If you live in the USA, this is a fine book to get you pointed in the right direction. However the book is really written for British or Irish persons. Most of the information is dependant on your being a citizen of an EU nation.

I particularly like the Michelin green series of guide books because they supply an appropriate amount of information about the major sights in each city, and because they also make note of many interesting sights that are less well-known. This guide to Amsterdam is no exception, and the material covered is clearly presented and interesting. The introductory pages are also very well done --- they give just enough historical information, and they provide some nifty extras like an illustrated section on the different gable styles to be seen in Amsterdam. In spite of all this information, the guide is light enough to carry around easily too. However, the index proves to be a MAJOR drawback to this guide, which is organized not alphabetically by sights, but by districts and neighborhoods. This way of organizing the material makes sense, since you can see all the sights in one area of town at once. The problem is that there is no cross-referencing in the index. This means that if you are wandering around and you come across, say, the Koninklijk Paleis and want to read something about it, you cannot look it up since it is not listed in the index. Unless you happen to know that you are presently at the "Dam," the main area of town under which it is listed, you will not be able to locate the information. On our trip to Amsterdam, this feature drove me crazy more times than I can count, since I often wasn't sure which topic heading a particular church or museum was under. If you can deal with that great irritation, the guide is otherwise wonderful.

Michelin guides used to be associated with top ratings, unparalled discriminatory selections. To be awarded a Michelin star or two in the culinary world is a feat de accomplice. However this red book is a downscaled version, apparantly to appeal to the masses and offers very little by way of self evaluation. How do you know just from the listing of facts that the hotel, chateau, restaurant or villa is really worth visiting? Trusting in Michelin may not be your only option. There are many other worthy guides which are descriptive.

First off, the maps are not very helpful. They aren't detailed enough, as far as the little side streets are concerned. Also, the maps are buried in different sections, so if you want to get from Neighborhood A to Neighborhood B you gotta keep on flippin'. The City Center map that's located in the index is adequate for navigating to major points of interests, but only that.

Secondly, while descriptions of restuarants, coffeeshops, htels and stores are accurate, a lot of REALLLLLLLLY cool places that I found on my own there are just not listed.

So, definitely carry it with you but keep in mind that on your own, you will find a lot of people/places and things that haven't been spotted by this guide.

I used this guide book during a recent trip to the Benelux region of Europe. I found the book useful in helping me pick out good restaurants. It also listed the major sites I wanted to see. I did not find the book useful in reserving hotels and describing each site. I especially found the maps to be of poor quality. Many of them mislabeled the location of sites and failed to include important street names that would make it easier to find sites, restaurants, and accomodations. As a frequent traveler, I rely on good maps in guidebooks to get around cities that are unknown to me. Frommer's got me to take wrong turns repeatedly.

Unfortunately, there do not seem to be many books out there covering exclusively the Benelux region of Europe. At least I did not find any that I liked, so Frommer's was the best choice among many bad choices.

When I first started travelling to Europe 25 years ago, the Frommer guides were like beacons. They had a very definite goal in mind: To let you enjoy Europe for $XX dollars a day. Their books were fun and informative; but somewhere along the line, the Frommer people lost touch with their leadership.

When you try to write a book for everybody, you wind up writing for nobody. Let us take accommodations as an example: They are classified as Expensive, Moderate, and Inexpensive. Now I am not on public assistance by any means, yet I can barely afford Frommer's Inexpensive accommodations, which average around more than $100 a night.

There are guidebooks which are good at accommodations and restaurants but not on sights; and there are others (like the superb DK Eyewitness Guides) which concentrate on the sights. I am hard put to place Frommer on this spectrum. In the Netherlands, he downplays the Zuider Zee Museum in Enkhuizen and the Open Air Museum in Arnhem, yet spends 3 chapters on Luxembourg, including one on "Planning a Trip to Luxembourg." Hello! When was the last time you got the wife and kiddies mobilized for a fun filled 3 week vacation in the tiny Duchy of Luxembourg?

On the plus side, the "Best of..." lists are a useful counter to the general lack of emphasis in this guidebook.

If you were visiting the U.S., you would want a guidebook to show you why you might want to spend more time in New York than Youngstown. Once the best of guidebook series, Frommer has been reduced to cataloguing sights. Where's the excitement? Not here.

It is nice to have all the great cities and towns of Belgium, the Netherlands, and the Luxembourg area covered in one handy book. Good maps and suggestions for "best of" experiences. There are seperate maps for attractions, hotels and restaurants in each city. Hotels and restaurants are listed by price range, and family-friendly establishments are noted. There is not a lot of historical background given in this book, and no photographs. The writing style is clear and direct and not too dry. I found the recommended hotels in Amsterdam to be booked up months in advance- obviously many are following Frommer's advice!

Provides little other than business names. It contains much less information than any other Amsterdam guide that I've seen. This 4 year old quide needs to be updated.

As expected, this book provides the ignorant traveler with a wealth of gay life information and resources unlike like its somewhat conservative competitor--Fodors Gay Guide to Amsterdam. Though its referred hotels are somewhat questionable in an undescriptive sense, the remainder of the guide picks up where Fodors leaves off. THIS is not by any means a sole travel guide-use it to compliment a trusty Traditional Foders etc.,....but when the sun goes down this Damron will be the Gay traveler's best friend. Appealing to both Older men, and Young teens...It gives the nitty gritty about all clubs, events, activties, and scenes--devoting only a single page to dyke life. (THANK GOD!) Its choice of restaurants also prove note status. In addition to that, you'll get some great pocket size maps, and some general travel info. Excellant for everything but attractions, walking tours, etc... Bottom line: Don't leave home with out it.

I bought this book for my first trip to Amsterdam. The basic info is sound but there were some problems. The most annoying is that key parts of maps end up in the middle (binding) making them difficult to read. The restaurant reviews were in inaccurate and left the reader wondering whether anyone from Frommers had been in the restaurant. In summary the book is OK but there are better ones on the market.

I just took this book to Amsterdam. I found it to be very helpful. The books features maps dedicated to a single subject (such as a restaurant map, a hotel map, etc.). We used these extensively. The Frommer's Irreverent Guides have more candid and entertaining reviews (including information on coffeeshops, which this book essentially skips), but this book is an excellent one-stop source of travel information. If you're only bringing one guide to Amsterdam, this one will do the job well. If you can pack two, bring along the Irreverent Guide (or something similarly hip).

My wife and I used this book two weeks ago when we were in Amsterdam. The book is terrible. Often times, the writer suggests that you walk down roads which have no interest or value (such as down a busy road in the Western Isles walk). The directions given in the walk are confused and confusing (you are told to go down a street but not whether down means left or right). A better walks resource is the walks designed by the VVV (the Dutch train system) which are detailed, clear, and very interesting. The VVV is near is Central Station.

I didn't bring this book along on my Netherlands trip. A friend did, and popped it out while we were in Den Haag. The Den Haag walk was great, crisscrossing the center of the city to show off the history and architecture. The walk snapped the city into focus for me, where it had before been just a blurred maze viewed from a tram.

My friend left this book with me when I went on to Amsterdam and he to Germany, and I am so happy he did. I used it every day to give shape to my meanderings across Amsterdam. It's a compact city. You can walk anywhere if you're willing to spend the time, and I recommend you do. Slow down and spend the day ambling along the Herengracht with this book.

Given a chance to do it over, I would order one of the other gay guides available for Amsterdam.

Much of this guide deals with Amsterdam in general, and does a particularly non-stellar job of it. The limited information on the gay scene leaves me wondering, still, why is Amsterdam the gay Mecca that it is.

This guide might be adequate for the first time visitor looking for the addresses of some clubs, but, then, that information is readily available from the web. I had hoped to learn more. I suppose my expectations were just too high.

Brussels is a great getaway for US Eastcoasters, but you do not need this book to steer you in the right direction unless all you plan to do is SHOP! I believe that this little pocket-size tome is a glorified advertisement for several small select restaurants and stores in the historic centre. The maps are too general, not specific enough for a real walking tour. I left this little book in the hotel room. One would do better to go to a website on Brussels, then visit the tourist centre in the Grand Place for a map that is helpful. Once again, if all you want to do is shop, then this little book would be a minor help.