Customer Reviews

City Secrets: Florence, Venice, and the Towns of Italy

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

 

 

This series is not for everyone and in most cases not for your first trip to one of the cities covered. The City Secrets is exactly what is says: secrets - small details, curious trivia, stuff you pick up from really good tour guides who gently guide you through the city revealing tiny nuggets of local knowledge here and there. It is a very friendly book, and the style of writing - a mosaic of bits of familiarity, contributed by individuals, is very endearing. There is a feeling of warmth about this publication.

A new or casual visitor may find this thoroughness and depth of insights of the guide overwhelming. This little book is unlikely to serve as the single multi-purpose travel resource for the glorious Italian cities covered. You will probably want to supplement it with some mainstream guide (try Eyewitness, Fodor's or Frommer's, for example) - a combination like this should work very well.

Unlike with most other books, a serious traveller will probably be captivated by ALL the writing in this book and will read it back to back (does this often happen with other guides? Don't think so...) You may find yourself willing to see all the curious things mentioned in this little book; most certainly you will want more of these books published.

While our cousin, an art-history graduate residing in Italy, agreed that the Rome version is excellent, this book attempted to cover too much ground with few 'secrets' to spread around the different parts of Italy. Highly recommend pairing this book with a more comprehensive tour book such as the Eyewitness Guide. It was worthwhile cross-referencing the books to make sure that we cover the top sights and some less-traveled gems.

Thanks to this guide book, we enjoyed an excellent picnic packed by the suggested grocery in Radda in Chianti. We followed the book's advice to Osteria di Rendola and had an absolutely amazing lunch. This book provided some pleasant surprises for us first-time goers and gourmet lovers.

My family used this guide extensively while travelling in northern Italy this past summer. We found it particularly helpful in Bologna, Venice and the Portofino region. Marcella Hazan, the cookbook author, was a major contributor to the Venice section; if you want a great meal off of the beaten path in Venice, she won't lead you wrong.

I've used the NYC City Secrets guide for years so bought this before our trip. Given the large geographic area and many regions that are covered, it isn't surprising that it lacks the comprehensiveness of the NYC and Rome City Secrets guides. Although we didn't use the guide in Florence, I can see why many reviewers found it lacking for that great city. Although smaller than Rome, Florence deserves a City Secrets book of it's own.

I loved City Secrets: Rome, the first book in this series. It offered lots of good, insider information on that wonderful city. This sequel attempts to cover the rest of the country (or most of it-- Chianti is curiously missing), and what is offered are hits and misses. Many major cities are omitted, and the book scratches the surface in too many places. Major Disappointment.

I should have heeded the critique of one of your readers. The complaint was "after Rome the series disappoints".
However, I so loved the Rome book, carrying it about Rome, having people comment on the book when they saw me checking maps or sights, finding kindred spirits who also had the book and so on. It was truly my favorite travel guide/book of Rome.
So, ignoring advice, I ordered the Florence edition, realizing that Florence was just a part of the book...but I would never have dreamt it would be THAT small of a part.
True, Florence is much smaller than Rome, but the city is filled with so much beauty, art and architecture that surely a book dedicated to it's "secrets" would have been worth the effort.

my copy is coffee-stained and dog-eared. sure I have the blue guide, the michelin guide, and others (including city secrets Rome), but this book is the star - it's not trying to give you everything, but rather, a selected group of nuggets to experience and enjoy. with good fortune and travel companions over the past few years, I've hit all the places in this book, and if fate smiles on me, perhaps I will get to do them all again.

"Florence, Venice & the Towns of Italy" is wonderful companion! Having spent several years in Italy painting and teaching, from Rome to Venice.... via Florence and Urbino... I find the book full of secrets to be be uncovered and treasures to be explored.

I've been to Italy 4 times now and used this book extensively each time. My most recent trip took me to Puglia, Abruzzo and Campagnia which is scantily covered in City Secrets, but the places the book does highlight are truly magical. It does lead one off of the Autostradas and onto incredible country-roads, and out-of-the way corners and villages. This book works great for those driving the country in companion with a good Italy map and lots of time.