Washington D.C. Top Ten Travel Book—DK Eyewitness Travel Review

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A Top Ten List is Only as Good as The Person Providing the Recommendations.

In this case, DK—Dorling and Kinglsey—is a well-trusted name when it comes to books on a variety of subjects. Like me, you may have grown up looking at their picture books on subjects like animals, planets, dinosaurs, etc. From an early age I knew that I learned better visually, so these books that ‘show you what others tell you’ were perfect for me.

I trust DK and especially the Eyewitness range of travel books. I’ve used, looked at and read dozens of other travel books before, and know what is most useful when planning a trip and when you’ve reached your destination.

Depending on where I’m going and for how long, I choose different DK Eyewitness travel books. The Top 10 Washington, D.C. book is perfect for our upcoming 4 or 5 day trip. For a short trip like this, it is especially useful to have a concise list of the best things to spend your time doing and seeing.

This guidebook is perfectly purse sized, yet big enough to provide a decent amount of information. I like how key destinations are discussed on top ten lists and then also given individual pages to go into more detail, and show you a map and layout of the site.

Something that I find interesting in travel books is the section at the front where you can read up on the history of your travel destination. Despite the condensed size of the Top 10 Washington D.C. book, the interesting background information on the city is still included. This book has top 10 Places of Politics and Intrigue, top 10 US Presidents, and top 10 Moments in History lists.

There are maps for different neighbourhoods or areas so that you can group your attraction visits and get a sense of the lay of the land. I hadn’t known quite how many museums are grouped together in the Mall, for instance. It looks like Washington D.C. will be fairly walkable and easy to get around on public transit if we need it.

My favourite top ten list in the book: Top 10 National Gallery Collections

Many national galleries and major art galleries in the world are massive—often too big to properly experience in one visit. The Louvre, for instance, should really be experienced a bit at a time, over several days, so one doesn’t get too exhausted. Deciding which sections you most want to take a look at and using the free map the gallery gives you is a good idea for time (and sanity) management. If you take in too much in one go, you’ll often find yourself getting overwhelmed, not really remembering what you’ve seen. Greg has a much better memory for these types of things, though—he will often remind me which museum or gallery we’ve seen a particular piece.

1. American Paintings
2. French 19th-century Paintings
3. Italian 13th-to 15th century Paintings
4. Italian 16th-century Paintings
5. Works on Paper
6. Dutch and Flemish Paintings
7. Spanish Paintings
8. Decorative Arts
9. European Sculpture
10. Paintings and Sculptures of the 20th Century

Find this and other DK Eyewitness Top 10 travel guides on the DK Canada site, or your local bookstore. It is priced at $16.99 CAD.

Thank you DK Canada for providing me with this book, which I’ll be taking with me on my trip! I was not compensated in any other way.