The collapse of the division between eastern and western Europe at the end of the 1980s, and the ever closer ties among the fifteen countries of the European Union, have contributed to a feeling that Europe is increasingly becoming a single entity. In part, this is a superficial analysis, but although true European unity still remains a distant dream, developments such as the introduction of the euro, the creation of the frontier-free Schengen Group and the opening of the Channel Tunnel have done much to bring it closer. The expected 2004 expansion of the EU (see box on p.vii) will no doubt contribute to the process.
Conventionally, the geographical boundaries of Europe are the Ural Mountains in the east, the Atlantic Coast in the north and west, and the Mediterranean in the south. However, within these rough parameters Europe is massively diverse. The environment changes radically within very short distances, with bleak mountain ranges never far from broad, fertile plains, and deep, ancient forests close to scattered lake systems or river gorges. Politically and ethnically, too, it is an extraordinary patchwork: Slavic peoples are scattered through central Europe from Poland in the north to Serbia and Bulgaria in the south; the Finnish and Estonian languages bear no resemblance to the tongues of their Baltic and Scandinavian neighbours, but more to that of Hungary, over 1000km south; meanwhile Romansch, akin to ancient Latin, is spoken in the valleys of southeastern Switzerland, while the Basques of the western Pyrenees have a language unrelated to any others known. These differences have become more political of late with the rise of nationalism that coincided with the fall of Communism, and borders are even now being redrawn, not always peacefully, and usually along lines of language, race or religion.
This book is a little eccentric in its definition of Europe. We have excluded countries such as Albania, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, which are too far off the beaten track to be on most people’s European “grand tour”, while of the war-torn and strife-riven republics that have been carved out of the former Yugoslavia, only Slovenia and Croatia have been included as easily accessible and currently safe to visit. On the other hand, we cover countries such as Morocco and Turkey that are not strictly part of Europe, in the main because they are easy to reach on a European tour and are included by the InterRail pass. We also have chapters on Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, though these countries are not covered by the InterRail pass.
Customer Review: Good and Bad points
I took this guide to Europe recently. A lot of the recommendations were good, but the guide is not totally useful while on the trip. For instance, the maps that they provide always seemed to cutoff where I was staying, or don’t include all of the train stations, so you don’t know how to orient yourself without getting a better map. I realize that the maps focus on the more touristed parts of town, but they do not mark the recommendations on the map, so you’re left with an address, and a crappy map that doesn’t list streets very well. Rick Steves has the tourist area maps, but he marks his recommendations on his maps, making it much easier to actually use the guide. The Rough Guide makes a lot of good recommendations, it’s not as quaint as Rick Steves, which was good for me, but Rick Steves guides are much more user friendly. Whenever we tried to find something using his guide we found it. With the Rough Guide we only found it by chance, or through looking into it on our own at a tourist offfice.
Customer Review: Indispensable Guide For Independent Budget Travellers
I used the Rough Guide Europe as my guidebook for a three-month trip through twelve countries. There are seven advantages the Rough Guide has over its competitors:
1) The breadth of coverage — 32 countries with info on tons of cities and towns, reviews/descriptions of the sights, and options for hiking, cycling, paragliding, and other adventurous pursuits.
2) Thorough listings and reviews for accommodation (hostels primarily, but also hotels and B&Bs), eating, drinking, and nightlife.
3) It’s small and weighs next-to nothing.
4) The intuitive, aesthetically-pleasing, user-friendly layout makes it easy to find what you’re looking for.
5) Fantastic maps.
6) Everyone else seems to use either Let’s Go or Lonely Planet — this is a tremendous advantage.
7) Loaded with travel details that include basic timetables for trains, buses, and ferries.
This guide book is designed for those who seek to get off the beaten path, and explore Europe on their own. Rough Guides have never let me down. More to the point, they have enriched my travels more than any other guidebook available.
If you are an independent budget traveler planning on a trek to Europe, you would be hard-pressed to find a better guidebook. Check It Out