DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Loire Valley Paperback – April 15, 2013

In general, the DK Eyewitness Travel series are highly useful and enjoyable to see and read, but this tome cannot hide the fact that it was compiled and edited by a British team or British-dominated team of people. That is fine to a certain extent until they started quoting the opinions of Henry James, who they seem to admire, but why him when there are huge number of great French literary talents with their views of places and things in the Loire Valley? I am aware that James is favored by many Brits and some other people from other English-speaking parts of the world, but even in America, he is considered by some as a good writer but not necessarily an exceptionally prescient observer in comparison with the likes of Balzac, Maupassant, Gide and many younger French writers with exceptional power of observations.Not a small number of erstwhile admirable chateaus in the region were destroyed, some by the order of the Crown (or by the king's First Minister), while others by wars and attritions, but it would have been great that some notable ruins had included the notes as to how the destruction came into play, however brief, the space may only allow. In general, the illustration is great, but I wished in so many cases that the narratives went further into more details than given, after all this tome specifically focuses on the Loire Valley region.

Eyewitness Travel books are always great. I picked up this one just before my trip in February 2015. It is jam-packed full of interesting details, gorgeous pictures, and informative maps. They're also up to date on important travel, currency, social information and recommendations. Although, I still find these are useful even if several years old for the historical and cultural information. I will use this book for return trips in the future as well. I own several Eyewitness Travel guides; and will continue to buy more as I travel to new places.

I only had a couple days in the Loire Valley, and I used this book to plan my itinerary -- with excellent results. I've always liked the DK travel guides: the attention to detail on the illustrations really gives me a sense of what I'm going to enjoy seeing. This book is definitely up to the standards of the rest of the series.

The DK Eyewitness Travel Guide are really the top of the line. Both the text and the pictures are wonderful and a true depiction of what you are going to see. Over I have traveled quite often and they are the very best. If you are only going to buy one travel book for your trip, this should be the one.

DK books are always nice. Full of information AND nice pictures. DK is usually our go to tour guide. Proof will be in the pudding when we visit the Loire later this year.

We used this book while exploring the Loire Valley in 2014. It was helpful and had accurate information.

I love DK guides, but this one was not especially useful. The details were not helpful in choosing which sites to visit and how to get there. The focus of this book was at the same time too broad and too narrow, which made it a piece of deadweight in my luggage. We spent 4 days in Blois and I pulled this book out once. The pictures will make for a nice souvenir on my bookshelf, which gives it the 2nd staf.

Informative, helpful for planning the trip as well as after seeing the locations and reviewing some of the history.

Excellent for the Loire valley

As is usually the case with DK guides, they provide a very structured and good overview of the area and what is worth visiting. The detaled maps and visuals also help form an idea of what to expect. If, however, you are looking for something with more information on the chateaux and the history of the area, then this is not the guide for you. Also below optimal are the recommendations for restaurants.

Very good guide book.