Nancy

I always take Rick Steves and tear out the portions I need (his idea). He has very good walking tours and some good accommodations (however, I had a terrible one in Bath, England and a friend who went to Italy in April liked Frommers choices better). I used Access Paris while in Paris last year and their city maps and descriptions were great. You might want to check out what they have for the countries you are visiting.<BR><BR>Another book I used was Day Trips by Earl Steinbicker for daytrips out of Paris plus within Paris. Don't know how many countries he covers.

Nancy

One item I forgot was that Rick Steves' restaurant recommendations always have turned out well.

Leslie

I also prefer the Insight Guidebooks, however, depending upon the destination, I sometimes choose other guidebooks such as Lonely Planet, Eyewitness, etc.

russ

Sally,<BR><BR>Through trial and error I have found that I like Rough Guides becase, although opinionated, their assesments seem to run along my personal tastes. They also haven a lot of detail about smaller, interesting places, with descriptions like "take a right at the dented mailbox ofter the statue of the monkey..."<BR><BR>One caveat: I always buy the most targeted Rough Guide for my destinations. If I am going to Florence, driving through Tuscany and ending up in Rome, I don't buy Italy, as you don't get enough detail for me. I buy one for Florence, one for Tuscany (which will have a Florence section, albeit, much less detailed) and one for Rome. This has the added value of making each book lighter to carry for that portion of the trip. I have never bought an Italy or France or Europe Rough Guide, so I can't comment on the detail of these more general volumes. Have a good trip!

amy

Sally: I tend to buy them all! Like many of the above posters, not all of the guides are as equally useful in all destinations. In Florence,for example,we learned that we should depend on our Blue and Cadogan guides. I don't tend to use them normally.<BR><BR>Right before the trip, I tear out the most useful sections from the most useful books and distribute them among the luggage of our family. <BR><BR>That helps with the weight, but was not a successful strategy in Florence. We were going there to study art, and one needs in-depth help to do so. I not only ended up taking many guidebooks there, but also ended up buying more in the city!<BR><BR>It's safe to say that I buy a Frommer's and Fodor's for almost every destination. To visit a specific area--the Loire or Cote d'Azure--I try to find a targeted Rough Guide and Lonely Planet. <BR><BR>Rick Steves irritates me, but his walking and museum tours are terrific. People complain that they skm the surface; in places with overwhelming history like Rome, that's precisely what one needs. In the US, Moon Publications have also been invaluable. I like the little maps LP and Moon provide.<BR><BR>Eyewitness DK guides are beautiful and present historical backgrounds wonderfully well, but they are a)heavy and b)not that handy "on the fly." I enjoy them the most before and after the trip, not during.<BR><BR>I don't like all Access guides. However, the one for Paris has provided us with the most reliable restaurant information. In fact, by cross-indexing Access, Patricia Wells and Cheap Eats, I feel very confident that I'm eating at places providing excellent food at good value.<BR><BR>For accomodations, I would never rely on Rick Steves. I like Karen Brown and for Paris, Hotels of Charm.<BR><BR>And Sally, I carry StreetWise maps for cities/areas. In fact, I usually purchase at least two for our family of four so that more than one person can help navigate.<BR><BR>

Wayne

I'm not sure most of the responders understood the exact question; or, perhaps I didn't. You said a "travel book" in the singular, and "for Europe," meaning to me the entire European continent usually targeted by vacationers. So I read your question to be a request for ONE travel book for ALL of Europe. If that is indeed what you intended, rather than the broad spectrum of more specific travel books suggested by most responders, I would have to say that Rick Steves' book is a good choice, but also any of the books by any of the major publishers (Fodor's, Frommer's, etc.) would probably be just as good.<BR><BR>The reason they are all more or less equal is that when you try to cover all of Europe in one book, you can't really do justice to any one country or area. So regardless of which single book you buy to cover all of Europe (if that is what you had in mind) you will eventually have to buy individual guidebooks for specific countries or even smaller areas within a country if you want to get some usable advice. <BR><BR>To me, the benefit of a single book on all of Europe is for the first-time traveler who doesn't have much of an idea where to go or what to do. Once you decide on a more specific destination or set of destinations, you should buy the more specific guidebooks, all of which have been recommended by the other responders. If it helps to give my suggestion for what I consider the best guidebooks available, I'll stick with Cadogan.

kavey

I tend to choose guide books for each holiday destination by going into a large and well stocked travel book section (or better still, a store like Stamfords, dedicated to travel) and flicking through the books to see which one feels right. And I usually end up with at least two if not three books for the destination as I find relevant information in each.<BR><BR>I also often go to cheap book outlet stores and browse the travel sections, and often find travel guides (latest edition not out of date ones) for very little. For example I got Patricia Wells Paris food book for &pound;3 a while back. If they are for an area which I am likely to visit I get them. Since I tend not to use them much for hotel or even restaurant recommendations, I don't mind if they are a little out of date and they are backed up by a newer guide nearer the time of the trip.<BR><BR>Looking at my travel books on the shelves above my PC I can see that my favourite series is Insight. I like the format, the essays and background and the photography.<BR><BR>Second most popular series for me is Eyewitness, and it's a very close second. Whilst some info isnt as in depth the guides are great for their visual content and inspirational in terms of making me want to see something. I love their info on architecture, with the cutaway diagrams bringing things to life.<BR><BR>Other series represented on my shelf are a few Travel Bugs, a few Fodors, a couple of AA books, only one lonely planet, a Bradt and a random assortment of other books.<BR><BR>I think the best advice is to make the decision afresh for each destination you buy books for, by looking through available books in a local store and seeing which one fits your travel and reading style the best.<BR><BR>Happy Travelling and Reading!<BR>Kavey

Sue

At the Barnes & Noble near my house, the Travel section is close to comfortable chairs, so I go and plop down for a couple of hours and look through as many as possible. I seem to end up buying more than I need! Anyway, for basic info, Rick Steves is great ( and his books are not heavy to carry around). I also like Cadogan and Frommers. Also, I have used the Earl Steinbicker "Walks" books for London and Paris, which are great. I read the books at home and copy or tear out pages to take. The only one I took with me to Paris the first time was Rick Steves - his museum tours are very helpful. I don't use his hotels, however, as I prefer a little more upscale.

Doug Weller

Not much to add.<BR><BR>I'd confirm that the picture books, such as Dorling Kindersley, tend to be best for planning and remembering. Others, such as Let's Go, are better for taking with you. The English language Michelin guide books are excellent for parts of France as is Hachette Vacances.<BR><BR>Do feel free to tear books up.<BR><BR>I don't think anyone has mentioned the Everyman Guides These are even better than DK in my opinion.<BR><BR>Time Out does some of the best city guides for food, entertainment, etc.<BR><BR>Doug

louise

I have had good luck with both the Lonely Planet and Frommers Pocket guides in the past. These are small enough to be carried in a purse or backpack.

Tess

While driving & listening to the radio earlier today, I caught a discussion on the Dianne Rehms Show (NPR, public radio station) in which she was interviewing an author (sorry, didn't catch his name) that's recently published a book called "The Art of Travel". His focus is broader than any specific guide book; rather he talks about issues on what comprises a happy vacation. Most guidebooks provide the "one size fits all" approach to travel. And that may not be of interest or suit your style. For example, one item he mentioned that he likes to do when traveling is go the local supermarket --- which, was also topic on this forum of a few months back. I'd like to pick up this guy's book. The PBS site (www.pbs.org) should provide his name.<BR>

Tess

.<BR>Found it. "The Art of Travel", written by Alain de Botton.<BR><BR>http://www.alaindebotton.com/page2.htm<BR>

Christina

Alain de Botton is speaking tonight at one of my favorite bookstores, Politics & Prose, in Washington DC, at 7 pm. If you live in the area you could go tonight and get him to autograph it!

Janice

Rick Steves are the worst - you end up visiting Europe and spending all of your time surrounded by Americans. Not exactly what I'm looking for.<BR>A great book series - but only 4 titles - The Collected Traveler. An anthology of writings, along with a very comprehensive basic information guide. Won't get you a hotel, but everything else is fascinating.