Customer Reviews

Berlitz: Zakynthos & Kefalonia Pocket Guide (Berlitz Pocket Guides)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This guide is exactly what it says - a pocket version - and that fact must be considered if other than very basic reference material related to the islands is required. If your requirement is for a comprehensive guide to either or both of the islands I would recommend the selection of a much larger 'full' edition or an island specific volume. It is worth noting that either of these choices is likely to be much more expensive than this pocket version and it is evident that some of the so-called 'specialist' guides available are not regularly updated. Overall this guide is adequate for what it is, but no more.

this book is ok for a quick flick through but thats all, not a good book to be honest. Tells you to drink water from the taps in greece as they are fine and its economical - when we went to greece we found the locals drank bottled water! Didn't give much information on resorts - it had a few lines about Tsilivi saying it was awful with bars and was rowdy - we went to Tsilivi in August 2010 and it was such a lovely resort mostly of families and had a lovely beach. The people who wrote this book just dont seem to have got it right at all.

I was disappointed but the book was half price when i brought it!

Basic, as to be expected from a pocket size book, but perfect for a week. Any more information would have been unnecessary as there was too much to see as it was!

It was very useful having a basic map on the back page and it listed all the main sites of interest for tourists.

In terms of getting away from the 'tourist' kefalonia, there were no more than a few pointers but really, if you want to do this you don't need a book to tell you where to go - it's a nice place to explore yourself.

For what it is it's great and I would recommend it for a week or a couple of weeks holiday.

We bought this to give us an overview of Zakynthos before a package holiday there recently. We wanted some snippets of information on towns and places of interest, maps and so forth but this book fell well short I'm afraid.

Perhaps the Kefalonia section is better done, but the Zakynthos section is just well wide of the mark and my own observations. The most annoying aspect of this book is its downright condescending and snooty attitude to most, if not all, of the package resorts. I'm sorry, but they don't tally with most of what I saw. Bearing in mind that the vast majority of people going here go on packages I think they really missed their audience. The author dismisses the likes of Tsilivi with comtempt and some of the resort towns deserve better. There is more to them than rowdiness and drunken British tourists if you use your eyes. To smear them all and look down on those who go there is disrespectful and inaccurate. We don't all sit around the pool and get as drunk as possible you know.

If this passes Berlitz's quality control then I will certainly never buy another of their travel 'guides'.

Bought this book before travelling to Kefalonia last month. Limited info to be expected as its a small book covering two islands BUT quite a bit of the info in the book was wrong. We spent hours looking for the Botanic Garden following the vague directions in the book, eventaully asked locals who had no idea that there was a Botanic Garden. Then decided to take in a tour of a local winery which was supposed to be open until 6.30pm - got there to find it closes at 2.30pm and has done for over ten years! A lot of wasted time in a hire car. Very irresponsible - better to have no info than bad info, we expected more from a big name like Berlitz.

Couldn't find a guide specifically for Kefalonia, so bought this as a compromise.
You have to sort through the irrelevant stuff on the other island (Zakynthos in my case) but it does give some useful information and it is very small and easy to pocket.
I would recommend this guide if you are looking for a quick overview of one or both of the islands.

A really useful pocket book which includes everything from the history of the two islands to best places to eat, drink and visit. It wi be most useful when we visit Kefalonia later in the year.

VERY INTERESTING LITTLE BOOK, WE WENT TO KEFALONIA AND THIS GAVE US INFORMATION ABOUT GREECE AND ITS CULTURE.THE PICTURES ARE BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED.

Very good overview of the Islands. Not in-depth but did the job for us on this holiday which was our first to Kefalonia.

This little book was very useful on our trip to Kefalonia. The history helps you to understand the modern structure of the island and the tourist information is accurate and often written in an amusing way. (We never found the toilets of special interest in Poros but generally speaking they were very good!)