This is a fun book, it is hilarious. I love the way he describes things and is critical of things. One quote I like was about the German Language, "I can understand German about as well as the maniac that invented it but I speak it best through an interpreter". His experiencing duels, getting lost in his own room with the lights off while trying not to wake up his roommate, and many more.

I recommend the audiobook as it feels more like he is telling you the stories and it is fun to listen to.

While the parts about German mountain climbing got monotonous after a while, there are so many hilarious and witty points in this book that I give it a solid four stars. I enjoyed this even more than I enjoyed The Innocents Abroad and could clearly see Twain's literary development and greater comedic polish. Narrator Grover Gardner did a fantastic job, as usual. He is my only vocal Mark Twain! If you are interested in a great satirical adventure and a strong case for avoiding learning the German language, read this one!

Wasn’t sure what to expect when I started as my only exposure to Twain was Tom and Huck and then a brief stop in Hannibal, MO while on a road trip. Clearly Twain was a gifted author and had an unusual command of the English language. I was somewhat surprised by his ability to give a lengthy critique of the German language in this book as well as some interesting details of the counties that he “Tramped” around in Europe. Clearly a lot has changed with travel over the past century and a half but it was still an enjoyable read. I was a bit baffled by his sense of humor a few times and occasionally couldn’t tell if the story was true or just a tall tale.

Wenn ich nach Amerika reise könnte ich doch als Lektüre Mark Twains Beschreibung seiner Europareise lesen. Das fand ich eine gute Idee, jedoch mit dem Haken, dass ich während unseres New York Aufenthaltes keine Zeile gelesen habe.
Es handelt sich um einen durch und durch lustigen Text, wobei Twains Humor so trocken daherkommt, dass man oft erst in der nächsten Zeile draufkommt, dass er den Leser zuvor "auf die Schaufel genommen hat". Der Text hat seine Längen, die sind aber gut auszuhalten. Twain schreibt viel und ausgiebig über Bergbesteigungen - in völlig abstruser uns lustig unsinniger Art. Hier fiel mir eine Parallele zu Bowmans 1956 erschienenen Roman "Die Besteigung des Rum Doodle" 1956 auf. Ich bin fest davon überzeugt, dass dieser Twain Text die Inspirationsquelle zu Bowmans Roman gewesen sein muss. Europäisches Essen, europäische Umgangsformen, Hotelzimmer, Reiseführer, Schifffahrten usw. sind ebenso spöttisches Ziel seiner Einfälle wie seine eigenen Unzulänglichkeiten und die Ungeschicklichkeiten seines Reisebegleiters.

A tramp abroad is a travel story written in essay form by Mark Twain in the 1870's and originally sold in episodes to news papers. He travels in Germany and Switzerland. It is a wonderful view into the past and is full of humor and great descriptions. I read it after a visit to Switzerland. I visited many of the same places he describes in a time before the railroad system was established in Switzerland. The mountain peaks and lakes are still the same.

I always enjoy Mark Twain and his playfulness with words and wonderful sense of humor. This embellished telling of a hiking trip in Europe goes to extremes in every way and often had me laughing! There were times when it was obvious that his use of language had not aged well (you know, the 1880 era compared to the present!), but only a couple of times.

Overall it was very cute! But I was glad he didn't go on a lot longer. As much as I love Twain, a little goes a long way ;)

I'm glad I finally got to this one!

I found a 'part 1' on iBooks and read it in about an hour of a 3 hour plane trip. It was fun, made me laugh in parts. Clements was clearly fascinated by the student dueling culture in Heidelberg at the time, observing the rituals with keen interest and some excitement, I suspect. I'm not sure that I'll pursue later parts, but this was perfect in-air reading.

For Mark Twain, humour was best served dry - so dry that sometimes it's hard to tell where one joke end and the next begins. Indeed, I was actually under the impression that this book was 'The Innocents Abroad' when I started reading it, so Twain gets one more jab in post mortem. Germans, Swiss, Americans and the English are all equally laid waste, along with Rhine wine and mountain climbing. And of course, this being the story of an epic journey across Europe on foot, Twain and his companion Harris manage to avoid pedestrian travel almost completely. At one point they even make a trip by telescope. I award this book 3 Chamois out of a possible 5.

JM 01/04/16

What can I say, I love Mark Twain's nonfiction. This is no exception--for anyone who has ever traveled in Europe, its great reading about the little cultural idiosyncrasies of the different European countries, as well as the impressions of American tourists abroad. And Twain's appendix essay "The Awful German Language" is a must-read for any student of the language.

I got this book specifically for the essay "The Awful German Language." Living in Germany at the time, I laughed my head off about the frustrations Twain describes in trying to master Deutsch. Favorite line: "I would rather decline two drinks than one German verb."

Otherwise, I read a few of the stories in this book but I didn't read the whole thing. In some places it just seemed too dense and uninteresting.

Brilliant! I know this isn't supposed to be one of Twain's best books, and there are parts that drag a bit, but parts of it are priceless, such as the sections on animal communication, "traveling by glacier," and his role as second in a duel, not to mention his 47-mile expedition around his hotel room in the dark. As a bonus, one of the appendices is his essay "On the Awful German Language." The narrator of this audio version is also one of the best things about it.

Me lo he pasado muy bien, me he reído y he estado muy entretenida con él. La verdad es que el libro entra por los ojos porque tiene un montón de ilustraciones. Lo recomiendo a todos.