Eyewitness: Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Dutch Country

Thinking of visiting Philadelphia and the surrounding region? This is an awfully good introduction to the area and a fine resource for visitors and tourists. Is it perfect? No. Is it helpful? Yes indeed! The Eyewitness folks have developed a series of books termed "Eyewitness Travel" that are quite nice. This volume begins with context about the city, including comments on its history and a quick survey of some special attractions. Next, the book focuses on Philadelphia, area by area. Old City is, of course, especially interesting, containing many sights dating back to the city's earlier era, including the Betsy Ross House, Elfreth's Alley (the oldest continually inhabited street in the United States), and Independence Hall. Another delightful fixture? City Tavern, with its recipes by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson on the menu. Other areas include Society Hall and Penn's Landing, Center City, Logan Square and the Museum District, and other areas, including outside of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is well described here (pages 88-91), as are many other cultural landmarks. Want an idea where to stay or eat? This work also includes information on these issues. One can certainly disagree with some of the listings (I have places to eat that I'd add), but the choices aren't unreasonable and would be helpful to potential visitors. All in all, a good resource to take with you when visiting Philly or the surrounding area.

I find the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides most comprehensive, well organized, informative, and up to date of all the other guides I've looked at. The introduction/history sections are pretty much all you need to read before you travel. They offer a nice background on the city. The guide is organized area by area and includes photographs of all the places they recommend to see along with a background information on each area. They even talk about museums and galleries and include pictures of paintings and objects one would see in these places. Also included are partial maps with each site marked appropriately, and descriptions accompanying each photograph. Another nice feature is illustrated street maps which allow each relevant building to be easily recognized. The end of the guide includes practical information one would need when traveling in Philadelphia, such as getting around, guided tours, personal security, hotels, restaurants, and much, much more. This guide is easy and fun to use. When I travel, I only use DK guides.

I was looking very forward to a guide for Philadelphia and this one met my expectations. The surrounding areas of Philadelphia are a little week and they glazed over a lot of things (especially in the state park and Pocono's category). The things for Delaware are very interesting and all great recommendations. The Jersey shore could have been more helpful but it is worth stopping by if you are on a trip here in the summer. Overall it is a useful book that would be very helpful if you are planning to go to Phili and see some of the surrounding area.

Buy this as a supplement to other guides, not as your sole guides. It doesn't have the details needed for complete planning, but blows other guides away on explaining the details of a few specific places. I like to get both a Frommers type and one of these, and flip back and forth, and find it's worth the extra money.

I bought the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide to Philadelphia yesterday, after hearing it would come out in November. Took a brief thumb-though and it looks like they covered everything. I had emailed DK a couple of years ago suggesting Eyewitness Travel Guides for Philadelphia and Seattle, and they have come out with both. The Pacific Northwest one (which includes Seattle) has some notable omissions, but having been to Philly a few times I was very pleased to see that DK published a guide book worthy of the series. Good idea to include Lancaster County (Amish Country), Gettysburg, Hershey, Harrisburg and other Eastern PA destinations, as well as Atlantic City and some Southern NJ ones. Now I have to go back up to Philly to get a cheesesteak, see the new National Constitution Center and check out the oddities at the Mutter museum!