Customer Reviews

Rick Steves' Germany, Austria and Switzerland, 2001

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Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
Rick Steves

I like Rick Steves' travel philosophy, which is basically not to stay in hotels, pack a lunch, and travel frugally. There is some good information in this book. It helped us several times on a trip to Germany and Austria.

The coverage about the Mittelrhein is informative. I liked Steves' map of the castles between Koblenz and Bingen. Largely due to his coverage of the town of Bacharach, we spent two nights there. We were not alone. I actually saw a tourist walking down the street with a copy of this book in his hand. One place offering lodging had a sign out front about being mentioned in this book. Despite these things, Bacharach is a charming town, where one can walk everywhere or take a boat to the next town. The town is surrounded by vineyards, and the local wine that can be tried in several establishments in town is exceptionally good.

In Rothenburg, Steve's book came in handy late one afternoon, upon arriving after the tourist office had closed. Being in a walled city as evening approaches with no prospect of a place to stay can be a little traumatic. We studied the book, bought a city map, and navigated the twisting medieval streets to a place mentioned. We got a room. The host was a pleasant elderly gentleman, who offered a good room at a reasonable price.

Moving on to Salzburg, Austria, Steves' book failed us somewhat. We got caught in a lot of traffic, could not find the accommodation area he described, although stopping to ask several times, eventually gave up in frustration, and went to Berchtesgaden, Germany, not too far away. The book had very little information on Berchtesgaden although there were many charming places to stay there and in other smaller towns along the way. The country inn where we stayed was very pleasant. There were some great views of the mountains from the grounds. The Berchtesgaden area is truly beautiful, but one would not have known this from Steves' book.

I do give Rick Steves credit for directing us to the town of Reutte in Tyrol. The cozy farmhouse where we stayed in Ehenbickl, an adjacent town, had been in the owners' family for 700 years. The hospitality was second to none. Reutte is situated on the Lech River about a twenty-minute drive from Neuschwanstein, perhaps the most touristy place in Germany.

On the whole, this book by Rick Steves was quite helpful to us. However, his coverage is somewhat hit or miss. He does cover many interesting places to visit. However, he leaves just as many out and skips over others. Berchtesgaden would be a case in point. He also dismisses the city of Heidelberg, one of the most beautiful cities in Germany in a few sentences as being too tourist-oriented. This is ironic because Rothenburg, though worth a trip, is about as oriented to tourism as a town can be.

Despite some shortcomings, Rick Steves' book is still a good travel book.My advice, however, would be not to bind yourself to it, like the tourist I saw in Bacharach. Use the Internet to locate places to stay in the German speaking world and send e-mail to make reservations. In local inns and farmhouses, you will not have to give a credit card number. They will actually trust you. Austria has exceptional web pages. There one can find some of the most serene, beautiful farmhouse accommodations, at inexpensive prices, in Europe. Gute Reise! (Have a nice trip.)

PROs: Rick Steves packs this travel guide with useful and accurate information, honest opinions, travel inspiration, and enjoyable writing. It is easy and entertaining to read - chock full of Steves' (sometimes corny) humor. I can pick it up and read it again and again, and each time I feel the adventurer within is ready for another. For anyone planning a European vacation, Steves' guides are a necessity. With his guidance on travel tips as well as the "nitty gritty", your dreams of a fantastic vacation can easily be a reality.

CONs: Because of its honest & opinionated nature, this book is not as comprehensive as others. It is a wonderful vacation guide; however if you are going to be spending a great deal of time in Europe (i.e. on an exchange program) it is wise to purchase an accompanying book to guide you through the destinations that Steves does not cover in this guide. (I have found the Lonely Planet series to be excellent.) And don't skimp... as Steves himself says, "guidebooks are $15.oo tools for $3,000.oo experiences."

I highly recommend this book as a compass for all European vacations. Bon Voyage!

I bought this book for my first trip to Germany: Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Koblenz, and Koeln. There is information on Frankfurt, but a few of these cities he dismisses out of hand as having nothing worth seeing. I have to admit that I did not like the skewed perspective of this book: it seems mainly cater to americans and to those of a slightly liberal persuasion. There are numerous references to how americans would perceive things in Germany when they arrived, as if they were the only ones visiting Germany! The continuous silly references to "evil" Nazis in the Bavarian section made me leave this book in the trash when I went to Bayern last year, and I'm glad that I did because I saw a lot that I never would have had I followed his book. Do your own research and make your own agenda. This guy's like the american media--don't let him decide what's important; decide for yourself!

Somehow I get the feeling that Rick Steve's core audience is a practical, middle aged, fairly well-to do kind of a person who is looking for a no-hassle guide for a short vacation. If you're that person, then this is the book for you! But, if you will be spending an extended amount of time abroad, planning your own route or destination, or looking to travel as cheaply as you can- this is NOT the book for you. There is not much suggested in way of variety as far as hotels and eating goes (and most of it is not inexpensive) and most of the destinations are "popular" vacation fare. Travellers with more imagination and a sense of spontenaiety will find a Lonely Planet guide much more helpful.