Customer Reviews

Fodor's Essential Italy, 1st Edition: Rome, Florence, Venice & the Top Spots In Between (Fodor's Gold Guides)

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

 

 

I've been looking at a bunch of guides for planning an Italy trip this summer, and this is the best so far. It's not as big as other guides, but it's got as much information about the places I'm going as the other guides do, and it also manages to throw in little things that are unique, like an interview with a winebar owner in Venice, explaining the local winebar customs and no-nos.

I used Fodor's to map out my itinerary to ensure I saw everything I wanted to see and experienced Italy in all its glory. It explained the "must sees" very well and concisely.

The map was handy but not as good as other maps purchased in a book store which had more detail right on the map of the places to see so we did not have to carry the book around.

Tips on how to avoid the long lines were very accurate.

I've never been disappointed with a Fodor's guide until now. Although the information is very good, as usual for Fodor's, the maps are terrible. In particular, the pullout map is almost useless; many streets are shown, but not marked with a name -- and why does a guide for Rome, Florence and Venice not have a pullout map for Florence? Even the maps within the guide itself are disappointing -- names are printed in black, but the maps themselves are in orange ink, making them hard to read, and once again they lack enough detail to find your way in a strange city. Fodor's should check Rick Steves' Italy guide to see how to do a map. If you choose this as your only guide for an Italian trip, make sure your first action in any of the three cities is to buy a good map! (I particularly recommend the Berendtson map of Venice, and the Editricelozzi map of Rome.)

I just graduated college and decided to go on a backpacking trip through Europe. We spend about a week in Italy, and this book was somewhat helpful, but not ideal.

The food suggestions were generally for slightly higher budget travelers, and the organization didn't really fit our travel style.

If you are backpacking or just a young person looking for a good travel book, our group had a good experience with the MTV Europe (MTV Guides)book. It was kind of bulky, but we used it nearly everyday.

If you are considering this book or something from the Eyewitness series, I would definitely go with the Eyewitness book. It may be more expensive, but it will be vastly more useful. In Rome I ended up purchasing Rome (Eyewitness Travel Guides) from a bookstore, and wishing I would have just bought the whole Italy book off Amazon in the first place.

Bottom line, if you are cheap or on a budget, I would look at other books, but this will get the job done if you are looking for some nice places to eat and stay.

This is an excellent book, especially for a first time traveler to Italy. Packed with concise descriptions of over 20 cities & many regions, with maps including a foldout of Rome, Venice and Italy itself. It has travel tips, language & menu guides
and is small enough (5X8)to carry with you.

I bought the 1st Edition (used)from kingkelson on Amazon Marketplace. It arrived on time and in good shape.

I carried it with me as we traveled through Italy. Would hightly reccomend it. Info was accurate and just enough for first time visitors.