Frommer's Europe^®, 8th Edition

by Darwin Porter; Danforth Prince; Suzanne Rowan Kelleher; Joseph S. Lieber; Herbert Bailey Livesey; George McDonald; Sherry Marker; Hana Mastrini; Sascha Segan; Christina Shea

• ISBN13: 9780764568916
• ISBN10: 0764568914
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-08-01
• Publisher: Frommers

Summary

Whether youa??re a first-time visitor doing the grand tour or a seasoned traveler planning a multi-country itinerary, Frommera??s Europe is a must. Inside this concise, user-friendly volume are all the highlights of the continent. Wea??ve included a wide array of options, from grand hotels to charming and affordable guesthouses, from five-star dining rooms to simple cafes-the very best in every price range. Therea??s something here for every taste, interest, and budget. Just because wea??re covering such a wide territory doesna??t mean that wea??ve skimped on the details. Youa??ll find an astounding depth of accurate, up-to-date information, including exact prices, open hours, metro stops, credit cards, and more. Wea??ll take you to the legendary cultural capitals of Europe, where we offer complete sightseeing, shopping, and nightlife coverage and review the best accommodations and dining in all price ranges, from the Ritz on down. But we dona??t stop there. Wea??ve designed easy-to-follow itineraries that explore the most unforgettable parts of the European countryside. Frommera??s Europe takes you to the vineyards and chateaux of the Loire Valley, the lovely villages of Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon, the hill towns of Tuscany, and the spectacular scenery of the Alps. Ita??s all accompanied by detailed maps. Youa??ll also find the latest trip-planning advice on everything from bargain airfares to rail passes, money-saving tips, and a color fold-out rail map that makes trip-planning a snap!

Author Biography

A team of veteran travel writers, Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince have produced numerous titles for Frommer's, including best-selling guides to Italy, France, the Caribbean, England, and Germany. Porter, a former bureau chief of the Miami Herald, is also a Hollywood biographer. His most recent releases are The Secret Life of Humphrey Bogart and Katharine the Great, the latter a close-up of the private life of the late Katharine Hepburn. Prince was formerly employed by the Paris bureau of the New York Times, and is today president of Blood Moon Productions and other media-related firms. Suzanne Rowan Kelleher is a freelance travel writer and the former Europe Editor of Travel Holiday magazine. She has traveled extensively in Ireland, is married to an Irishman, and currently lives in County Dublin. She is the author of Frommer's Ireland and a co-author of Frommer's Europe from $70 a Day. All four of Joseph S. Lieber's grandparents emigrated from Eastern Europe at the turn of the 20th century, settling in New York City, where he was born and raised. Mr. Lieber lived in Hungary for several years in the early 1990s. He presently practices law in Boston and is the co-author of Frommer's Budapest and the Best of Hungary and Frommer's Europe from $70 a Day. Herbert Bailey Livesey is the author or co-author of 10 travel guides (including Frommer's New England, Frommer's Canada, and Frommer's Montreal and Quebec City), a novel about deep-sea sportfishing, and several books on education and sociology. His articles have appeared in Travel + Leisure, Food and Wine, and Playboy. George McDonald has lived and worked in both Amsterdam and Brussels as deputy editor of the KLM in-flight magazine and as editor-in-chief of the Sabena in-flight magazine. Now a freelance journalist and travel writer, he has written extensively on both the Netherlands and Belgium for magazines and guidebooks. He's the author of Frommer's Amsterdam, Frommer's Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp, and Frommer's Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg, and a co-author of Frommer's Europe from $70 a Day. Sherry Marker's love of Greece began when she majored in classical Greek at Harvard. She has studied at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and studied ancient history at the University of California at Berkeley. Author or co-author of a number of Frommer's guides to Greece, she has published articles in the New York Times, Travel + Leisure, and Hampshire Life. Hana Mastrini is a native of the western Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary who became a veteran of the "Velvet Revolution" as a student in Prague in 1989. She began contributing to Frommer's guides while helping her husband, John, better understand his new home in the Czech Republic. Sascha Segan, a freelance writer, is a columnist on air travel and destinations for Frommers.com. He is the author of Frommer's Fly Safe, Fly Smart and has contributed to many Frommer's guides. In his spare time, he writes about gadgets for technology magazines. He lives in New York City. Christina Shea served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Hungary and subsequently directed Peace Corps language-training programs in Lithuania and Kyrghyzstan. She's the author of the novel Moira's Crossing (St. Martin's) and a co-author of Frommer's Budapest and the Best of Hungary and Frommer's Europe from $70 a Day.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	viii
What's New in Europe	1	(2)
Planning Your Trip to Europe	3	(41)
by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
Number, Please: Calling Europe	6	(1)
1 Visitor Information	7	(3)
2 Entry Requirements &
Customs	10	(3)
3 Money	13	(3)
The World's Greatest Financial Merger: The Euro	14	(2)
4 When to Go	16	(7)
What Time Is It, Anyway?	17	(1)
Europe Calendar of Events	18	(5)
5 Active & Other Special-Interest Vacations	23	(2)
6 Health & Insurance	25	(1)
7 Specialized Travel Resources	26	(3)
8 Planning Your Trip Online	29	(3)
Vigilance Overseas: Leave the Ten-Gallon Hat at Home	29	(3)
9 Getting There	32	(4)
Flying for Less: Tips for Getting the Best Airfares	34	(2)
10 Getting Around	36	(5)
Train Trip Tips	38	(2)
The Rules of the Road: Driving in Europe	40	(1)
11 Tips on Accommodations	41	(3)
1 Austria	44	(59)
by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
1 Vienna	44	(27)
Native Behavior	48	(3)
Fast Facts: Vienna	51	(8)
Coffeehouses & Cafes	59	(2)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	61	(9)
Wine Tasting in the Heurigen	70	(1)
2 Salzburg	71	(17)
Fast Facts: Salzburg	74	(5)
Cafe Society	79	(3)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	82	(6)
3 Innsbruck & Tyrol	88	(15)
Fast Facts: Innsbruck	91	(12)
2 Belgium	103	(41)
by George McDonald
1 Brussels	103	(27)
Native Behavior	104	(5)
Fast Facts: Brussels	109	(10)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	119	(1)
A Cool Little Guy	120	(10)
2 Bruges	130	(9)
3 Ghent	139	(5)
3 The Czech Republic	144	(48)
by Nana Mastrini
1 Prague	144	(27)
Fast Facts: Prague	151	(3)
Native Behavior	154	(3)
A Few Dining Warnings	157	(3)
Kavarna Society	160	(2)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	162	(9)
2 West Bohemia & the Spas	171	(21)
Spa Cures & Treatments	174	(14)
Visiting Plzen, the Birthplace of Beer	188	(4)
4 Denmark	192	(26)
by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
1 Copenhagen	192	(24)
Fast Facts: Copenhagen	198	(10)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	208	(1)
Copenhagen's Little Mermaid	209	(3)
Native Behavior	212	(4)
2 Day Trips from Copenhagen	216	(2)
5 England	218	(71)
by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
1 London	218	(43)
Discount Passes for Public Transportation	221	(2)
Fast Facts: London	223	(18)
Where to Have a Cuppa Tea	241	(3)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	244	(14)
The Pub Crawl, London Style	258	(3)
2 Oxford & Stratford-upon-Avon	261	(14)
Calling on Churchill at Blenheim Palace	267	(7)
A Visit to Warwick Castle	274	(1)
3 Stonehenge & Bath	275	(14)
Two More Magnificent Houses: Longleat House & Stourhead	286	(3)
6 France	289	(89)
by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
1 Paris	289	(40)
Fast Facts: Paris	295	(17)
The Top Cafes	312	(1)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	313	(14)
Native Behavior	327	(2)
2 The Loire Valley Chateaux	329	(15)
3 Provence & the Cote d'Azur	344	(34)
7 Germany	378	(83)
by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
1 Berlin	378	(33)
Fast Facts: Berlin	383	(14)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	397	(2)
Native Behavior	399	(9)
Come to the Cabaret!	408	(3)
2 Munich & the Bavarian Alps	411	(33)
Fast Facts: Munich	416	(9)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	425	(8)
What's Brewing at the Beer Halls?	433	(3)
Outdoors in the Bavarian Alps	436	(8)
3 The Romantic Road	444	(17)
8 Greece	461	(85)
by Sherry Marker
1 Athens	461	(38)
Fast Facts: Athens	470	(16)
Rising Stars in the Psirri District	486	(1)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	487	(12)
2 Delphi & the Northern Peloponnese	499	(22)
3 The Cyclades	521	(25)
Fast Facts: Mykonos	526	(8)
Fast Facts: Santorini	534	(6)
Fast Facts: Tinos	540	(6)
9 Hungary	546	(32)
by Joseph S. Lieber & Christina Shea
1 Budapest	546	(32)
Fast Facts: Budapest	554	(4)
Native Behavior	558	(6)
Coffeehouse Culture	564	(1)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	565	(6)
Music for a Summer Evening	571	(7)
10 Ireland	578	(55)
by Suzanne Rowan Kelleher
1 Dublin	578	(34)
Fast Facts: Dublin	584	(14)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	598	(5)
Native Behavior: The Art of Pouring Guinness	603	(9)
2 Kerry & the Dingle Peninsula	612	(21)
11 Italy	633	(89)
by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
1 Rome	633	(34)
Fast Facts: Rome	637	(9)
The Cafe Scene	646	(5)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	651	(16)
2 Florence	667	(22)
Fast Facts: Florence	671	(10)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	681	(8)
3 Highlights of the Tuscan & Umbrian Countryside	689	(11)
4 Venice	700	(22)
Fast Facts: Venice	704	(4)
The Cafe Scene	708	(5)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	713	(9)
12 The Netherlands	722	(41)
by George McDonald
1 Amsterdam	722	(34)
Native Behavior	726	(4)
Fast Facts: Amsterdam	730	(12)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	742	(7)
Checking Out the Red Light District	749	(7)
2 Environs of Amsterdam	756	(3)
3 Delft	759	(2)
4 Leiden	761	(2)
13 Norway	763	(27)
by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
1 Oslo	763	(17)
Fast Facts: Oslo	768	(10)
Native Behavior	778	(2)
2 Bergen & the Fjords	780	(10)
14 Portugal	790	(46)
by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
1 Lisbon & Environs	790	(28)
Fast Facts: Lisbon	795	(12)
Native Behavior	807	(1)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	807	(8)
The Quintessential Lisbon Experience: Fado	815	(3)
2 The Algarve	818	(18)
15 Scotland	836	(57)
by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
1 Edinburgh & Environs	836	(26)
Fast Facts: Edinburgh	841	(6)
Native Behavior	847	(3)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	850	(5)
Britannia: The People's Yacht	855	(7)
2 Glasgow	862	(16)
Fast Facts: Glasgow	865	(13)
3 Tayside & Grampian	878	(15)
Playing the World's Oldest Course	885	(5)
Spotting Nessie	890	(3)
16 Spain	893	(82)
by Sascha Segan & Herbert Bailey Livesey
1 Madrid	893	(32)
Fast Facts: Madrid	898	(10)
Tapa to Tapa to Tapa	908	(5)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	913	(12)
2 Barcelona	925	(27)
Fast Facts: Barcelona	930	(11)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	941	(11)
3 Andalusia & the Costa del Sol	952	(23)
Splendid Strolls	959	(16)
17 Sweden	975	(26)
by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
1 Stockholm & Environs	975	(26)
Fast Facts: Stockholm	979	(2)
Native Behavior	981	(10)
Sightseeing Suggestions for First-Time Visitors	991	(10)
18 Switzerland	1001	(44)
by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
1 Geneva	1001	(19)
Fast Facts: Geneva	1006	(12)
Exploring Geneva's Parks & Gardens	1018	(2)
2 Bern & the Berner Oberland	1020	(25)
Glaciers in the Sky: A Trip to Jungfraujoch	1034	(11)
Index	1045