John Fisher (2) (1958–)

The first Rough Guide I have found wanting. Maybe there are too many islands to cover. When you land in Rafina, the bus goes to Mavromouseon. But where is that? I know from experience, not from the Rough Guide (April 2015). The National Archaelogical Museum is way better than the New Acropolis Museum - but it makes an unanswerable case for the return of the Eligin Marbles. If you go to the islands, you have to pass Athens. The guide should have a few more pages on Athens. I got no scowl at the excellent Hotel Phidias, which served the best Greek coffee of all. They should also warn you how hot it gets in Athens in summer, every day worse that Paarl on a bad day. I regret not visiting the digging site in Despotiko - the Guide gives a good steer to the archaeological museum in Parikia, which has amazing relics from this island we swam next to, unaware, till later of what went on there.… (meer)

I tend to buy the older editions of Rough guides (if they're cheap enough) purely for the "contexts" section at the rear.

They are often little nuggets of information on history and cultural aspects of the area, and have excellent recommendations. Written by often knowledgeable and also highly opinionated people, they are a welcome antidote to the blander consensus you'll find online. This one includes 4 pages listing books with Cretan connections regardless of availability, which is more than worth the small sum I paid for a secondhand copy.… (meer)