Rick Steves' Great Britain and Ireland 1998

by Rick Steves

Book Overview

From London to Edinburgh, North Wales to Dublin and Northern Ireland, this travel guide helps visitors make their way through the United Kingdom. 55 maps. Illustrations. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1562613871
• ISBN13: 9781562613877
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.5" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Tested A++ in Two Trips to Britain

In both 1998 and 1999, we travelled to Britain using Rick Steves as our primary guide. I have used other guidebooks before: Frommer, Let's Go, Rough Guides, and Lonely Planet. While I admire the detail in the latter two series, I trust Steves only in two important areas: (1) Trustworthy accommodations recommendations (he and his people really do check out the places he recommends) and (2) Useful training in the practical "how to" aspects of travel, such as how to phone home without using your overpriced American telephone credit card and how to take trains and other public transportation. The man is a serious educator: witness his entertaining PBS TV series. He is willing to make himself look like a dork to make you enjoy European travel. On the negative side, Steves' restaurant recommendations are sparse and uadventurous (though this is an area in which no one excels). Also, in selling the areas in which he is most interested, he leaves out large areas of the British Isles (especially in Scotland, where the omission of Glasgow and the Orkneys may take some explaining). In the rec.travel.europe newsgroup, Steves has legions of detractors and defenders. Mere mention of his name sets off knee-jerk flaming responses from people who do not understand him. The simple fact is this: If you follow his recommendations --particularly if you are relatively new to European travel -- you are likely to have a better time. Why? The man is not afraid to be prescriptive (instead of largely descriptive like Lonely Planet). Also, you are not likely to waste as much money, because you will weight your trip more on the side of small towns than large cities.

Practical, Useful and Handy

I'd never heard of Rich Steves before I checked out this book. After reading just the few pages I realized this book was what I had been looking for before traveling to Britain.This book has at least two excellent features: 1) everything is explained clearly and concisely, so you won't miss the important details; and 2) the author lists and recommends specific B & Bs and hotels, which can be very helpful in picking out a place to stay.[I personally value the first point a great deal. All too many travel books -- Let's Go, "Rough Guide" -- are wordy and use small fonts that just throw you off -- but this book focuses on useability and practicality, so every bit of information is esp. helpful to the first-time traveler to Great Britain. In addition, the book gets updated *annually* so (as far as I can tell) the information is very accurate.I think I have become a Rick Steves fan. I'll definitely buy his other travel books in the future.

The most entertaining and helpful series around!

I've been a fan of Rick Steves for many years and have taken his books with me on many first-time and repeat trips to various cities in Europe. His books are always helpful, concise, not overloaded with unnecessary info, very entertaining and filled with details such as hotel rates/contacts, daytrips, ratings on sights, sample itineraries and many more. I'm bringing this book with me on my 3rd trip to the UK (and have done so twice before). I would also recommend his "Mona Winks" (museum guide) and "Europe 101" (history overview).

Great Guide Book for England..

I used this guide for almost exclusively for England. The restaurant recommendations were the best - they were cheap, but good food. The attractions he recommends are great.A must if you are planning to go to England.

Excellent Guide Book for England!

This is an excellent guide book for England and Ireland. I hope the '99 edition contains more detail on Ireland.