Customer Reviews

Top 10 Athens (DK Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This guidebook is easy to follow with a good mix of photographs and texts. The maps are very good, and as a seasoned traveller visiting Athens almost annually, I found most of the restaurant and site recommendations accurate. The information on areas that are a day trip from Athens, such as the Peloponnese and Delphi, was also very helpful.

This sounds like a gimmick, but is a surprisingly useful guide, especially given its compact size and low price. The concept of the top 10 list is used to organize information on the most important or interesting things to see. For each item on the top 10 there is a brief paragraph and a marker on a tiny map.

The book is useful for two reasons. First the little paragraphs are well written, giving you key information in a small space. Secondly, they use the top-10 concept in creative ways, so you get the top 10 for Athens of which the Acropolis is number one. But then they give you a top-10 for the Acropolis that allows them to drill down to fairly specific items. Nor are the lists just limited to sites. You get 10 Philosophers and Writers, ten Athenian Legends and ten Greek Inventions among other lists.

The guide also covers items in various Athens' neighborhoods, and the area around Athens. The last section of the book covers a number of travel practicalities.

This guide works well in combination with a much more detailed guide or a series of guides. Use this book to orient you and to stimulate your interest in some specific site, then drill into the details either online or with a specialty guide.

I am going to Greece later this year, and I bought this to start getting an idea of what to go see and what to expect. This book is great!! It is a great place to start, especially if you don't have alot of time on the trip and want to hit the "big stuff." I thoroughly enjoyed the overviews on all the different places. It gives you the hours, the prices, best times of day to go to places, best restaurants, etc. It even tells you what to avoid. I bought it with a few other books, which go into more detail, but this is the book you carry around with you as you walk around Athens as a reference material. It also has a laminated map of Athens in a pouch in the back of the book. This is a great resource, and it has got me totally stoked about my trip coming up!

Organized by area of the city made it easy to find items of interest when traveling to that section of town. Even though the "Top 10" are highlighted for each area and overall, more opinion or comments to help choose among entries would be helpful as there is not enough time or energy to see everything listed. We also used the Lonely Planet "Best of Athens" which was also helpful, although organized differently.

Like most of DK's Top 10 guides, Top 10 Athens is a great compromise between portability, information and directions. The star point of the guidebook is, for me, the hugely detailed maps, and the Top 10 lists provide a great way to digest Athens without biting off more than you can chew. I can say from experience that the insider's tips for each major site are particularly helpful. That said, most travelers with a more than superficial interest in the city will probably want to cross-reference this guide with a more detailed guidebook such as DK's Athens & the Mainland.

Incidentally, the New Acropolis Museum featured in the guidebook, which was originally supposed to open before the 2004 Summer Olympics, has now been delayed until at least summer 2008. So blame the Greek government for that snafu, not DK.

The guide can be carried around easy, however the map is kind of small. Our Hotel provided us with a better map then the one in the guide.
One problem was that the opening hours for the musea were incorrect. Archaelogical museum was listed as being open in May till 7:00pm. When we arrived at about 1:30pm we found out that they closed at 3:00pm. They still had 'winter' hours. Opening hours for musea in Athens are kind of random anyway, check before you go.

I use travel books for research to the destinations I am going. Top 10 Athens is not just a good research tool, but a great travel companion. It is concise, well laid out and uses the limited space wisely. The clear coated maps that fold out are great guides as well as good page markers!
The book has excellent information, photography, historical relevence and numerous lists that cover many topics of interest. The top ten catagories allow you to gain quick insight into what is available especially at the time of year you may be traveling.
I have been to Athens many times, yet find a guide like this more valuable so that I can find new things to see and do.
I have been buying DK Guide books for a few years now and prefer them to others I have bought or read. I already have an Essential Athens guide, but this DK guide 'Top 10 Athens' is far superior. This lucky little book will get to travel to Greece this summer : )

Just returned from Greece. Book was handy to carry and very accurate. Nice to know the hours and days that a destination is open and available to visit before you waste time getting there and find out it's closed. Maps were accurate and easy to follow. Comments were right on target. Should be updated to reflect the opening the new museum that opened in June - fabulous to visit. Cab drivers are much worse than book indicates - should be a special warning about their tactics.

This is a very thorough guide for when you have only a day or two to visit. It actually has way more in it than we could possibly see or do.
Giving the top ten things to see is great for your first visit. It is also great for probably your second or third.

Very helpful, lots of pictures and maps.

We love the DK travel books to help plan our annual trips. They are best for planning your precious time and taking with you while touring a city. Somewhat weaker on hotels and restaurants. We are going to Athens, but not the rest of Greece. Thus, this book was more on target.