Author: No Author Listed
Publisher: DK Publishing, Inc.
Price: $24.95
ISBN Number 0-7894-1453-8

During the 1999 crisis in Kosovo, with NATO planes striking targets a few hundred miles north of the Greek border, an anxious pre-honeymooner wrote asking what he could do to convince his bride-to-be that their honeymoon in Greece was worth taking.

My answer: Get her a copy of DK Publishing's The Greek Islands. This photo- and fact-intensive guidebook is enough to convince almost anyone that a visit to Greece must not be delayed for any reason.

The Eyewitness Travel Guides believe in showing the reader exactly what to expect, rather than merely describing it. Every page shows three or more photos of interesting sites in a town or region, enhanced with maps and other illustrations. Key areas or attractions are shown in a unique "3-D" cutaway style, pointing out entrances, points of particular interest inside, and architectural details. A team of expert travel writers provide detailed information on each area mentioned.

Study this guidebook carefully, and your travels will be filled with a sense of déja vu. Prefer to be surprised? This may not be the book for you. But if you like to know exactly where you're going, "The Greek Islands" is the way to go.

In addition to these unique features, The Greek Islands also offers "The Survival Guide", a back-of-the-book section offering maps of transportation routes, general travel information, pictures of the bills and coins in widest circulation, shopping tips, and more. A handy list of Greek words covering most conceivable tourist needs is found at the end of the volume.

The Eyewitness Guide series has a few drawbacks. The intense photodetail takes up a lot of space, and listings for hotels and restaurants are limited, brief, photoless, and kept separate from the information on the location. Since DK books are not annually updated, information may not have been updated as recently as an annually published guide...or may have been revised even more frequently. There's no way of knowing. The icon system used to indicate what each facility offers is not particularly intuitive and takes some getting used to. A bird on a branch can represent a zoo or an aquarium, a single leaf indicates a hotel has a garden or a terrace, and a sunrise or sunset indicates a point of natural beauty. Fortunately, the back-cover fold-over includes an icon key to get you through the learning curve.

The Greek Islands is part of a pair of books on Greece, and so many travelers will need the companion volume Greece: Athens & the Mainland as well. Because this book is so visual, it also makes a great post-trip boasting aid to "share" with your friends, relatives, and co-workers. Although noted as a "hardcover", this book is actually a firm-covered paperback in a slim, narrow format, too big for most pockets but still easy to carry.

-deTraci Regula