DK Eyewitness Travel : Top 10 : Maui, Molokai & Lanai

The more I use these Top 10 travel guides by DK, the more I like them. They simplify travel suggestions by restricting everything to top 10 lists. This might sound like the guide is too shallow, but really I found everything I needed in it. The beginning of the book features the top 10 attractions for the whole area, such as visiting Haleakala park or Lahaina. For each attraction, the book has a two page spread that describes the area and lists the top 10 things to do or see in that location. This is the big list of the book, but afterwards the writers offer a collection of other top ten lists, such as the top ten local dishes to try, the top ten shops to visit, the top ten festivals or cultural events to attend, and so on. After this show more section of lists, the book is broken up by region - south Maui, Lahaina, north Maui, west and central Maui, east Maui, and Molokai and Lanai. This part of the book is called Around Maui, and lists the top ten things to do in each region, followed by two to four other lists specific to that area, such as shopping or eating. The final section of the book is titled Streetsmarts, and it uses the top ten lists to deliver advice on a variety of travel concerns, such as budgeting, transportation, cultural differences, or safety issues. This section ends with several top ten lists of hotels, from top ten luxury hotels to top ten cottages and boutique type hotels. The guide covers a lot of ground, but breaking everything into these small, manageable lists makes it easier to absorb all the information, and easier to find a specific element. For instance, when I am booking hotels, I just read through the lists that describe the type that interest me, check out their estimates of how much each costs, and then go online to view the ones that I like the most. Or if I want to find a good restaurant, I can either look at the list of the top restaurants for all of Maui and choose a great one, or I can flip to my region to find good restaurants in the area I am at the moment. On top of all of this goodness, the book comes with a mini fold-out map that you can put in your pocket for reference.

I already visited Maui and brought this guide along with me, and it was a success. We did not do all of their top ten attractions - time, being pregnant, and having a two year old does limit what you will do - but we did do four of them and they were all great. In fact, Iao Valley was my favorite spot from the whole trip, and I only knew about it because of the guide. The other people we traveled with had no interest, so just our family went, and we were so glad we did. If I ever return to Maui, I would certainly want to check out some of the other main attractions that we skipped on our last trip. Also, the regional section of the book helped me choose some restaurants and told me about the aquarium, which was amazing. I loved that the fold-out map had its own top ten lists, including top ten places to visit with children. The people we traveled with booked the condo we stayed in, which was nice and affordable, but I discovered later that it was included in the list of moderately priced hotels in this guide. Everything that I tried, following this guide book's recommendations, was a success. Also, I never felt like I didn't have enough information. Granted, we were still in the United States, so familiar territory, but I have used this same travel series when I was in Beijing, and it was equally awesome. The Top 10 travel guides are my first pick when I am choosing travel books for my next vacation. show less