Michelin Amsterdam Mini-Spiral Atlas No. 2036 (Michelin Maps & Atlases)

Rating:
Summary: Great Guide, but One Major Drawback
Review: I particularly like the Michelin green series of guide books because they supply an appropriate amount of information about the major sights in each city, and because they also make note of many interesting sights that are less well-known. This guide to Amsterdam is no exception, and the material covered is clearly presented and interesting. The introductory pages are also very well done --- they give just enough historical information, and they provide some nifty extras like an illustrated section on the different gable styles to be seen in Amsterdam. In spite of all this information, the guide is light enough to carry around easily too. However, the index proves to be a MAJOR drawback to this guide, which is organized not alphabetically by sights, but by districts and neighborhoods. This way of organizing the material makes sense, since you can see all the sights in one area of town at once. The problem is that there is no cross-referencing in the index. This means that if you are wandering around and you come across, say, the Koninklijk Paleis and want to read something about it, you cannot look it up since it is not listed in the index. Unless you happen to know that you are presently at the "Dam," the main area of town under which it is listed, you will not be able to locate the information. On our trip to Amsterdam, this feature drove me crazy more times than I can count, since I often wasn't sure which topic heading a particular church or museum was under. If you can deal with that great irritation, the guide is otherwise wonderful.