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Title: Rick Steves' Italy Map: Including Rome, Florence, Venice and Siena City
ISBN: 1598800531
Author:
Rick Steves
Publicate Date: 2006-12-18
Publish: 2006-12-18
List Price: $5.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Map
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $2.44
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $3.27
Amazon Merchant Price: $5.95
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Great resource for recommendations and information
A caveat to this review is that I have not gone to Italy yet, so I haven't been able to test the accuracy of the information in this guide. But, I'm a very meticulous vacation planner--hopping (and sometimes sprinting) from one touristy photo opp to another and squeezing in as many occasions to eat good food along the way--and none of this is possible without the months leading up to a vacation reading through guidebooks as rich and thorough as this. I've found Rick Steves' advice invaluable in terms of knowing which museums to make reservations for and where to do it; the guidance and detail for sights and suggestions for coordinating a tightly scheduled trip helped me prioritize and order places to visit. On previous vacations and to complement my trip planning for this upcoming one, I've used a variety of city-oriented and country-wide guidebooks, and this is my favorite! This guide is "local" in its depth of information yet also a fabulous country guide in terms of its breadth when most tend to be one or the other--city guides chock-full of guidance for a particular city and clearly written by familiar locals while country guides great for overview-esque information that typically lacks a sense of familiarity and often energy.
One area that I find lacking are restaurant recommendations. These sections in his guide feel less meaty and not as well organized. While some sections will arrange restaurant ideas in terms of neighborhood, others will do so by theme/price range. There were a few cities for which I would have appreciated a larger set of recommended restaurants--Milan is especially lacking. On the other hand, restaurants that do get mentioned are typically accorded the same richness in detail with regard to ambiance and best dishes as any of the sites. I only wish there were greater breadth here, and because of that, I won't be able to do without my TimeOut restaurant and shopping listings quite yet.
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2: Very useful information
I bought Eye Witness Travel Italy then was loaned Rick Steve's Italy. Eye Witness had a lot of pictures and not much useful info to smooth and fine tune your self guided travel. Steve's had much useful information without the pictures. Schedules and tips about pitfalls to avoid really made Steve's stand out. I am bringing only Rick Steve's to Italy. If you are not on a tour and have to make your own plans then I would recommend Rick Steve,s Italy. Hope this helps.
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3: Great Maps
The maps are very usefull. This book is a must if you are going to Italy.
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4: Excellent for our trip to Lake Como
As a non-American I had never heard of Rick Steve's until a friend lent us her copy of Rick Steve's Italy 2009 which we took with on our trip to Lake Como. Of the 5 guidebooks we had, we found this the most relevant and eventually stopped consulting the other books. We based ourselves in Varenna and the detail for such a small town was superb - laundry, grocers, restaurant listings, best ice-cream etc complete with opening times and prices. We did not rent a car and therefore relied on public transport and once again this guidebook was spot on regarding where to buy train tickets, how to cope with the train stopping beyond the platform and ticket machines that had been out of order for years. The guide also helped us focus our visits around Lake Como - which towns to visit, what to see there, how to get there on foot, ferry, train, directions from ferry stop to the attraction. Rick Steve's would be my first choice when i plan another trip to Europe.
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5: Ridiculous book
We just returned from Italy after a 10 day trip. We got conned into buying this book with all the hype created around Rick Steves. Going by the book for the first few days of the trip, we got around to wondering if Mr. Steves had even visited Italy or just done a copy-paste job from 10 other travel books. It should suffice to say that Mr. Steves' suggested itineraries make no sense, he clearly tries to make a point suggesting sights off the beaten path that are awful while missing out ones that should be seen. For someone so well traveled, he clearly also has no clue about the real Tuscan villages worth seeing or nice sea side towns.
Less said the better about his restaurant choices. It seemed clear to us that the recommended restaurants have a deal going with Mr. Steves, from whom he get a cut after they have conned idiot tourists like us.
Do not, and I repeat DO NOT fall into this marketing trap of buying Rick Steves' books.
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