Knopf Guide: Vienna

Rating:
Summary: Knopf' Guide to Vienna - A True Friend to the Traveler
Review: A short while back my wife and I treated ourselves to ten days in Vienna. We chose as our guide the Knopf Guide to Vienna. We found the guide to be complete and accurate in every way. We roamed the streets of Vienna with total confidence because of this publication. The guide's maps were accurate and incredibly easy to follow. The history of the city was most informative and afforded wonderful information for the self-guided tourist. We are planning another trip abroad and will again use one of the Knopf guides. I have used other guides in the past but find the Knopf guide to be far and above those other publications.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty but hard to use
Review: This is perhaps the worst-arranged guidebook I've encountered. It skips baseline information in preference for beautiful illustrations. There are many nuggets of information about the city's history and culture - including 11 pages on its birds and squirrels - but you're left not knowing that the city is divided into numbered districts, that you have to get your subway tickets time-stamped, and how to tip. Impractical, frustrating and not worth the room in your suitcase.