Gordon McLachlan
1 good, but not wonderful
Good: Excellent writing, great pictures, and would recommend it for anyone who wants to know a little bit more about German culture and history. Alo liked the fact that it was in color.
Not Wonderful: A bit on the snobish side, not very user friendly, no immediate translations of german terms into english, the hotels are not broken up into categories, and one must do a lot of going back and forth between sections to find out particular german words and other codes. Moreover, it is geared for travelers from english speaking countries (Australia, NZ, Canada, US, UK and Ireland). Actually ommited some sights in Berlin like the new holocaust victims memorial.
Recommendations: if you want to learn more, buy this book. If you want to travel, buy Lonely planet, since it is much easier to use, has more information on sights, facilities, embassies and consulates from other non english speaking countries plus emergency medical services. Both books are good, though.
AW
2 Best of three guides to Germany I've used
I've lived, studied, and travelled a lot in Germany, and I've used three guidebooks: Let's Go (2003 edition), Lonely Planet (the two most recent editions), and this edition of the Rough Guide. The Rough Guide is the best of them hands down. For starters, it contains more text than the others: though I don't have the Let's Go on hand for comparison, the Rough Guide is almost 300 pages longer than the most recent Lonely Planet Germany, which comes in at about 800 pages. (Because of the thinner paper, however, it is almost exactly the same size as the LP.) The print is also denser and finer, so that the Rough Guide contains probably twice as much actual text as the LP. Legibility suffers a little, but it's a fair trade-off.
More words, of course, isn't necessarily better. Where the The Rough Guide beats the others is in detail and quality of information. For example, where the other guides tell you that the Frauenkirche in Dresden was the most important Protestant church in northern Germany, was destroyed in the firebombing of March 1945, and is now being rebuilt, the Rough Guide tells you also that they are doing the most painstakingly accurate restoration ever - where possible each piece has been dug up from the pile of rubble that was left as a "memorial" after the war and put back where it originally was, and only 10% of the total masory is new. That information adds a lot to your appreciation of the rebuilding of the Frauenkirche. That's just one example. Consistenly, the Rough Guide is more detailed and more authoritative on art, architecture, music, wine, you name it. The LP is by no means bad (although the Let's Go, at least the 2003 edition, is a pretty mediocre or effort), but I see no reason to carry any other guide when the Rough Guide is so clearly superior.
