Independent Travellers Greek Island Hopping 2003: The Budget Travel Guide

Rating:
Summary: don't bother
Review: Initial impressions of the book are good. The author has even included ferry timetables. Closer reading however reveals that most of the book is a waste of paper. The ferry timetables are last years which have very little bearing on the current yar - why bother including them? Additionally the author does not appear to have visited some islands and others have had only flying visits so a lot information is incorrect or sketchy in detail. To cover this lack of research he seems to make up detail some of which is wrong or just irrelevant - e.g. he has a fascination with windmills. The worst aspect of the guide is the authors negative phrasing - he does not seems to rate any island, his attitude is that some are better than others but still not up to much! Would not bother with this book.

Rating:
Summary: The best Island hopping guide available
Review: My experience of this guide book is the exact opposite of the previous reviewer. I have travelled to more than 30 islands and found the guide to be accurate and extremely useful. If you know what kind of vacation you want (quiet beaches versus lots of nightlife, for example) the pages which rate the islands are worth the price of the book. The page which shows how the various ferry lines interconnect with one another is indispensable for planning an island hopping tour. And once you get to an island the description of the island is almost always accurate. However I have found that the names of hotels and restaurants sometimes change over the winter and the guide may not have have caught up with the change. Of course, ferry timetables do change but even a one year old timetable helps you to understand whether the ferry runs everyday, or perhaps only twice a week.
Finally, the brief guide to Athens and accompanying map, is also very helpful. I highly recommend the book.

Rating:
Summary: Great detail
Review: This book provides allot more detail than your average island guide book including town maps, ferry schedules and details about numerous tourist activities. I have seen no other books with town maps such as these. Of course this level of specific details will change frequently, so reconfirm the data you find here. For instance, a previous reviewer complained that ferry schedules were a year old. Of course that is to be expected; really you should not even trust schedules more than a week old!

If you are somewhat self-sufficient and able to confirm what may be out of date, this is a great guide book. If you are not, maybe you should consider a vacation in Orlando.