Landmark Visitors Guide Iceland (Landmark Visitors Guides) (Paperback)

~ Cathy Harlow (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Among the best travel book series, with attention to detail, plus numerous color photographs and fine maps." -- Travel Books Review

"Excellent take-along guides." -- Reviewers Bookwatch

"If these delectable guides' plentiful pix don't get you drooling, get your salivary glands checked. The text is also noteworthy." -- New York Daily News

Product Description

One of many titles in the Landmark Visitors Guide series, a revamp and update of the highly respected Visitors Guides, acknowledged as among the most reliable and useful guides for sightseers. With full color maps and photos throughout, the new Landmark Visitors Guides are highly detailed, giving you the information you need to get the most from your trip. They serve as a useful reference tool before you leave home, and are the perfect travel companion while on the road.

Area-by-area tours highlight in-town sights and attractions, including art galleries, museums, historic buildings and churches. They also lead you out into the countryside, with recommended stops en route. Colorful call-out boxes reveal tidbits of the area’s local culture, interesting sidelights on how the landscape has been shaped and other details sorely lacking in competing guidebooks. The comprehensive "Fact File" in back provides opening times, fees and contact information for all places mentioned in the text. Index.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Landmark Publishing, Ltd (UK) (July 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1901522687
• ISBN-13: 978-1901522686
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,394,701 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best (and only, really) Travel Book Soley on Iceland, July 27, 2000

By	S. Hungsberg (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Not having seen any reviews or picture of this book, I was a little worried about what I might find when I ordered it. To my surprise, however, I received an absolutely fantastic description of everything Iceland has to offer a first-time tourist. The book is packed with dozens of amazing, beautiful photographs that compel you to fly over there as quickly as possible.

The text not only covers a solid description of all the interesting places to visit, but dives into some of the history as well. Most importantly, the author makes available plenty of contact phone numbers and addresses (physical, e-mail, and web) that will help you better plan your trip.

Even if you weren't thinking about ever going to Iceland, you would after reading this book.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best guide... a wonderful book, April 24, 2001

By A Customer

"This is simply the best guide for the independent traveler yet published. The information is cogent, well organized and well presented - especially for anyone who wants to fly to Iceland, rent a car and just explore the country independently without a set itinerary. The nine chapters divide the country into geographical sections organized around the "Ring Road" (the highway which encircles the country) and are packed with pertinent facts and interesting information. The choices are laid out knowledgably and interestingly. There are numerous maps showing auto routes, hiking trails and places of interest. There are suggested walks and sidebars on Icelandic history and nature in each chapter plus a fact file in the back that tells you everything else you need to know. The chapter on Reykjavík not only includes a multitude of things to do in the capital itself, but outlines suggested interesting day excursions one can make by car or bus with Reykjavík as home base... really great for the first time visitor unfamiliar with distances and the time it takes to travel them. Another chapter focuses on traveling through the uninhabited highlands and includes detailed maps and notes on auto routes, jeep routes, walking trails, mountain huts, camping areas and more. Author Cathy Harlow, lives in Iceland, has trained there as a tour guide and since 1987 has shared her enthusiasm for the country with hundreds of visitors. Perhaps that is why the Landmark Visitors Guide so beautifully intuits exactly what the independent traveler needs to know. This is a wonderful guidebook and long overdue.....

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Introduction, but Not Really a Guide, September 6, 2001

By	James Paris "Tarnmoor" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Having just spent more than 2 weeks in Iceland, I've had a good opportunity to see which guides worked and which ones didn't. To begin with, Cathy Harlow's excellent book is more along the lines of the DK Guidebooks: excellent pictures, printed on heavy glossy paper, and short on up-to-date, detailed info on accommodations and restaurants.

In other words, this is a book to read and enjoy BEFORE going to Iceland, but it takes up too much weight for the info it conveys. Let's face it, the 20-kilo weight restriction for international flights, together with the even more severe practical limitations for people who use public transportation where there are no porters or native bearers are strong reasons to travel as light as possible.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed reading this book and would strongly recommend both the texts and photographs as an excellent introduction to a fascinating travel destination. Used in conjunction with the Rough Guide to Iceland or, even better, the updated Lonely Planet Guide to Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, it is a worthwhile book to read and to keep for reference.