.

PocketGuide is even smaller and features condensed information

MapGuide's are very good maps with public transportation and some other information (like museum hours, etc.)

Michelin

Famous for their quality reviews, the Red Michelin Guides are for hotels & Restaurants, the Green Michelin Guides are for main tourist destinations. However, the English language Green guide is the one most people use and it has now been supplemented with hotel and restaurant information. These are the serious review guides as the famous Michelin ratings are issued via these books.

Fodor's

Fodor's is the best selling guide among Americans. They have a bewildering array of different guides. Here's which is what:

The Gold Guide is the main book with good reviews of everything and lots of tours, walks, and just about everything else you could think of. It's not called the Gold guide for nothing though....it assumes you have money and are willing to spend it.

SeeIt! is a concise guide that extracts the most popular items from the Gold Guide

PocketGuide is designed for a quick first visit

UpCLOSE for independent travel that is cheap and well thought out

CityPack is a plastic pocket map with some guide information

Exploring is for cultural interests, lots of photos and designed to supplement the Gold guide

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Guide, March 4, 2003

By 

laura joy "laurajoy6" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rick Steves' Germany, Austria, and Switzerland 2003 (Paperback)

My husband and I used this book to plan our honeymoon and found it to be phenomenal. Steves does a great job of rating what you should see with the time you have. So it was great for planning our scant two weeks. He very candidly describes different places and explains what he likes about them or why he rates them low. This is helpful in deciding what you absolutly have to do since time is limited. Steves also has wonderful tips for drivers, where parking is located for example, and for accomodations. We loved all of our hotels and they were all well located and reasonably priced.

This tour guide has two drawbacks. One are the crude maps. They are fine for getting a general lay out, but buying detailed maps is a must, especially for drivers. It also has no pictures. Since I'm a visual person I also bought the DK Guide to Germany. It lists EVERYTHING and has a picture of EVERYTHING. So, once I used Steves to decide what to do and where to stay I would find out what it looked like elswhere.

We are planning a trip to England for next year, I'm certainly not going without his guide.