Customer Reviews

Blue Guide Sicily (Blue Guides)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We spent 2 weeks in Sicily in Oct 2007. After looking through all the major guides at a local book store, we purchased the Lonely Planet Sicily (3rd Edition) and the Blue Guide Sicily (7th Edition). Lonely Planet covers the all the major sites, cities, and towns. Its city maps, with the locations of restaurant, hotels, etc. are extremely helpful. However, it is missing some of the smaller towns and sites, and offers sparse coverage of the east coast of Sicily. The Blue Guide is far, far superior in terms of its comprehensive detail, and quality of information. Indeed the Blue Guide is one of the best guide books I have ever seen on any region: its intelligence and depth are extraordinary. On the other hand, the Blue Guide city maps, while graphically excellent, are lacking the markers for restaurant and hotels that Lonely Planet has. And there were days when we did not feel like lugging the Blue Guide's 512 pages around. So ultimately, we were glad to have both.

I envision using this book more after arriving home and revisiting places we saw during our vacation. This blue guide explains the history and political situation of all Sicily, including pointing to pictures of museums and churches we visited. I will enjoy perusing this book to remember our trip.

Superb guide to history, culture, geography, cuisine of Sicily with interesting sidebar vignettes, detailed maps and good photography. A bit heavy to travel with, however, but excellent reference to prepare for trip. This, combined with the more portable Frommer's, are a good bet.

A lot of interesting info you do not get from the other sources. Although you have to get an additional guidebook with all the "practicalities", like Rough Guide.

I bought this just before a trip to Sicily and was disappointed to find out it was the very out of date first edition. To the seller's credit, the purchase price was immediately refunded.

I wish the new addition was available at this time, but I'm sure many things have not changed in so few years!

I just got this book in preparation for a trip next April. It is a thick book to carry around. So you do your homework at the hotel before hitting the towns. It really packs a lot of background information on the arts and monuments this wonderful island has to offer. This is pretty good for a simple person like me, lacking a paramount knowledge on the fine arts.