I like pictures. I understand a place I am visiting when I see it and not just have it described in words. This series of books are idea for those of us who want to know the history and context of what we're seeing. More than a Lonely Planet Guide to the best hostels in the world, this series provides a comprehensive guide to what to see and why.

This book looks nice, feels nice, and I suppose might taste nice. However, after living in Turkey for a year I found this book to be lacking in practical information. Eyewitness guides seemed to be geared more towards the tourist-on-a-tour rather than a person trying to make it on their own. There are three reasons I say this:
1) The hotel information is mainly for nicer establishments and there are not many listed.
2) The pictures are really nice, but there is not a lot of cultural, historical, or instructional information.
3) The book is really heavy making it a pain to carry around.

I also owned the Lonely Planet Turkey book and loved it, I would recommend it over the Eyewitness Guide. It got me to where I wanted to go and I found most of the information to be accurate. People I worked with also liked the Rough Guide of Turkey.

One other suggestion, if you are just headed to Istanbul, or plan to be in the country for a long period of time I would purchase both a Turkey guide and an Istanbul guide in order to save having to carry around a huge guidebook to the entire country.

If you like the ancient and modern Turkey, this book is for you. Beautiful descriptions and useful maps. It makes your trip to my country very pleasant.

Turkey (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
My husband and I love to travel. We like to take at least two long trips per year. From all different travel guides we like the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides best.

The guide has beautiful pictures, but I found it a little lacking in content, especially for the Ephesus area. If you are going on a cruise and stopping in Kusadasi as we did, we wanted information on the Kusadasi and Ephesus areas, including how to navigate ourselves through town, what the highlights are (where to focus our time) and how to get there, as well as some historical and background information. The little information this book did provide on Ephesus was something any taxi driver could have told us.

The guide has beautiful pictures, but I found it a little lacking in content, especially for the Ephesus area. If you are going on a cruise and stopping in Kusadasi as we did, we wanted information on the Kusadasi and Ephesus areas, including how to navigate ourselves through town, what the highlights are (where to focus our time) and how to get there, as well as some historical and background information. The little information this book did provide on Ephesus was something any taxi driver could have told us.

Difficult to find a guide that feels strong for multiple cities if you are hitting more than one! This one really manages to do so quite nicely. It gave us sufficient information to lead us in the direction of some incredible finds...

I purchased this book a week before departure so it was hard to almost impossible to read it all before leaving.
But things were just fine, as I came up to something or concerns or words I don't understand, I just looked it up in the index and I found almost anything I was looking for.
The basic information is very good. I love the detailed maps of the mosques. It really gave me a perfect idea of where I was and what I was about to see.
The maps were rather general, because my hotel wasn't in the map, and it was a bit hard to tell the taxi to go there. But it helped a lot at least to get around by foot and not getting lost. The metro guide is excellent.
I love the end part where the book shows some basic phrases in Turkish. I actually used it very often to get around and be friendly with local people.
My trip was very enjoyable and successful, and I appreciate having this "royal and helpful partner"
Thanks!

For the average tourist taking one guide book on their trip to Turkey, this book is a must! It is clearly laid out and easy to use. I have given it as a gift several times.

I hate to be the one to rain on DK's parade, but I don't care for it at all. I have been to Turkey before and, as my old books were out of date, I thought I would try an Eyewitness Guide, a series I've not used before.

There is lots of info in this guide, but it is delivered with all the flair of a biology textbook. The facts are there, but there is nothing to stir anticipation. There is nothing that makes you say: "Wow--I want to go there". Its hotel and restaurant recommendations, very important for independent travel, are almost nonexistent, and those there are, are almost all upper end stuff. There is no interest in the ambiance of a place--there is more emphasis on whether there is a TV in the room. I'm far more interested in a hotel's great view or a restaurant being trypcal of the region. The cuisine of Turkey is one of the reasons to visit, but food and drink are hardly mentioned. There isn't even a menu translation, an invaluable feature, unless you always eat at tour bus restaurants with english menus.

I will say that DK's maps and photos are outstanding, but that's not enough to recommend it. It's back to LP for me.

Mike Harrel

An excellent guide for an overall basic picture, beautifully presented. No in depth cultural coverage but excellent source of basic general information

I do love Eyewitness guides. They cost more, but they really do have a format that is easy to use. I like them not only for quick trips but for longer stays, too. The one on Turkey does not disappoint.

This handy book is absolutely beautiful. I especially like the maps of the Mosques, Sultanahmet and the numerous colored photos and short synopses of the places we will visit. I'm tagging all of the cities we will visit on our tour. It makes our travel come alive.

I'm very please at how prompt the delivery was

The Eyewitness Travel Guide of Turkey is outstanding! It totally comprehensive, tons of pictures and diagrams. Maps of all kinds abound! It is well organized and crammed with details, but compact in size. It contains older data like history and recent guides to restaurants, hotels, shopping and entertainment. Simply read through its 365 pages and you will have a great preview of Turkey!

Traveling without doing any research is a recipe for sub-par trips and missing many things that you would want to see if only you knew where to look. The problem with most travel guides, though, is that they are great sources of information on hotels, restaurants, and other attractions but they have few pictures if any. Yet, when you travel to a place such as Turkey, there are many locales that have great visual appeal. How can you possibly select or prioritize among them without seeing pictures?

This is where the Eyewitness Travel Guides come in handy. This guide provides a fairly comprehensive package of details about hotels etc., but it also has many beautiful photos to help you see which sights are most worth visiting. You'll find photos of the cities and their architecture, the countryside, and much more. The book is an excellent guide and can definitely help you decide what you want to see while visiting Turkey. I highly recommend purchasing it along with a book, such as Frommer's, that will delve more deeply into restaurants and hotels to get a truly comprehensive comination of source material to help you plan your trip.

I am unable to praise or criticize this book because Amazon has not sent it to me though I ordered it on 5 August 2005.

This is a reasonably comprehensive travel guide to Turkey. All regions of the country are well covered, with lots of good information on local sites and amenities. It is small enough for travel and is up-to-date. It also includes good basic maps.

DK's Eyewitness Travel Guides are perfect for your next vacation or they can be illustrated journeys into new worlds you wish you could visit. These guides help me to understand the world and the 1,200 photographs, illustrations and maps in the Eyewitness Turkey Guide are stunning in beauty. I loved the two page spread of the Library of Celsus (one of the most famous Roman sites in Turkey) that is still standing after an earthquake.

While reading you enter into a world of bathing pools with the remains of marble columns, Medieval castles, Turkish baths, old harbors with remnants of city walls, waterfalls, modern cities, underground cities, rock-cut monasteries, outdoor markets, Roman mosaics, cathedrals with unique architecture, mosques with beautiful gardens and palaces.

I'd love to walk through the Topkapi Palace, which is now a public museum. The authors explain how you need to take guided tours through various sections, so that is helpful information to know before you plan a trip.

If you are interested in Turkish music, you can read about the traditional instruments. I'm currently listening to "Art of the Turkish Ud" and the album "Ahenk Turkish Classical Music" has me intrigued.

The main chapters:

Introducing Turkey - This section paints a portrait of Turkey by exploring beguiling seascapes, brooding mountains and the tranquility of lakes. Pictures hint at the beauty of the sapphire water and ancient ruins. You will want to jump into these pictures and soak up the sun. You can read about the history of Turkey and read about the Hellenistic Age and The Byzantine Empire.

Istanbul Area by Area - This section shows you how Turkey's largest city is divided into four sightseeing areas. There are street-by-street maps, story boxes to explore specific subjects in detail and suggested routes for walking through the city.

Turkey Region by Region - The rest of the country is divided into seven regions and each has its own chapter. Pictorial maps, town maps, the top sights and detailed information makes this a fascinating study.

Travelers' Needs - A section with information on where to stay, where to eat, shopping and entertainment. You can choose to stay in an opulent palace or a smaller summer house. You could even sleep out under the stars.

The authors explain how you can get great deals by paying cash and explore a variety of exciting entertainment locations, like ski resorts, whitewater rafting, pony trekking or sailing. It sounds romantic to take a rail tour or to explore ruins. There is a survival guide section explaining customs, etiquette, currency and how to use a card phone.

Perfect for the armchair traveler or for planning a trip to Turkey. This is one of my favorite DK guides. It truly awakens the traveling spirit and encourages you to think about journeying out into the world.

~The Rebecca Review

I'm a fan of DK publications in general, and their style is well suited for these 'big picture' Eyewitness travel guides. The maps, photos, illustrations and contexts excel at giving you the bird's eye view of what is outstanding in Turkey.

My travels are mostly to Istanbul, but I wanted a pictorial that included the many other notable regions of Turkey. DK Turkey whet's my appetite and also serves as a good reference for showing others about my desination.

It can't compare to being there, but it'll make you want to go.