Customer Reviews

Rick Steves' Best of Europe 1998 (Serial)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I traveled through Europe last summer with the '97 edition of this book, and found it to be the best travel guide out there - and several jealous travelers, who either forgot, lost, or never knew about the book until they arrived in Europe, envied mine, echoing my sentiments.

Rick has a great philosophy towards travel: see the world through the "back door." He thinks a traveler can have a much richer travel experience if he meets and interacts with the locals, living as they do (or living with them, in quaint pensiones and B&Bs,) eating where they eat (or better yet, eating with the locals they meet along the way) and seeing the world with an open mind. I agree. This book lists some of these great (and budget-friendly) sleeping and eating establishments.

Better yet are Rick's 'what to see' recommendations. Like all the guidebooks out there, he gives a description of the top tourist sights. But what sets this book apart is two things not found in other travel books: Rick gives his opinions on each sight, and recommends many other lesser-known sights.

Rick isn't afraid to tell you if seeing or doing something is a waste of time; on the flip side, there are sights that he says you'd be crazy NOT to see. If my time was short in a city, I'd be sure to see Rick's "must-see" sights and skip the rest - I never felt as though I missed anything, and had a wonderful experience.

Secondly, Rick recommends lesser known, out-of-the-way (and not so out-of-the-way) places. It was in these places that I often got the best "feel" for what a country was truly like, as these were the places that locals frequented. I remember lying on a beach in Cinque Terre, Italy (one of Rick's favorite "back door" towns) talking with my travel companion. A Milanese man on the next beach towel over asked us how we found out about his favorite vacation spot - he'd never heard anyone speaking english there before! (Although we found the town to be full of Rick Steves followers!) We had a wonderful time there, met many locals, and truly experienced Italy.

This is a fantastic guide book - friendly budget hotels, yummy places to eat, descriptions of Europe's "must-see" sights, places you'd be better off not seeing, and back-door towns where you can really meet the locals and learn about each country's culture and individuality. Don't leave home without it!

Of several books we lugged to Europe recently, this one (actually a 1997 version bought off a sale table) was by far the most useful! At first I was disappointed by the lack of photos and snappy graphics, but once I started reading it aloud in our rental car, we were all laughing out loud and were hooked. We used several of his recommendations for laundromats and hotels, where we bumped into other Rick Steves devotees following the same advice. Some of the hotels he recommends may be full due to his good word, but ask there for similar accomodations and they may point you to an equally agreeable place - we did this in Interlaken and found a the wonderful Hotel de la Paix. Now we are planning another trip to Europe and are stocking up on Rick Steves' latest books to take along.

Though it is perfect for those seeking direction for a fist-time trip, this guide is not the only book you will need when travelling to Europe. The guide is very focused on what Steves' believes are the best spots to visit, which is fine if you share his tastes. However, if you decide to be adventurous and stray from the book's prescribed list of locations you will find yourself in need of additional guides and maps.

Also, the number of readers that are devoted to Steves' guide is so great that many of the places he mentions are overrun by people following his book. Steves' best kept secrets are not secrets at all to the thousands of people who have read his book. Therefore, you may have considerable difficulty obtaining reservations in his recommended accomodations. And, you will most likely run into many travelers with the same book following the same itinerary as you are.

Despite its shortcomings, this guide is ideal for those who want to start planning their first trip to Europe. Europe is a large place with lots to see and for those who find choosing an itinerary overwhelming, Steves' guide is a great place to start. It is very helpful in suggesting must-see locations and travel routes. However, after determining your basic travel plan, be sure to purchase more thorough guides for the countries you plan to visit; this strategy will enable you to be more spontaneous and adventurous in your travel while ensuring that you see Europe's essentials.

This book was fabulous. We just returned from a whirlwind trip to Europe. After visiting the Netherlands, Germany and Italy, we found that Rick Steve's Best of Europe was the best reference we had.

This book does not try to tell you everything about each city--if you were going to spend a significant amount of time in one city, you might want to look into one his more regional guidebooks. For example, I am sending my daughter to Rome, and she will pack Rick Steve's Rome 2001!

If you want to know what is worthwhile, Rick lets you know. We found his descriptions to be DEAD ON CORRECT. Everytime! He even described the people from the hotels--exactly! Rick gives his opinion on many things, which is what sets his books apart from the others. Why cover it all, when what most travelers need is a concise description of the things not to be missed?

This book provides great recommendations for hotels and restaurants. We did not go wrong. Caution: the only folks we ran into who were NOT satisfied with his recommended hotels were those who looked for the very cheapest accomodations. If you choose these AND expect the Hyatt, you will be disappointed. Steves always provides a range of accomodations. In general, those costing more are usually better--unless he states otherwise. In our experience, all of his suggestions were good, clean, and safe. And some were quite elegant! All were a great value.

Europe travel is different than travel in the U.S. If you want to travel the way we do here, forget this book and go straight to your travel agent. Insist on staying at the Hilton, pick up a few brochures and see only the sights listed in those. But if you want to see the REAL Europe, get any of Rick Steve's books and enjoy. Ciao!

Heres why 'The Best of Europe' should be your first purchase when planning for a European vacation...

My first trip to Europe was 2.5 months long...It was a bear trying to decide what to do. Then I ran across another of Rick's books called 'Europe through the back door' that had a 'whirlwind' two month suggested itinerary (along with shorter ones). It foceused me in on a certain route that would guarantee the biggest bang for my buck. I bought 'The best of' book to find all of the dirty details of the countries on that route. Rick gives great advice on the places to go and NOT to go, best places to stay, best restaurants in town,etc... And what I liked about it is that he doesn't try to cover it all. He covers what he feels are the best places to go and he covers them in detail, even going so far as to give you personal walking tours through Rhine castles, and intricate directions on how to turn on the public washing machine in Arles, France. It is this close attention to detail that I loved. I knew what hotel, which restaurants and which museums to visit in Paris before I ever left London!

I used the book for almost all of my trip and found the info to be about 95% accurate. The only errors I found were reflective of the dynamic character of Europe where prices and economies are constantly changing...therefore some prices were increased and some places out of business. But Rick updates his books every year and therefore reduces the chances you will find bum info.

On my second trip I tried to use another guidebook that had been recommended and I hated it. The majority of the hotels and restaurants covered were above and beyond my budget and all of the places were packed...no trips to hidden away gems were discussed in this book, unlike Ricks backdoor hideaways. Added to this was the fact that the book didn't distinguish between places that were awesome and those that were a bore. If Lands End, England is not worth a 3 hour train ride than tell me! (and it wasn't)

Rick is opinionated and biased towards certain places and I love it. In Europe your time is expensive and you should plan it carefully. Use Ricks 7 day, 10 day, 14 day, 1 month, or 2 month best of europe itineraries and much of your planning is taken care of. Also get 'Europe through the back door' for in depth trip packing and planning and Ricks 'Guides to' the individual countries for even more in depth touring of Europe. The only book to use in my opinion...

This book is a very good reference if it is your first time traveling to Europe, but is very little more than that. I purchased this book before my first trip and it allowed me to begin to plan a trip even though I knew very little about European travel (Through the Back Door also helps with this). This is a fun way to daydream and spend time, even if you find yourself straying from your planned intinerary when you get over there (Trust me, you will).

This book only got three stars because I did not find it very helpful during the actual trip (10 weeks) for a number of reasons. I ended up visiting a number of the locations Steves talkes about, but always found them less exciting then those I found on my own, his coverage of the larger cities is not very extensive, and the information he provides, although you will think that all of it is excellent prior to your trip, you will most likely find based very much on opinion, and chances are your opinion will differ from his.

The book is also not a complete guide and you will find yourself wishing you had bought that Lonely Planet guide, or thanking God that you had. The information in a book like Lonely Planet Western Europe is much much much more extensive and much better rounded - the only thing it lacks compared to Steves' guide are editorial comments (something I am sure you will have enough of on your own by the conclusion of your trip).

In all, I believe the book is a good second-tier reference for planning your first trip (gets you dreaming atleast), but a book like Lonely Planet will serve you better once there. Trust me, you can get expert opinions from almost anyone who has spent time abroad, and the chances are that their tastes will be closer to your own than Steves are. Best of luck and have fun on your travels!

We travelled Europe for the first time in the summer of 1998. Beside the Lonely Planet guide for information on cheap hotels and accurate maps, I also took this book for suggestions on planning for the cities we were visiting (London, Paris and Vienna). This book, like all other Rich Steves' books, is written in a very friendly manner which is especially helpful for the first time visitors. We followed the suggested itineraries and successfully avoided the crowd (we were in Paris at the time of the World Cup soccer games). And I love the hand drawn maps in the book.

The reason I don't give this book 5 stars is because we only visited 3 of the 29 destinations the book includes, so it is a little too heavy to carry the whole book. I doubt if anyone would visit more than half of the destinations in one trip. Maybe it is better to get the individual tour books from which this book is assembled. If you plan to visit the museums, I strongly recommend Rick Steves' Mona Winks: Self-Guided Tours of Europe's Top Museums.

Overall, Best of Europe is a good tour book and I will still take it with me next time I visit other cities in Europe in spite of the extra weight. That's all I have to say about this book.

If you are going to Europe, buy this book. Then buy his books for the major cities you are planning on visiting, such as Rome, Paris, etc. Absolutely the best tour books we found for Europe. We also bought Let's Go, Frommer's, and Fodor's. None compare. Rick has tons of inside information and hints which allow you to avoid a lot of mistakes, wasted time, and lines. Following his book, in our four weeks in Europe (during peak-season), we did not stand in one line for any musuem - waved at those standing in line at the Louvre, bypassed the *huge* line winding through the courtyard at Versailles, walked right into the Orsay. A friend who went earlier in the year (off-season) complained about the three-hour lines everywhere. His books are very opinionated in the sense he focuses on what he considers the most interesting. Almost without exception, we found ourselves in complete agreement with his opinions. He includes the best areas to stay. He focuses on less-expensive, smaller, family run establishments - we stayed only at locations recommended in his books and found them all to be outstanding. The only people who I think will be disappointed in his book(s) are those who want to stay only in first-class five-star hotels. Rick Steves' made our European vacation fantastic.

I have been a big Rick Steves fan for years. However, using his materials nearly ruined my 24 day European vacation this summer. The three hotels/B & Bs I used from his book all had major flaws. One was 20 minutes by bus outside Saltzburg - it was in a horrible location for sight seeing. In the city of Bonn, Germany, he failed to mention that the entire town is UPHILL from the train station, that there are no street signs, and that the entrance to th e motel is less than 4 feet wide. The bed was a terrible sagging thing that slept like a feed sack stuffed with old bread. His suggestion in Bern, Switzerland, was my most expensive room at nearly $60. It was a roll-away bed with a piece of plywood screwed to the end. There was a hole in the wall covered with plastic tape. Finally, in Munich I threw his book away and relied entirely on Frommer's and Europe for Dummies. All my other rooms were as cheap as Rick's but much better. Go figure. What's happened to Rick? I don't know. The lesson? Take more than one guidebook. The rest of my trip was fine.

I exclusively used the 2005 version of this guide during a 2-month trip to the Continent, and can't think of any major drawbacks, except for the weight.

Your typical tourist book is basically a compilation of lists: places to eat, places to stay, places to see...etc, with only the occasional strong opinion. Rick Steves, on the other hand, lets you know what he likes and dislikes. Of course, if in general you disagree with him, his series of guides are not for you. I've used a few other of his other more geographically focused books in the past and thus came to this one knowing that my tastes are in general agreement with his.

I enjoy the personal style of writing, in contrast to most other guides that feel as if they were written by a committee.

It should be noted that his books are definitely not for backpackers planning to hike around Europe for months on end. Nor is it for the tour company crowd. The intended audience is more your 2-4 day-stay-in-a-city kind of independent traveler, especially those with a tad of impulsiveness.

The organization of the book makes it very easy to ascertain what to check out on your visits, depending on how much time you have available. By following much of his practical advice (on railpasses, currency, and eating, to name a few), we found that we saved money without sacrificing much of the experience.

One valid criticism of his guides is that because of its sizable following, a lot of the accommodations and places to eat that he recommends are often overrun with his own readers (read: oh no, Americans!). Although not the main reason for it, I minimized this by traveling off-season. But for what it's worth, I'd rather be surrounded by RS readers than your typical Frommer's/Fodor's/Lonely Planet lot. Call me prejudiced.