Switzerland Guidebook
Best ways to improve this book:
Would include a few more hotels. BTW, the train map you send with the eurorail passes is not detailed enough and fairly worthless. If someone is ordering passes for 3 particular countries send maps of just those countries with more routes.
Jeff Hirzel in Guthrie, OK USA 09/11/2011
We used a Michelin Map of Switzerland #729 and it left us in the lurch more than once. The scale was of no use. I think it would be helpful if sources for more detailed maps were included (Appenzell area, Gruyeres area, Murten area, etc.). We printed out many Goggle maps that helped us.
Jim in Scottsdale, AZ USA 07/18/2011
I usually love Rick Steves travel books but tossed the "2010 Switzerland" edition in the trash halfway through my trip because of all the cities omitted and the overemphasis on one selected small area (Gimelwald). The book was purchased online, so that I did not see the table of contents or index. Regarding cities, just because Rick or his colleagues dislike Geneva is not justification for omitting this major city in the book. Ditto Basel (Basle). In the Bernese Alps, we stayed in Interlaken and took daytrips to Murren and Grindelwald. Murren is adequately covered; Grindelwald does not appear at all. Yes, the latter is a "touristy" town but has great views and spectacular lifts and cable car rides to the higher elevations that Rick purports to love. From Murren, we hiked down to Gimelwald, which is charming tiny hamlet to visit for an hour but is not a place to stay (the few hotels and restaurants appeared closed in early June), and on rainy days finding things to do here would be a disaster. Ludicrously, the chapter on the Berner Oberland was titled "Gimelwald and the Berner Oberland," as if Gimelwald were more important than the surrounding Alps and the related towns of Wengen, Murren, Grindelwald, and Lauterbrunen. In addition, the hand-drawn map of the area had Gimelwald in much larger type than these much larger villages.
Our last stop was Locarno in the Ticino. Again, no entries for this lovely town, although Lugano was covered. Perhaps this book should be retitled "Rick Steves' Highly Selected and Idiosyncratic Guide to His Favorite Areas in Switzerland." To purport to be a general guidebook, as the title implies, is unfair to readers.
Charlotte F. in Philadelphia, PA USA 06/21/2011
Report fact that in Switzerland, second-hand smoke is even worse than in France, which is to say, pretty awful.
Stuart in Kirsh, CA USA 10/05/2010
Add Marthahaus in Bern to your list of places to stay. Great location - very close to the old city that can be accessed on foot or with a bicycle (they loan them). Good price for the room, and very good breakfast.
Traci Drake in Tacoma, WA USA 10/02/2010
Offer more higher end accommodations for those of us not traveling on a shoe-string budget.
Gail Hennessey in Harpursville, NY USA 09/23/2010
Hotel Murtenhof & Krone in Murten: Nice place but owners profiteered unfairly from their mistake - a cautionary note for your readers. (I've been traveling for over 40 years, and this is first time I've been irate enough to complain.) I called several days in advance for Friday arrival and was told only room available was large double @240SF, breakfast included. Upon arrival I was told that, due to computer error, there was no record of many reservations, including mine. They would, however be able to lodge me in a "partner hotel", the Adler, at the other end of the old town, and that I would walk to their hotel for breakfast. I was also explicitly told that I could park for free at their outdoor location, or for a fee indoors( I chose outdoors). When we saw the room we found it unacceptable (dingy, uncontrolled access directly from street with no reception desk, and walls painted with murals by local artists - some might have found it amusing but we found ours tasteless and offensive. Initial response to our complaint was that this represented "upgrade" as it contained a kitchenette (useless to us). I was then offered possibility to relocate to Krone Hotel for 2nd night of our stay. I asked about rate and was told it was 200SF. We did relocate for the 2nd night, for which we were charged 240SF even though I do not believe it was one of the large rooms that command the higher rate. We were also charged 240SF for the 1st night. When I questioned that I was told that the room rate of 200SF did not include breakfast. ( That room, including breakfast should have been well below the rooms at the Krone, and if I'd been told that I'd be charged a price gouging 20SF per person, I certainly would not have walked to the other end of town when the Adler was situated on "restaurant row" where far more reasonable breakfast could be had.) Additionally, I was charged 18 SF for each night's parking. I understand and accept that booking errors occur from time to time. I do not find the way they handled their mistake to have been acceptable.
While I'm already writing, I will offer the opinion, for what it's worth, that two of your sightseeing recommendations are overstated: -Side trip from Murten to Avenches to see Roman ruins -Gandria, on Lake Lugano, has pretty setting but hardly the romantic fishing village. =Appenzell was definitely worthwhile and great base for easy hikes, but please don't call it "authentic".
Bill in New York, NY USA 08/30/2010
Your books were absolutely critical to making this trip all it could be. I cannot imagine how much less organized we would have been or the things we would have missed.
Alan Nakamura in Crestwood, KY USA 05/15/2010
Add numbers to the self-guided walks in the maps.
Cece Chen in Phoenix, AZ USA 04/04/2010
See tips and corrections above.
william traester in simsbury, ct USA 11/11/2009
Make sure to note in the text, to check the online corrections. We didn't know about it.
Rita Hester & Claire Appelmans in Santa Cruz, CA USA 10/05/2009
i have a really hard time tearing up a book but i had a harder time justifying carrying all the weight of the guide books. little by little your books became smaller as my backpack became heavier. so have you ever thought of doing a series of books where the pages could be removed for use and then replaced after the use. notebook style or something?
cheryl runyan in bozeman, mt USA 09/28/2009
My travel companion and I live far apart, so, we both bought this guidebook and brought both copies with us. Both books lost pages before we even started traveling! There is apparently a problem with the binding. We took the Golden Pass based on the recommendation in the book. When we arrived at Montreux, we were left with no advice on finding the TI and the Lake. Please add a sentence or two about turning left and looking for the stairs/lift to the lake level on the right and taking another left from the stairs/life to find the TI. Everyone disappeared from the station area in a hurry and we couldn't find a sign post or anything in the guidebook to point us in the correct direction. We also couldn't find the crepe stands along the lake as suggested by the book. The TI lady said there weren't any.
Barbara Danzig in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL United States 09/25/2009
I know everyone says that if you go to Switzerland you must go to the Alps, and I agree. However, I think some of the smaller towns and cities are also really fun to visit, especially for those who have never been to Europe. I especially found Fribourg and Vevey very charming and French, which was a neat culture change to see, and the cathedral in Fribourg is worth a mention as it is phenomenal.
Kimberly Tays in Saint Petersburg, FL USA 09/15/2009
I think you should be more candid about the expense of visiting Switzerland. Is Switzerland worth ANY price? I don't think so, and the current weak value of the dollar vs. the Swiss Franc makes an already expensive country prohibitively expensive. As a rough guide, figure on everything in Switzerland costing twice what you're used to in America. Until this situation improves, I think those with a specific interest in seeing Switzerland should nip in for the highlights (like say a few days in the Berner Oberland), and then escape to other, more affordable (but still expensive) European countries. It is difficult to have a good time in any country where you feel very poor.
Dave in Philadelphia, PA USA 09/10/2009
Include more reasonable restaurants like Manora. 25-30 SFR is difficult to pay for more than 2X per wk for those of us on a budget. Otherwise excellent guidebk.
JS in Walnut Creek, Ca USA 07/29/2009
id consider adding a section on basel- lovely city, lots of great art and culture....
amir USA 07/26/2009
See my notes on Italy book regarding three ring approach to select relevant sections.
Barry Blodgett in Cary, IL USA 07/07/2009