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Rick Steves' travel books available for Kindle?

If not does anyone know if he intends to make them available for Kendle?

Posted by
48 posts

Yes, but it's just not the same. I sampled the one for Rome but there is just something about being able to flip around the travel book. You can't do that easily with the travel books on Kindle.

Posted by
2792 posts

May not be the same, but I have London and Paris 2010 loaded on my Kindle and they will be going with me in a few months.

I did this last year and it was SO nice. Lighter then the books, no need to "cut up" the book and later discover you actually did need something you thought you wouldn't etc....

You will need a paper map, but I find that true with his books no matter what!

Posted by
1568 posts

Thank you. I will check Amazon. Last I read several months ago was not favorable.

Would love to have them on a Kindle rather than carry the heavy books as we did on our last trip.

Posted by
99 posts

I got my Kindle for Christmas and love it. It does take some getting used to, which I think is where the criticism above is coming from. I like being able to thumb through a book for topics, to check my progress, etc., but am willing to accept the trade-off for the convenience of having the books in electronic form for travel purposes.

Posted by
408 posts

9 weeks- 12 cities ...not feasible to carry paper books for all.

Plan to go as 'paperless' as possible. We have not only the travel books but also PDFs of various resource documents, plus saves of selected website pages (e.g., Roninrome) for offline reference, on an iPad/iPhone. Also have selected language dictionaries loaded.

Plan is to go 'computerless' this time ... see how well that works. (crossing fingers that the camera kit arrives before the plane leaves!)

Posted by
19284 posts

Can you load these books on a laptop as well as Kindle?

I already use my netbook for so many useful things while traveling. It would be nice to be able to use it for reading guidebooks, as well. I certainly don't want to carry another electronic device (Kindle) just for guidebooks. On the other hand, very few of the places I go to are in Rick's books. I download information from the town's own website and put it on my computer.

Posted by
19284 posts

Hey. Thanks, Steve. I found the Apps.

Posted by
463 posts

just for the record, everyone above, in my purse, every day, i carry: a kindle, an iphone and a digital camera. i've recently added a netbook, and have not even noticed--and i rode my bike to work today with my purse cross-body. i will be taking all of these things on my four week trip this summer. i will not be taking--a second pair of shoes, makeup, jewelry, or a sweater. i wouldn't leave home without my technology--everything else can be bought there. i am, however, VERY interested in how well kindle-version guide books work. perhaps this should be a question; i think i shall ask it. i've tried some as free previews, and i find they are difficult to navigate. i'd be interested in finding out others' experience with them, as this seems to be a HUGE benefit of e-readers. my husband and i went to vegas last summer, and i stupidly packed a carry-on full of books. and i read none of them--the glue kept melting in the heat, causing the pages to fall out!

Posted by
2792 posts

I used my Rick Steves books on Kindle last fall in Paris.

Pros... Search, size, etc.

Cons... the maps are next to impossible to read!

But I find Rick's maps a little frustrating.

I also had a Fodor's(I think it's Fodor's guide on mine)

I really liked being able to look up things on both guidebooks while there. So at the Lourve, I sat down and scanned both books to make sure I hadn't missed anything for example.

Posted by
36 posts

Fodors is a bad word. Don't use it on this website : )

Posted by
713 posts

At some time in the recent past (though it may not be there now), I recall seeing a note on the amazon page for the Kindle edition of one of Rick's book, to the effect that the Kindle version was "maximized" (or something like that) for the Kindle DX. Which I understood to mean, that the graphics would display best on the big Kindle (DX) as opposed to the smaller Kindle 1 or Kindle 2 screens. Makes sense to me.

I have a Kindle 2 and also have the Kindle app on my netbook (Win XP), notebook (Win Vista) and iMac. I find that all graphics in Kindle books display much better on any of these computers, than on the small Kindle screen.

I debated about getting a guidebook (Rick's or any other) for the Kindle. Because I knew the graphics including maps would be pretty useless on the Kindle itself. But I decided that having all the information in the book, on my Kindle and netbook, in quickly searchable form, was still worth the cost. So far, it has been, for me. Especially the ability to quickly search the entire book's text.

Obviously, YMMV.

Posted by
463 posts

wow--i hadn't even thought about the search feature. i typically just read fiction on my kindle (and let my students do so, too) so i've never had occasion to use it. i see how that could be HUGELY helpful. thanks for the tip!