Frommer's Tuscany & Umbria [Paperback]

Reid Bramblett (Author)

Book Description

Series: Frommer's Florence, Tuscany & Umbria | Publication Date: February 15, 2002

"Author Reid Bramlett really knows his subject. Bramlett's book is much richer in detail than the [competition]. He does an excellent job..." —New Orleans Times-Picayune

You'll never fall into the tourist traps when you travel with Frommer's. It's like having a friend show you around, taking you to the places locals like best. Our expert authors have already gone everywhere you might go--they've done the legwork for you, and they're not afraid to tell it like it is, saving you time and money. No other series offers candid reviews of so many hotels and restaurants in all price ranges. Every Frommer's Travel Guide is up-to-date, with exact prices for everything, dozens of color maps, and exciting coverage of sports, shopping, and nightlife. You'd be lost without us!

Meticulously researched by our expert author, Frommer's Tuscany & Umbria is the only guide you need to discover the region's artistic treasures, Renaissance architecture, rustic villages, vineyards, and fabulous shopping. This authoritative guide will reveal the best wines and hearty regional dining, tell you how to rent your own romantic villa, send you on scenic bike tours, and lead you away from the tourist crowds so you can discover the true flavor and leisurely pace of this sunny corner of Italy. We'll show you the best of Florence and its treasure trove of art and architecture, then take you through the medieval alleyways of Siena, along the Chianti Road, and to lovely towns like San Gimignano, Lucca, Assisi, Perugia, and more.

Every one of our honest, in-depth hotel reviews is based on a recent personal inspection; every restaurant has been tried personally; and every sight, shop, and stroll was checked out in detail. You'll get the latest trip-planning advice, valuable cultural insights, wonderful tips for venturing off the beaten path, and detailed, accurate maps. With Frommer's in hand, it's a snap to design the Italian adventure that's right for you.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Author Reid Bramlett really knows his subject. Bramlett's book is much richer in detail than the [competition]. He does an excellent job..." —New Orleans Times-Picayune

From the Back Cover

Experience a place the way the locals do. Enjoy the best it has to offer. And avoid tourist traps. At Frommer's, we use 150 outspoken travel experts around the world to help you make the right choices. Frommer's. Your guide to a world of travel experience. Choose the Only Guide That Gives You:

• Outspoken opinions on what's worth your time and what's not.
• Exact prices, so you can plan the perfect trip no matter what your budget.
• Off-the-beaten-path experiences and undiscovered gems, plus new takes on top attractions.
• The best hotels and restaurants in every price range, with candid reviews.

Great trips begin at Frommers.com

• Book flights, hotels, and rental cars.
• Get free updates on attractions and prices.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Frommers; 3 edition (February 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764565044
• ISBN-13: 978-0764565045
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 4.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #882,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Travel > Europe > San Marino & Umbria
  • #42 in Books > Travel > Europe > Italy > Umbria
  • #82 in Books > Travel > Europe > Italy > Tuscany

More About the Author

Reid Bramblett spent his adolescence living in Italy, which later served him well in writing ten guidebooks and contributing to more than two-dozen others (and launching ReidsItaly.com). He is a Contributing Editor Condè Nast's Concierge.com and to Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine, where he was formerly Associate Editor. As a daily travel reporter for MSNBC.com he won two Lowell Thomas awards. His award-winning ReidsGuides.com trip planning site has been recommended by CNN, USA Today, SmartMoney, and National Geographic Traveler, and was proclaimed "Among the best" by Arthur Frommer. His old weekly adventure column in the Chicago Daily Herald, "The Intrepid Traveler," has been revived at TheIntrepidTraveler.net. His articles have appeared in Newsweek, The Miami Herald, The Dallas Morning News, the St. Petersburg Times, Modern Bride, and on CNN.com. He has served as a travel expert on CNN, Fox NEWS, CNNfn, and the New York City affiliates of ABC, Fox, and UPN, as well as on various NPR stations and as an occasional guest host of "The Travel Show" on WOR710am.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best small-town Italy book on the market, March 7, 2002

By 

Brian Villanueva - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Frommer's Tuscany & Umbria (Paperback)

If you're going on the whirlwind "Rome-Florence-Venice" tour, don't bother with this book. It isn't for you.

If you have a week or 2 to spend in central Italy, buy and read the whole book before you leave, and carry it with you everywhere.

My wife and I spent a month in Italy, and 2 weeks in Tuscany and Umbria. We had Rick Steeve's, Eyewitness, and Frommers with us. In large towns with good tourist infrastructure (Assisi, Sienna, etc) we found most of the books comparable. In the smaller towns where we usually spent our nights (Spoleto, Montepulciano, Sovana), only Frommers was worth looking at. We consistently found their hotel rooms most closely matched up with the written descriptions in the book, and their recommended restaraunts, while not as cheap as Rick Steve's, were very good.

Particularly if driving (which is really the only way to see this region), the maps and directions far surpassed the other 2 books. Great maps of almost every town, no matter how small. The only deficiency was the lack of marking of the inbound and outbound roads on the map. Once I figured out where I was entering the town from though, the maps in this book could take me anywhere.

In the final analysis, all 3 books were useful, but we used each differently. We looked at Rick Steves and Eyewitness each morning, but carried only Frommers with us during the day. When we go back, this will be the only book we take.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Guide That Will Make You Feel at Home, November 3, 2000

By 

Mark Langstein (Bethesda, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frommer's Tuscany & Umbria: With the Best of Florence and the Hill Towns (Frommer's Tuscany and Umbria, 2nd ed) (Paperback)

This was a wonderful guide with witty, opinionated, (accurate in my estimation) comprehensive comment on the many sights and scenes that Tuscany has to offer. We used this guide constantly and exhaustively in the one week we recently spent there. The restaurant and hotel recommendations were uniformly splendid and we were fortunate to discover a new town and a new pasta shape when we ate pici in the hilltop town of Montepulciano, where we would never have considered staying but for this guide. Although I would also have liked to have had a guide with pictures of the attractions, the attraction of this guide makes it well worth that slight quibble. I would highly recommend it to anyone going to the region and I will certainly use it, or a newer edition, upon my hopefully soon return.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars WARNING - Out of Date Edition, March 10, 2004

By 

"bwong01" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frommer's Tuscany & Umbria (Paperback)

Warning to readers! We bought this book in March 2004. A more recent edition (called Florence, Tuscany & Umbria) came out in January 2004. This edition was written in 2001 and still quotes prices in lire! We're returning the book and swapping it for the other one.