[.ca] Eyewitness Travel Guides Top Ten Prague (ISBN 0789491842)

This Is the One!:
My wife and I have visited Prague twice before in the last ten years, so we have collected just about all the major Prague tourist guides. We are planning another trip for next month, so I picked up this new little guide. It has become my favorite. The "Top Ten" format works really well, and this author knows the territory really well, too. Also, I'm simply amazed at how much information (including good tips) he packed into this slim volume. I'm a big fan of the full-sized DK Eyewitness Travel Guides (which are beautiful and interesting), the Michelin Green Guides (which are so well-written and go into more depth), and the Frommer guides (which embody our travel philosophy so well)--but this Top Ten Guide is the one that I intend to carry in my jacket pocket every day as we travel around the city: It's like having an expert checklist--that includes things that we missed on our previous trips. We have the London Top Ten guide, and were impressed with that one, too. By the way, you're going to love Prague. We lived in Paris for six months, and have travelled to most of the countries and major cities of Europe; Prague is wonderful, and our personal favorite. See you there!

Shouldn't Go to Prague Without It:
I bought this book before I left with my friend to go to Prague for Spring Break. I could not have seen half of the sites without this book. This book shows you all the sites you would like to see and the pictures are awesome. My friend had with him Lonely Planet Prague. Compare to this book, it was vague and useless. It overwhelms you with too much information but never shows you what they have described. It is hard to imagine whtat they tell you in Lonely Planet if the things are foreign to you. We left LP at home while we travel with this one. Plus, the subway and street maps in the Eyewitness are good. By the end of the week, I can navigate the city very well with the help of the maps. If you need to get a guidebook, this is the One.

Overrated and Out of Date:
First off, the book is heavy on style and light on substance: lots of glossy pictures with scant historical/cultural background. I bought this book 6 years ago and compared it to the more recent edition and they are almost exactly the same. As a resident of Prague I take issue with many of the book's recommendations, chiefly the restaurant and hotel offerings. Caveat emptor on many of these as they no longer exist or the management has since changed. Furthermore, many of the listed telephone numbers are no longer in operation or have changed their format due to new telephone changes. For a more accurate and up-to-date review of Prague's service industry try Inyourpocket's website. Just do a web search for Inyourpocket and order up a copy of their quarterly guide. It's really cheap. Also, try Praguepost's website and check their cultural section for a complete listing of all cultural offerings -- museum exhibits, opera, ballet, jazz, club, indie etc... Here are some basic questions which travellers often ask of Prague, and in many cases the answers will make a huge difference in your trip preparations: Should I change money at exchange offices, banks, or just use an ATM? Which ATM services are in Prague? Are travellers checks accepted at most restaurants? Do restaurants accept dollars and Euro? Which hotels are closed due to the 2002 floods? etc... Inyourpocket guide and Praguepost should answer most of these questions if not all. Eyewitness doesn't even come close. Edward's "Praguewalks" is excellent for those who'd like to plan daily excursions and self-guided tours. It's historical scope is impressive without being overwhelming. For example, Eyewitness will tell you that Wallenstein was a wealthy noble who ran afoul of King Ferdinand, while "Praguewalks" explains just how Wallenstein amassed his fortune and the significance of his gardens and estates to Czech history. For the more scholarly inclined try Sayer's "The Coast of Bohemia." Sayer combines some historical narrative with an in-depth cultural timeline of how Czech art evolved. I won't advise you not to buy the Eyewitness book, but only if you do, use it to supplement your other trip's resources, not as some all encompassing guide.

Great Travel Guide, Beautiful Coffee Table Book!:
. Summary: Every Dorling Kindersley Guide has been a great and interesting book... and delightful to have and use, even if you are not traveling to that location, but are only interested in learning more! The Guides are well organized in a logical and easy to follow manner. They are beautifully illustrated, well developed with accurate information (it is unusual for hotel and restaurant information to be that accurate), have enough history to help the reader understand the people and cultural background, and have a lot of useful travel information and useable maps in the appendixes. The really great attraction to this book is several fold; it is: ............Very complete ............Easy to read ............Beautifully and artistically completed ............Good shopping, safety and other tips ............Gorgeous photographs too numerous to list. Specifics: The guides are organized as follows: How to use this guide Introduction to Historical and Geographical information Geographical Regions ............Introduction Prague ........................Intro to Prague ........................History ........................Portrait of Prague ........................Through the Year (events, holidays) ........................A River View of Prague ............Prague Area by Area, each section includes: ........................Introduction to street by street area ........................Detailed pictorials of area buildings ........................Architectural drawings, pictures, cut-aways of buildings ........................Specific stops, historical monuments, churches, buildings, etc. Travelers Needs - includes full list with rankings and notes ............Hotels ............Restaurants, cafes, pubs ............Shops / Markets ............Entertainment Survival Information ............Practical ........................Tourist info., Etiquete, Personal Security and Health ........................Currencies, Telephones, misc info. ............Getting to Prague (Travel Information) ............Getting Around Prague (Street Maps) ............General Index ............Phrase Book ............Transport Map Discussion: The book begins with "Introducing Prague", including a complete map, a review, the city's history, and Prague thought the Year - including events, etc. Areas with an "At a glance" overview, then has subsections of specific blocks, or forums, then specific locations, churches, historical monuments, bridges, galleries, etc. Architectural reviews include various views, and cutaways; given greater understanding and better perspective. They are all attractive, if not works of art - honestly. The travelers' Info. offers good and valid info. on prices, currencies, customs, important words, etc. I have used the reviews on hotel's restaurants and nightclubs, in most European cities, and Dorling has yet to disappoint me. I have found they were useful and accurate, and helpful with my touring and site decisions. The books are so well thought-out that it has multiple maps, with various lookup tables, and the book's flaps are designed to be used as bookmarks for map pages. Conclusion: Each book in this series is a great help, and beautiful collectible resource. As the President, CEO of an International Meeting Planning Corporation we have many resources and techniques to learn about places we have meetings / groups at as well as the cities and sights. But, as a traveler, this book really is top notch and I would recommend it to anyone going on a personal trip, or wanting to learn about a city, or location. We have used some of these books to augment our research to investigate cities for our groups.

Armchair travel plus:
The Eyewitness Travel series serves as a great visual introduction to a place. It allows you to "see" what places are like and plan your trip accordingly. The maps are usually great and the flaps of the book are constructed to serve as place markers. I bought this book after spending several months living in Prague after college. I had no money and didn't take many photos while I was there; I use this book to bring back memories. I now buy these books whenever there is one for my destination (I even have the one for my current home town). I wouldn't recommend the book as the soul guide for a budget traveller or someone who wants more than a one-page history on things. Yes, buy the book to plan places and sites to visit, but consult another source for cheap eats/accommodations (there is a selection of these) or detailed historical information.