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The Savvy Traveler

Don't just see Europe...experience it with The Savvy Traveler!

Want to know where you're going? Plan, plan, plan...

Many people travel but few truly have experiences. I am constantly amazed, in my conversations with friends after they return from a trip, at how many experiences they missed in their vacation destination. I have always felt that where you stay, what you eat and the unique cultural activities surrounding a destination come together to make an enriching experience. Many friends who have vacationed with us comment on the quality of their holiday due, of course, to meticulous planning on my part. Planning and organization are necessary to make the most of your time away. This is true even if you want to have a relaxing vacation because you want to do this at the right place with an environment conducive to the relaxation. Over time you will find more information on this site to help you cut down on the research required, however, I do believe that there are a few essential books that you will want use as a reference and take with you on your trip.

Over the years I have read and used a variety of travel guides but I have found the Eyewitness Travel Guides to be the absolute best. These books give you a good overview of the country or area, the history, and detailed information on the cities with maps pointing out areas of interest. They also have touring tips and cutaways of major museums, churches and historic sites to help you cover all of the areas that interest you most. For example, if you are in Paris and only have a limited time at the Louvre, your Paris Eyewitness Guide will show you where to find those famous art treasures that you absolutely do not want to miss.

I have found the back sections of the guides extremely helpful in finding hotels in the areas we want to stay and great restaurant recommendations as well. They also give you a price estimate for the various places to help fit your budget. Also in the back you will find recommendations for specialty shopping to find unique arts, crafts or antiques and locations for each.

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Public transportation in many foreign sites is very good and worth using for expediency and cost. The travel guides include information on buses, trains, metros, ferries, taxis and rental cars. There is usually a metro map or train map included for those cities and countries that have them.

If you are going to a country for the first time buy the country book. However, if you are going to concentrate on a particular area or city, buy the smaller book on that area. You will find a much more expanded amount of helpful information in the book dedicated to your exact area of interest than you will find in country book. Most major European and some other major cities in the world have their own book. In countries like the UK, France, Spain and Italy, you will find area books like Tuscany or Umbria for Italy.

For those of you who have limited time in a location or just can't handle planning and reading, Eyewitness is adding a new series of books called the Top 10 Travel Guides . This is a very condensed version of their other books highlighting the top ten sites, churches, shops, restaurants, walk, day trips--you get the drift.

The Eyewitness guides all include at least a page or two on frequently used words or phrases for the featured country or city, but if you are looking for more, they also offer travel phrase books that you can carry with you as you travel. Many countries these days speak some English in their major cities but not necessarily so in the outlying areas. These books are divided into sections based on your vacation experience such as eating out, checking in your hotel, travelling around etc. There are also conversion tables and a mini dictionary. Most people in foreign countries are appreciative of your efforts to speak their language. While I do not believe it is necessary to speak their language, learning a few words like, please and thank you, are quite worthwhile.

One more thing while we are on the Eyewitness bandwagon. They have just produced a whole new set of guides, known as e.Guides ,which bring Eyewitness Travel Guide knowledge and style to a web savvy audience.

There is one other essential and that's a good map. Many hotel desks will give them to you, but I have found the little City Popup Maps to be handy for carrying around. They have a pop up of the major part of the city and another of a larger view fanning out of the city central. The back has a convenient metro map too. Eyewitness also provides these maps as well as a number of other travel maps.