Customer Reviews

Frommer's Italy's Best-Loved Driving Tours

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When we travel to Italy we love to rent cars and take the road less traveled to cities that are typically off the tourist path. I have a number of books on driving tours through Italy. I find that I return time and again to the books on driving tours because very little changes in Italy from year to year, which I think it part of the beauty of Italy.

At the beginning of each section the book provides a narrative regarding the larger cities in each area. I have listed these cities in brackets after the regions below.

This book has outlined 25 tours through Italy these are as follows:

Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto (Torino, Milano, Bologna, Rimini, Asolo, Verona)

Tour 1: The Foot of the Mountains

Tour 2: Of Alps, Lakes & Plain

Tour 3: La Grassa - the Fat Country

Tour 4: Of Mosaics, Sun & Sea

Tour 5: The Gentle Veneto

Tour 6: Beyond Venice - Inland Veneto

Liguria & Tuscany (San Remo, Genova, Pisa, Firenze)

Tour 7: The Lingurian Hilltowns

Tour 8: The Riviera of Levante

Tour 9: Treasures of Tuscany

Tour 10: The Cradle of the Renaissance

Umbria & The Marches (Perugia, Ancona, Urbino)

Tour 11: The Green Heart of Italy

Tour 12: Italy's Best Kept Secret

Tour 13: The Northern Marches

Lazio, Campania, Abruzzo (Roma, Napoli, Pescara, L'Aquila)

Tour 14: The Apennines & the Adriatic

Tour 15: Abruzzo - the Remote Interior

Tour 16: Roman Country Retreats

Tour 17: The Roman Countryside

Tour 18: In the Shadow of Vesuvius

Tour 19: Small Cities of Campania

Calabria, Basilicata, Puglia (Catanzaro, Cosenza, Matera, Bari, Brindisi, Foggia)

Tour 20: The Toe of the Boot

Tour 21: The Highlands of Calabria

Tour 22: Forgotten Basilicata

Tour 23: Ancient Puglia

Tour 24: The Heel of Italy

Tour 25: The Gargano Peninsula

For each tour the book provides the following information:

1. Time required

2. Total distance in both kilometers and miles

3. Distance between towns

4. Driving directions

5. Brief narrative about each city on the tour

The book does provide limited lodging information in the back of the book. However, I don't find it to be adequate to make an informed decision. I would recommend a lodging only book to make those decisions.

If you were interested in driving to the smaller cities and towns in Italy, I would also recommend "Italy on Backs Roads" by Hunter Publishing and "Driving Tours of Italy" by Macmillan Travel.

The book does contain some pictures, although fewer than the typical guidebook. I would also recommend that you supplement this book with a good map of Italy. I use the Michelin map of Italy. That way if you get a tip from a local you can venture even further off the beaten path. Some of our best memories of Italy were as a result of a tip from someone in a restaurant or a shop. Italians love to chat and share their country. If you ask them questions they will point you to some of the most lovely places.

This book is a small size and fits easily into a big purse or suitcase. I find it works best to copy the sections of all the guidebooks that apply to my trip and bind these together as a personal guidebook that also saves space in my suitcase.