This post was contributed by Lisa Crovo Dion. Photos courtesy of DK Eyewitness Travel.
Debuting the first titles of their newly revamped Top 10 Pocket Guide, last month DK Eyewitness released guides to London, Barcelona, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Washington, D.C., New York City, Iceland, San Francisco, Rome and Berlin.
The books are compact and attractive and are literally loaded with facts, listings, and pretty photographs of the destinations.
On the heels of updating my own book San Francisco Select (now San Francisco Experience), I was able to review both the San Francisco Top 10 as well as the New York City guide.
One thing I really like about the guides was the wealth of information tightly packed into a small space that DK does so well. I’m a fan of the old-school printed map and DK delivers with sturdy, laminated maps that are easy to refold and can withstand the rigors of travel. Plus the maps are attractive, color coded, and very detailed.
I also like that they break up the first few pages of the book into suggested itineraries for Two and Four Day visits to the city, though my suggestions would have been different. J. That said, it’s hard to please a broad segment of readers.
The overall set up is like a bullet-pointed list, handy and informative and easy to access.
I was disappointed by the Off the Beaten Path section in the San Francisco book, having hoped for some new inspiration. Content-wise there were some issues. I saw at least one very outdated photo and ran across several listings of places that are no longer open, some for quite some time, and at least one instance of a shop listing in the wrong geographical area.
I’m excited to put Top 10 New York City to the street test the next time I visit. I’ve already learned tons just by reading it.
The new Top 10 Eyewitness books are attractive, high quality, and bursting with information plus while being small they stand up to being tossed into various suitcases, purses and computer bags.
Where to Buy
DK Eyewitness Travel Guides can be purchased at the DK website on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and various bookstores globally. The San Francisco and New York City titles were provided to me for review by the publisher.