John's Photo Gallery- Amazon.com Suggested Travel Books:Italy

John's Photo Gallery-- Amazon.com Suggested Travel Books.

Suggested Guide Books For The Mediterranean

I am in love with Mediterranean Europe. Spain, Italy, the French Riviera and Greece. All of those countries have their own splendor and glory. Each one is unique. Each one is impressive. And if you have the time and the money, it is quite enjoyable to start in one: lets say start in Spain and work your way across to Greece.

Without a good guidebook, you are bound to be overwhelmed with everything to see. A good guidebook can help you organize your trip so it is the most economical both for time and money. If you are planing to spend time in one country, say Italy or Spain you may want a guidebook for just that country. However, if you plan on visiting several countries, it may be wise to get a guidebook for Europe as a whole and select what you want to see then specialize from there.

I have included several guidebooks that fellow travelers have recommended to me in traveling through Europe.
These guidebooks are good for numerous reasons for which I will elaborate on below. To order a book, click on the title and you will be taken to the Amazon.com web site.
Book Title Comments

The Lonely Planet
Mediterranean Europe 2005   This mega guide includes any destination imaginable in Mediterranean Europe. Has pictures, history, hotel and dining information. It is very popular among travelers. I have met some of their researchers and they do a very good job of updating the listings and fining new places to eat and sleep.

Rick Steve's Europe Through The Back Door 06    Steves' book talks about the top sites to see in Europe. Using his "back door" philosophy, Steves' gives you the best budget inn, restaurants and hidden wonders of these marvelous cities and sites. Steves' provides a synopsis of what is worth seeing and what is should be avoided. Steves' provides travel tips for these sites, and inclusive histories including why these sites are SO important.
   I like this guide book because it combines accommodations, attractions, connections and restaurants all in one convenient, pocket sized book that is easy to carry around. Steves' also gives talks about the most economical accommodations, and since he visits once a year, he has current prices, as well as includes his own views on the accommodations. You can just copy (or he suggests rip out) the sections of the book you want since this is a book for all of Europe.
Rick Steve's Best of Europe 06

Contains the best places to go in Europe, including the Mediterranean. Again, I'd just copy the pages of the places I would want to go (What I tend to do on long trips is to just copy pages of places I will be going out of his individual country guides) Steves' combines the 90 most popular destinations in his guidebooks into this one mega guide. Steves' provides the low down on budget travel, accommodations and site seeing. Steves' covers the major attractions, as well as the hidden wonders of each country.
   I like this guide book because it combines accommodations, attractions, connections and restaurants all in one convenient, pocket sized book that is easy to carry around. Steves' also gives talks about the most economical accommodations, and since he visits once a year, he has current prices, as well as includes his own views on the accommodations. This book is useful if you will be traveling through several European countries.

Mediterranean by Cruise Ship:
The Complete Guide
to Mediterranean Cruising   Many people choose to go by boat, hitting major ports of call. This book sounds very good, provides you with the info that you need to know. A lot of people I have talked to have taken boat tours and really enjoyed them. (Its not for me though)

Eyewitness Travel Guide
to Cruise Guide to Europe
& The Mediterranean Many people like this book because of its detailed pictures. It lets you know what to expect before you get there.

The Rough Guide
Mediterranean Europe Like the other rough guides, this one provides history of cities, cultural information, major tourist sites and accommodations. I really enjoy traveling with the rough guide and find it useful for not only cheap places to stay but for its dialog about little, hole in the wall sites. This past spring I was getting an updated guide book but wasn't sure which one to get. After comparing this with the lonely planet, I decided to update my old rough guide with new one. It has a greater number of hotel and hostel listings. Again, both are good books. Another thought you should think of is most travelers do have the Lonely Planet, so you may want its rival to avoid "most travelers. (After saying that, this appears to be out of print.

Book Title	Comments
The Lonely Planet Mediterranean Europe 2005	This mega guide includes any destination imaginable in Mediterranean Europe. Has pictures, history, hotel and dining information. It is very popular among travelers. I have met some of their researchers and they do a very good job of updating the listings and fining new places to eat and sleep.
Rick Steve's Europe Through The Back Door 06	Steves' book talks about the top sites to see in Europe. Using his "back door" philosophy, Steves' gives you the best budget inn, restaurants and hidden wonders of these marvelous cities and sites. Steves' provides a synopsis of what is worth seeing and what is should be avoided. Steves' provides travel tips for these sites, and inclusive histories including why these sites are SO important. I like this guide book because it combines accommodations, attractions, connections and restaurants all in one convenient, pocket sized book that is easy to carry around. Steves' also gives talks about the most economical accommodations, and since he visits once a year, he has current prices, as well as includes his own views on the accommodations. You can just copy (or he suggests rip out) the sections of the book you want since this is a book for all of Europe.
Rick Steve's Best of Europe 06
Contains the best places to go in Europe, including the Mediterranean. Again, I'd just copy the pages of the places I would want to go (What I tend to do on long trips is to just copy pages of places I will be going out of his individual country guides) Steves' combines the 90 most popular destinations in his guidebooks into this one mega guide. Steves' provides the low down on budget travel, accommodations and site seeing. Steves' covers the major attractions, as well as the hidden wonders of each country. I like this guide book because it combines accommodations, attractions, connections and restaurants all in one convenient, pocket sized book that is easy to carry around. Steves' also gives talks about the most economical accommodations, and since he visits once a year, he has current prices, as well as includes his own views on the accommodations. This book is useful if you will be traveling through several European countries.
Mediterranean by Cruise Ship: The Complete Guide to Mediterranean Cruising	Many people choose to go by boat, hitting major ports of call. This book sounds very good, provides you with the info that you need to know. A lot of people I have talked to have taken boat tours and really enjoyed them. (Its not for me though)

Eyewitness Travel Guide to Cruise Guide to Europe & The Mediterranean	Many people like this book because of its detailed pictures. It lets you know what to expect before you get there.
The Rough Guide Mediterranean Europe	Like the other rough guides, this one provides history of cities, cultural information, major tourist sites and accommodations. I really enjoy traveling with the rough guide and find it useful for not only cheap places to stay but for its dialog about little, hole in the wall sites. This past spring I was getting an updated guide book but wasn't sure which one to get. After comparing this with the lonely planet, I decided to update my old rough guide with new one. It has a greater number of hotel and hostel listings. Again, both are good books. Another thought you should think of is most travelers do have the Lonely Planet, so you may want its rival to avoid "most travelers. (After saying that, this appears to be out of print.

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