Although on the heavy side, I have bought a number of the "eyewitness travel guides" because they are easy to use, and have great pictures - which is very important to me indetermining which places I want to visit, what food I would like to try and so on. The maps are ok, but do not include all the sites in the book. I tried to get the "streetwise" map for the trip because they are awesome, but they don't publish any of Istanbul. Although the guide isn't perfect it is better than the competition - I recommend it.