What do you think?
Rate this book
Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides
DK Top 10 Cyprus
From Aphrodite's Rock in Pafos to the superb beaches of the Ammochostos Region - this highly illustrated guide is packed with the best Cyprus has to offer.
- GenresTravel
144 pages, Paperback
First published May 31, 2004
18 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 18, 2024
The DK Eyewitness Top 10 guides are great for two things, and the one on Cyprus is no exception: for the uninitiated, they provide a quick, concise orientation of what to do in just a few days or weeks, and they are small and light enough to travel with.
However, this volume on Cyprus highlights a few issues with these guides and why other travel books might be better suited depending on your goals. First, because they are so concise, they will only take you to the most touristed destinations. If you only follow these guides, you will never get to the heart of a place.
Second, because everything is written in a "Top 10" format, maintaining the format seems more important than presenting the best information. It can be difficult to ascertain the relative importance of sites and attractions because all numbered items are presented equally. Sometimes important things are left out, or extra things are put in to reach the magic number 10. I found these problems to be more troublesome with this Cyprus guide than I had with prior DK Eyewitness Top Ten Guides.
As an example of the latter, the Lanitis Carob Mill Complex—#5 on the "Historic Limassol" list and #4 on the "Cyprus By Area: Southwest Cyprus" list—was an odd, cavernous, mostly empty space with some dusty machines shoved to one side (perhaps intended to be part of a museum in the future?) and a couple of restaurants outside. It was in no way noteworthy, although they did have public restrooms, which weren't mentioned in the book but were appreciated.
On the other hand, I could barely find a mention of the UNESCO World Heritage site Tomb of the Kings, a necropolis dating back to the 4th century BC. This place, not mentioned in the index at all and not warranting its own number in any list according to the book's editors, was only briefly mentioned in the "Cyprus By Area: Southwest Cyprus" chapter, in the description of #9 Pafos.
Finally, key things are often out of date, so you can use the guide to get started but be sure to check any and all details using other sources, especially details you are counting on. (In fairness, the publishers mention this on the second page.) When I traveled in 2024, I was using the most recent edition, published in 2021, and ran into many discrepancies between the guide and real life.
Bottom line: if you know NOTHING about Cyprus, pick up this book and map to begin to get oriented, but find other reading material to get a richer sense of the place, then add notes to this book and tuck it in your bag to take with you.
However, this volume on Cyprus highlights a few issues with these guides and why other travel books might be better suited depending on your goals. First, because they are so concise, they will only take you to the most touristed destinations. If you only follow these guides, you will never get to the heart of a place.
Second, because everything is written in a "Top 10" format, maintaining the format seems more important than presenting the best information. It can be difficult to ascertain the relative importance of sites and attractions because all numbered items are presented equally. Sometimes important things are left out, or extra things are put in to reach the magic number 10. I found these problems to be more troublesome with this Cyprus guide than I had with prior DK Eyewitness Top Ten Guides.
As an example of the latter, the Lanitis Carob Mill Complex—#5 on the "Historic Limassol" list and #4 on the "Cyprus By Area: Southwest Cyprus" list—was an odd, cavernous, mostly empty space with some dusty machines shoved to one side (perhaps intended to be part of a museum in the future?) and a couple of restaurants outside. It was in no way noteworthy, although they did have public restrooms, which weren't mentioned in the book but were appreciated.
On the other hand, I could barely find a mention of the UNESCO World Heritage site Tomb of the Kings, a necropolis dating back to the 4th century BC. This place, not mentioned in the index at all and not warranting its own number in any list according to the book's editors, was only briefly mentioned in the "Cyprus By Area: Southwest Cyprus" chapter, in the description of #9 Pafos.
Finally, key things are often out of date, so you can use the guide to get started but be sure to check any and all details using other sources, especially details you are counting on. (In fairness, the publishers mention this on the second page.) When I traveled in 2024, I was using the most recent edition, published in 2021, and ran into many discrepancies between the guide and real life.
Bottom line: if you know NOTHING about Cyprus, pick up this book and map to begin to get oriented, but find other reading material to get a richer sense of the place, then add notes to this book and tuck it in your bag to take with you.
March 29, 2013
Cyprus is my favourite place in the whole world. I always say that when I first went in 2006, I left my heart there and I have never been as happy as I was when I first visited. Apart from in 2010 and 2012 when I went back. It is such a fantastic place, and despite the trouble currently occurring there I saw this book in the library and thought I'd check it out.
I have tried to read about Cyprus in the past, but I don't actually want a rich, detailed history of the island. I find books about Cyprus to either focus on political issues too much, or to focus on its history up to the invasion. There aren't many books written about the last few years for example. This book however is more of a tourist guide than any kind of history.
My heart lives in Paphos but I would one day like to explore the rest of the island. But I have only ever visited for a relaxing holiday. I would like to explore the island over the course of a few weeks/months, and not just on a two week tourist holiday. This book was a great little read giving histories of some of the island's most famous sights and listing them into Top 10s and in order of each of the cities.
The only problem now is it has made me want to go back!
I have tried to read about Cyprus in the past, but I don't actually want a rich, detailed history of the island. I find books about Cyprus to either focus on political issues too much, or to focus on its history up to the invasion. There aren't many books written about the last few years for example. This book however is more of a tourist guide than any kind of history.
My heart lives in Paphos but I would one day like to explore the rest of the island. But I have only ever visited for a relaxing holiday. I would like to explore the island over the course of a few weeks/months, and not just on a two week tourist holiday. This book was a great little read giving histories of some of the island's most famous sights and listing them into Top 10s and in order of each of the cities.
The only problem now is it has made me want to go back!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews