Frommer's Switzerland / Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince.

Frommer's Switzerland
by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince

travel

copyright 2010 (14th edition)

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

It's possibly better than "read to pass the time". Maybe "well worth reading" -- if you like to read a book rather than browse the web. For me, though, this book is just one of several sources.

Several good and bad points:

The book provides a list of hotels grouped by cost. Good... there are opinions. I trust the opinion in one reliable book far more than the hundreds of internet ratings provided by gruntled and disgruntled people who may or may not know something. Bad... its a very short list.

For a moment I thought that we were booked to stay in a hotel with two gay nightclubs. Good... Frommer caters for a range of travellers. When I checked, though, our hotel is just a bit further down the street.

Good... there are overviews of various areas and cities. Excellent... there are clear pointers to the "tourist value" of the various areas of the city. I have read several websites which said, for example, "Stay in the Old Town because..." then did not clearly describe the boundaries of the Old Town. Frommer is clearer.

Good... Lists of where to eat and what to visit. But websites provide similar information with full colour pictures.

Good... The book covers all of Switzerland. Bad... It is impossible to cover all of Switzerland in one book... We will spend two days in a major city that is well covered. Then we will spend a week in an area where the only mention is, that one village has mineral springs.

When we travelled to Canada -- in the days before the internet -- we had a Frommer (or equivalent) for Canada. I tore out 90% of the pages -- pages covering areas that we were not going to visit -- and left them at home. And still we carried more than we used.

For me, a travel guide book should be borrowed not bought. Read the descriptive sections, to get a broad understanding of your destination. Use the book as just one source of possible places to stay, to eat and to visit. Make a note of places that catch your fancy... Then return the book to its owner.

Treat other sources -- books and websites -- the same way. Good for pre-reading, good for ideas. Then go on your holiday -- with a lot of ideas of what you would like to do and see -- and be prepared to change your mind as you discover what your destination actually had to offer !

And enjoy your holiday, your way :-)

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