Michelin Main Cities of Europe (Michelin Guide Europe) [Paperback]

Michelin Staff (Creator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2004 | Series: Michelin Guide Europe

A guide for all travellers, and motorists in particular, providing detailed information on places to visit and stay in Europe. Also included are street plans of major towns and cities, practical tourist information and recommended places of interest.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Since its first guide was published over 100 years ago, Michelin has continued to introduce more services in its mission to make life easier for the traveller.

To this end, The Red Guide has evolved to reflect changes in travel requirements: it may no longer list tyre outlets as it did in 1900 but it does tell you if a hotel has an exercise room and gives e-mail addresses of establishments listed. Today The Red Guide collection has 12 titles to choose from covering 11 European countries. Michelin is the European publisher with the most thorough selection covering the whole of Europe (range, depth of information, annual update, quality etc.), and is perceived as Europe’s authority in hotel and restaurant guides.

The collection is revised every year to meet consumer needs and expectations as far as possible. It aims to serve the greatest number of readers possible by offering both detailed information and a wide selection (variety of establishments, prices to suit all budgets etc).

The collection aims to offer its readers products that are practical, user friendly and easy to read (indexes by category of establishment, town plans, symbols that are easy to understand).

Strengths of the Michelin Red Guide:
- On site visits: the trademark policy for every establishment listed in the Michelin hotel and restaurant guide. Nothing can ever replace seeing for oneself first-hand, which is why Michelin has its team of professional inspectors, each with an excellent knowledge of the local hotel and restaurant industry. As Michelin employees, they all share the same methods and practices of the group, ensuring that their selections are consistent with each other.
- Independence: the second policy of the Michelin hotel and restaurant guide. Visiting a hotel or restaurant is not enough; objectivity must also be kept! Michelin is clear in its policy of remaining totally independent from hotel and restaurant owners. The inspectors visit each establishment anonymously and pay their bill. Opinions are formed objectively with nothing asked in return. This policy guarantees reliability for consumers and professionals alike as the guide’s sales and reputation can testify. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 900 pages
• Publisher: Michelin Travel Publications; 23rd edition (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2067102486
• ISBN-13: 978-2067102484
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,547,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You're going to LOVE EUROPE!, September 23, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Michelin Main Cities of Europe (Michelin Guide Europe) (Paperback)

I've been to nearly all the European countries many times (some countries >30 times). Here are my reviews of the best guides to meet you r 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!

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.

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.)

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

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Response to previous reviewer's question, March 5, 2005

By 

Daniel Kester (Buffalo, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Michelin Main Cities of Europe (Michelin Guide Europe) (Paperback)

The previous reviewer asked which cities are included. Click on "Table of Contents" on the main Amazon page for this book to see a list. It looks like it really is the "main cities", but does cover a decent selection: only one city from many countries (Denmark, Greece, Hungary), and between 5 and 10 cities from some of the larger countries (France, Germany, UK, Italy).

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Michelin Red Guide - Main Cities of Europe 2005, August 17, 2005

By 

Calgary Book Worm "Jane" (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Michelin Red Guide 2005 Main Cities of Europe (Michelin Red Guides) (Paperback)

An excellent travel companion to anyone considering a trip around Europe. Whether on a budget or not, this book will assist you in finding accommodation or restaurants that won't send your Bank Manager/Credit Card into "overload"...unless you want to spend that sort of cash!! I'd highly recommend it!