The Rough Guide to Germany (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)
Review
”Ã?Â?Thorough, solid, carefully researched and full of interesting reading.Ã?Â?” - The Independent
–The Independent
Review
”Â?Thorough, solid, carefully researched and full of interesting reading.Â?” - The Independent
Buy The Rough Guide to Germany (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback) at Amazon
The sixth edition of the Rough Guide to Germany was hands-down the best English-language guide to the country available, but being published in 2004, it was quite out of date. So here comes the seventh edition. Actually, though Amazon says it’s the seventh edition, the book itself indicates it’s the first edition. What gives?
Turns out, this newest edition appears to be a complete rewrite of the RG to Germany, so much so that RG decided to “reset” the edition number. Frankly, the guide did NOT need a rewrite, just an update. The quality of the writing in the sixth edition was superb, far superior to its competitors. This newest edition is still the best of the bunch, but it disappoints in some ways.
The “Things Not to Miss” list is a clue. Of course, these “best of” lists are necessarily subjective, but it gives an indication of the writers’ depth of knowledge and, well, their tastes. Top of the 2004 edition’s list: Bamberg; top of the 2009 edition’s list: Romantische Strasse towns. Now, nothing against Rothenburg ob der Tauber and similar towns on the Romantic Road, but they’re incredibly touristy, especially during the daytime in the tourist peak season. Are they worth your time? Perhaps. But you didn’t necessarily need a guidebook to highlight what was already one of Germany’s best-known destinations. Bamberg, on the other hand, is a revelation. Perhaps Germany’s most magnificent small city, it has extraordinary architecture (from almost every period, too), a perfect setting on hills and the Regnitz river, a rich history, great beer at an astounding number of local breweries (trust me, I know), all enlivened by a large student body. Maybe 1 or 2% of English-speaking tourists who go to Germany ever make it to Bamberg, all the more reason for highlighting it in a “Best of” list.
Perhaps I’m making too much of the “best of” list. But there’s another “change” for the worse: the page count has shrunken from almost 1100 in the 2004 edition to under 900 in the 2009 edition. (The page size and font seem to be the same or similar.) Inevitably, cuts have been made. Though I didn’t make detailed side-by-side comparisons, reviews on the Amazon UK site indicate that some of the smaller (but nevertheless very worthwhile) sights got cut out. That’s too bad, as one of the best things about the 2004 edition was its inclusion of some places that the other guides did not have.
Most of this review has probably sounded quite negative, but perhaps that’s a little unfair. This edition suffers only in comparison to its predecessor; it is still a better bet than its English-language competitors. I just wish Rough Guide had simply updated the sixth edition, rather than reinventing what was a very fine wheel.