Customer Reviews

Top 10 Prague (Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

With every passing European trip (I've now had the pleasure of touring London, Paris, the Dordogne valley, Switzerland, Budapest, Vienna and Sicily), I'm realizing that my travel skills are becoming sharper as is my ability to judge the merits of the dizzying array of choices of travel guides available for the travelling public.

My first choice continues to be the Eyewitness series in their TOP 10 format ... in this case, "Top 10 Prague". I would suggest that it be complemented by the somewhat more comprehensive "Prague".

The Top 10 format is entirely self-explanatory, a list of Top 10 sights that are must-sees for any first time tourist in a given city or country. Depending on the destination, the Top 10 lists become increasingly more detailed and may include, for example, top 10 churches, museums, children's attractions, festivals, events, restaurants, cafés, pubs, parks and so on. In the second half of each book, the information is effectively repeated but organized by neighbourhood, so the prospective tourist might make the most effective use of limited time touring a given area in a city or country without missing anything of interest.

The information is all linked to beautiful photographs and allows a potential traveler to make sensible choices in advance according to his or her personal tastes. Most telling is the fact that each Top 10 title makes no attempt to be comprehensive. It is absolutely, positively aimed at the first time tourist attempting to do a one shot overview of a city or country. If that is your objective, there is little question that the DK Eyewitness Top 10 series is the hands down winner against all the competition - Blue Guide, Green Guide, Rough Guide, National Geographic, Frommer or Michelin.

One suggestion for the Top 10 Prague Guide in particular. The pull out map is a WONDERFUL idea but it should be a simple rectangle. The map provided has a wierd, obscure shape with some internal corners that are certain to tear in the stress of repeated opening and closing. Two other minor criticisms - first, some of the addresses for stores and restaurants are incorrect - outdated, I dare say - but, search as I might, I simply couldn't find the stores I was looking for (Obchod pod Lampou and Galerie Boema stand out in my memory). Last but not least, it's all well and good to list the Top 10 Palaces as notable sights but, if they have been converted to embassies, for example, then clearly they are closed to the public. That, of course, means that they are of interest only from a historic point of view and possibly represent an external photo op. Personally, I'd rather hear about palaces or old homes that I can actually visit and tour.

That said, the DK Eyewitness Travel series still stands head and shoulder above the competition. Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

As with the Top 10 Budapest which I've used, this is equal and a real asset in getting the top spots to visit in Prague. Worth every penny.

A really good series but the font size is too small for quick reading. All the information is accurate and well laid out however there are other such guides which due to their fold out components are able to use a larger more readable font.

Good travel guide for a short stay. Nice pictures and pull out map.
Not as detailed as some travel books. But I purchased it because it was small, easy to carry and had a nice color pull out map.

What a great book! I bought it for my fiance before our trip to Czech. It has a lot of info, very useful!

concise overview of the city. nicely divided into sections of town to make it easy to pick sites or restaurants when you are nearby.

We only had one day to explore Prague, so did not need a full guide book, but wanted something to fill in the information we desired. This book fit the bill for that, as it covers the highlights, and provides good information. The maps were a problem though, as they were either incomplete, or did not cover areas we were in. The pull-out pocket map was useless, and the manner chosen to layout and fold this small map made it even worse.

I buy Top 10 guides for all my European trips and I can't recommend them enough. The free fold out map is very useful and sturdy enough to fold back for a palm sized map (so you don't stand out as a tourist too much). The guides give good advice about dining, museums, cultural spots, nightlife, etc and the maps are very handy for finding stuff in your area if you're just wandering around. If you're headed to Prague I still recommend a good walking tour to get the lay of the land. If you're looking for nightlife, that kind of thing changes so much with any major city so I can't fault them for being a little sparse in that subject. Ask your tourguide or concierge for some advice.