Product Description

This title describes 1000 "must-see" spots, from beaches to museums to cathedrals to bustling markets, grand hotels to backwater inns, rugged safaris to the most pampering spas. It includes addresses, phone and fax numbers, websites, costs and best times to visit with subject-specific indexes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2605 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 972 pages

Customer Reviews

Very disappointing
This book could have been wonderful, unfortunately it's not! The layout of the book is unfriendly, specific countries do not have page numbers meaning to find eg Italy you need to flick through all of Western Europe. The entries chosen are mostly appropriate with most big name places mentioned however each is followed with a commercial plug for specific hotels or restaurants in the area leaving you wondering how some more obscure places got their mention. I'd hate to think they had paid or coerced the author but... Many places eg Fiji are mentioned because there is a flash resort on the island, meaning if you cannot afford to pay for a weeks stay at an expensive resort you won't be able to visit the place. Also a lot of the descriptions in the book sound very familiar with other travel books eg Lonely Planet making me wonder how original the text is.
I put my copy in the bin, save your money!!!

Best read with a little visual imagination
As a photographer, the lack of photography in this book does reduce its usefulness for me as a source of inspiration for travel ideas, although the sheer volume of the book probably makes it more suitable for flicking through on a rainy day anyway. The author is obviously well-travelled, and the breadth of coverage in the book is impressive, if possibly a little over-Americanised. It is fair to say that the author has done an admirable job of collating and presenting such a vast amount of information in a relatively easy-to-follow manner.

The text generally passes my informal 'wanderlust test', of giving me just the right level of information to give me some idea of the location, and enough to inspire me to find out more about it for myself, although again pictorial information alongside would tell a much more useful story, especially when Schultz describes locations such as hotels.

Did not hit the spot
I received this book for my birthday as all my friends know that I live for travel. However this book did not inspire me, as I found it catered towards the older, more moneyed readers rather than those who don't have the income for 5 star accomodation. As the majority of places listed are hotels rather than the actual places that they are based, you don't get a feel for the places she visits, which is not what travelling is about. The layout and the lack of photos made it old-fashioned, which i did not expect from the title of the book.

You are better off with the BBC places to visit before you die, as it has the photos to whet your appetite for future holidays.