The Bottom Line
Pros
- The "Survival Guide" is an information-intense, useful section
- The visual format may spoil you for traditional guidebooks.
- Cutaway drawings of key attractions are fascinating.
Cons
- Earlier editions were light on hotel information; more recent volumes include more options.
- Guides are not annually updated; some info may be out of date.
Description
- This book is part of a pair of guides on Greece; many travelers will need the companion volume for Athens & the Mainland too.
- Though noted as a "hardcover", it's actually a firmbound paperback. The slim size is easy to carry but too big for a pocket.
- Makes a great post-trip boasting aid to "share" with your friends, relatives, and co-workers.
Guide Review - Eyewitness Travel Guides: The Greek Islands
Author: No Author Listed
Publisher: DK Publishing, Inc.
Price: $24.95
ISBN Number 0-7894-1453-8
2011 Printing: 9780756670207
During a crisis in Greece, 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.
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 photo detail 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.
-deTraci Regula
