Customer Reviews

1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

You can tell that the author is Americian. An extraordinary number of the places to see are in the US. I'd rather a more balanced book that took me beyond places to eat in USA. Give me some substance.

When I first came across this book, I immediately bought it. Went through it, until I came across the uS/Canada section, when I noticed how probably 1/3 of the book's places were located in the US and that among the '1000 places to see' included some ski resort in Idaho. Save your money, unless you want to learn more about the US (all 183 pages!) The average country had 2- 4 pages, even England/Scotland/Ireland only amounted to 90 pages! garbage. wasted money. one star for all the other content.

As usual when something is produced in US, then the best aiplane ever is American, American won all the wars or played the desicive role there. I found it condescending that 30% of places to see are in North America. Do kids study history here? Do they know most of the world has older recorded history than States?
Extra minus fo me - book is too heavy on hotels, spas and resorts.

What a great idea for a book! Too bad the author hadn't done a little more research. Since I'm Canadian, I can tell you that that section is particularly thin -- Toronto (a cosmopolitan city of 4.5 million people described by the United Nations as the most multicultural city in the world) rates just two mentions, one of which is a hotel apparently chosen at random. Which, of course, makes me wonder about the depth of research for all the other non-American countries she mentions. Abysmal. Unless you're looking for info on the U.S., save your money.

I was initially really excited to check this book out because I love travelling and have done quite a bit in my time.

The first problem? The book is misnamed. It's not really a list of places -- its a list of events, things to try, hotels, restaurants and sites. To me, only those last 3 fit my description of places and even then, I was a little bored by the hotels & restaurants. I mean, fine, some of them are truly noteworthy, but honestly some of the ones listed are pretty pedestrian or should be limited to a city guide. Old Cataract Hotel in Egypt (Agatha Christie fame)? Yes, probably. Four Seasons in Toronto? No.

Also, I really expected to see a list of PLACES. If for some reason you can't come up with a fabulous list of 1000 must-see items I would have been happy with a high quality 100 places, rather than having to bother with the with a boring list of hotels, restaurants, festivals which seem to take up about half of the book.

So it might be ok as a general guide book, but as "1000 Places To See Before You Die"? Ho hum.

As the other reviews have said this leaves much to be desired in countries other than the United States.

The problem with publishing a travel guide to the 1000 Places You Must see Before You Die is establishing a fundamental criteria as to what constitutes a "must see" sight. Is it historical relevance? Natural wonder? Intrinsic beauty? World renown? You get the idea.

How you answer that question goes a long way to determining what sort of book you will have. The problem with Schultz's book is that she never clearly addresses that question and, therefore, has aggregated a series of recommendations that, in trying to fit all audiences, never succeeds in fitting any particular audience.

There has been much criticism in previous reviews of her focus on hotels/resorts, restaurants and "obvious" tourist attractions. Obviously, these folks have a very much narrower view of what constitutes a "must see" venue than does Schultz.

This is the factor that drastically limits the utility of this book-in trying to be all things to all people it serves the interests of very few people.

Frankly, it seems obvious to me what is needed is a series of "must see" books based on narrow criteria, such as "The 1000 Natural Wonders You Must See Before You Die" or "The 1000 Architectural Marvels....." or the "1000 Best BBQ Places You Must eat At....", and so on.

Having said all that, this tome does indeed provide, for certain geographical areas (primarily North America and western Europe) a decent generic guide to key attractions along a very wide continuum of choices. That is to say, this would be a good starting point to plan out a trip, but should not be considered a good 'sole source" as a travel guide. If nothing else, it can help you narrow down how you view what constitutes a "must see' venue when traveling.

The book is interesting and enjoyable, with a few minor flaws. It has too much of the author's "hometown flavor" (manhattan). For example, the only "spiritual/holy" places listed in all of America and Canada are in Manhanttan, which is a little ridiculous: "Manhattan is the sprititual capital of America!" The other problem I have is the number of hotels listed. I might be the exception, but I don't consider commercial lodging establishments "musts". Maybe a few could make the cut, but I have seen some of the ones listed and they aren't that special. But to each his own: 1,000 is a big number and I won't begrudge the few dozen wasted (for me) on hotels. (The organization is a little strange - I think it is more than one "place" per geographic location entry...) Overall, it is interesting, if superfluous. It can help crystallize the type of trip you want to take, if not exactly where you want to go. In other words, a good bathroom book ;) or a good starting point.

I checked out the book's recommendations for two regions with which I'm familiar: Alaska and Massachusetts. In the case of Alaska the author recommends a couple of places that any 80-year-old on a cruise would be likely to visit. She does not mention Katmai National Park (where you can get up close and personal with bears catching salmon) or any of the other places that an Alaska resident might recommend. In the case of Massachusetts she recommends Legal Seafoods. This is a chain restaurant and if you're hungry in Washington National Airport it is a fine place to eat but it is hard to see how the various branches of Legal's qualify as one of the 1000 top places in the world.

This book's description of Alaska's Inside Passage partially influenced the choice of my wife's 30th birthday gift. But had we not read the rest of Schultz's Alaska chapter we would not have gotten off the ship and experienced some of the most remote and awesome lodges and heli-hiking destinations that have just returned us back home exhilarated and ready to check out her other 900-some suggestions. I lived in Italy for 13 years until recently and one could swear Ms Schultz is Italian herself, so perfectly has she chosen those Italian destinations both world-renowned and quietly hidden that make up the quintessentail Italian Experience. My feelings are the same for her coverage of a number of other European countries I feel I know almost as well and much of Asia where I travel often for business.
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