Customer Reviews

Italy (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

What a gorgeous book. I fell in love with the Eyewitness series and decided to buy this book to learn as much as I could about as many places as I could in Italy, before I planned my trip. I also plan on collecting more, for future trips and because they are great educational books, even if one never plans on traveling. Great for the coffee table, too! Organized by region with an overview of each area and brief highlights about specific sites (most of which are churches). The map on Rome was a little confusing at first and I had to keep flipping page to page to navigate. Luckily, the book is designed with two flaps that can be used for page markers. Useful organization on the sites (such as which ones charge admission, open/closed times, market days for towns, etc.) Loved the sections on regional foods and festivals, useful travel info located in the back. Photographs are small but lovely and numerous, architectural cutaways give interesting perspective on the sites. Restaurant and hotel recommendations are well organized but I never really consulted them. (Stuck to the internet for finding rooms and our wanderings and recommendations from other travelers to find restaurants.) We went to the Amalfi coast, Capri and the Umbria area (staying in Gubbio) and found the book mildly helpful. It was most helpful in Rome. I saw many tourists with Eyewitness Italy and Rome guides everywhere in Rome, in many languages. I've also seen the Frommer's series and found that one to be more densely packed with useful information and suggestions for interesting (and often inexpensive) excursions. However, it lacks the stimulating layout of the photographs, maps and color coding found in the Eyewitness guides. I felt the need to get more specific local guidebooks as I traveled with more detailed information and photographs. For example, I bought a guidebook outside Pompeii in order to have more information on the sights as well as a more useful map. It turns out that much more of Pompeii was excavated since the Eyewitness book was written. Hardly any information was given on the excavation of Herculaneum, which we heard is even a better site to tour than Pompeii. We could have used information on navigating around Capri efficiently, too, considering a day trip allows little time to see many of the sights, which often are contingent on the weather (such as the famous Blue Grotto, inaccessible at high tide). Capri is also very expensive for just about everything. The only warning given is that it's a "tourist trap." Minimal, general information was provided for the Amalfi coast, so much had to be learned (such as driving hazards) by experience, which is one of the joys of traveling anyway. Overall, a beautiful,informative book, providing a good general overview of a variety of areas and sites. Decent maps, terrific photos, useful travel info (though limited description of bus and metro routes). Not detailed enough for many areas so local souvenir guidebooks, or a more densely informed and photo-poor book might be helpful for the more investigative traveler. A note to travelers: order foods that are specialties of the region. Foods adopted from other regions tend to be less than expected. (ex. Risotto in the south is often made with the wrong rice, pizza in the north is difficult to eat and has too thin a crust. Whereas gnocchi in the north is incredible.) What also would have been useful is a description of different shop names and what they sell so travelers know what to expect when they're looking for something specific. (Like a deli--"salumeria" for an inexpensive lunch of prosciutto and cheese) However, that is again some of the fun of traveling--finding these things on your own. Buon viaggio!

Dorling Kindersley makes the best travel guides hands down. They are extremely well illustrated, have extensive and detailed maps (thank god, because I tend to get lost very easily), up to date information on hotels (rates, rooms etc), restaurants (costs and reservation policies), and sites to see.

The travel guides have wonderful pictures, well researched histories and facts about Italy, what wines to look for and taste (not just by region and vineyard but also by year), sample dishes that one should try, detailed walking tours, information on famous art (there is a great section on the Sistine Chapel and all of the figures you will find in each panel).

The book also covers customs, money changing, travel information - you name it!

This is one of the best guides available on the market. It is perfect if you are planning to go to a few cities in a limited time or for more in depth information when planning a longer trip. We always lend this out to people before they plan a trip and everyone else has agreed it is top of the line.

I brought four tour books with me to Italy - three of these just weighed down my luggage. Eyewitness Travel Guide: Italy is not only a critical companion for travelling Italy. It's the only tour book you'll need.

Not planning a trip to Italy? Flip through this book and you'll be calling your travel agent. It's visually enticing and information rich!

But the surprise happened when I came back from the trip. I couldn't put this book down! It put into perspective what I'd seen while in Venice, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Lake Como, and the Ligurian Riviera. Things that, while there, I was too overwhelmed to soak in completely.

This book continues to let me relive the glorious scenery, history, and culture that is Italy. This book is a must for your Italy trip and for always.

When Eyewitness travel guides burst on to the scene, they revolutionised the genre. Dorling Kindersley have long published marvellous series information books for schools and young people, and they have brought the same high quality of production to their travel series. Eyewitness does a few things superbly: 1. Their use of full colour photography. 2. No Top Tens or 1/2/3 stars. Eyewitness just show it how it is and let you decide what interests you most. 3. Real maps, with real street indexes, integrated right into the book. No more sketch maps with dubious scale or misrepresentations of actual distances. 4. Breaking up cities into manageable and logical sectors. So after helping you get there, they offer full coverage of the area. 5. There is no attempt to be hip or impose points-of-view. Other guide books do that, and do it quite well at times, so they are best left to that field.

Italy is a fat book, and it might be heavy to carry around, but as other reviewers have said it is invaluable. It would replace at least two other guide books, and relegate the other lushly illustrated "guides" that are out there to the coffee-table status that is probably more appropriate.

My one criticism is that the accommodation listings are more appropriate for the well-heeled traveller. Here's what I'd do: go to the local library and borrow the Let's Go, Rough Guide and Lonely Planet. Photocopy the listings and use them to supplement . As for restaurant listings, I've never used them in any guide book - just stepped outside the lodgings and wandered!

I'm planning a trip to Italy and didn't even know where to start. I read the reviews here and thought this would be the best book to start with. Well, 5 stars just doesn't do this book justice.

This book contains everything you need to know and more. It starts with a history time line to get you up to speed on what happened and where for those of us who don't remember all of our history lessons. It has pictures of anything and everything you could want to see and more, divided by region and city. It explains the history of the various monuments, ruins, churches, roads, paintings, sculptures, etc. Not to mention, it truly is a beautiful book and has tons of high quality photos. It would be a pleasure to have for this reason alone.

The best things I got out of this book are: knowing where I want to go, and being able to recognize and appreciate what I'll be looking at when I get there. After all, how can you evaluate where you want to go or what you want to see when you don't know what you have to choose from? This is the only book you'll need if you're planning a trip.

The Eyewitness Guide easily mixes simple graphics with more technical maps and descriptions that are eminently useful and easy to follow! The heft and size may be intimidating, but it held up through drenching Assisi rainstorms, being dropped throughout Rome, and bounced in a cotton shoulder-bag for four weeks. Even armed with six other guides this was the book that proved the most consistently useful. Please, please, please do yourself a favor and give it a try. Beautiful AND useful travel guides don't come along often.

We toted two other guidebooks in our luggage as we toured Italy, but this one never left our hands. Fodor's suffered the indignity of having the odd page or two torn out of it (and stuffed into my pocket); and Michelin provoked occasional head scratching as we went from place to place. We earnestly tried to find excuses to leave the bulky "Eyewitness" on the dresser each morning, but admitted it was absolutely key to our enjoyment of the previous day's events and places, so dragged it along.

Curiously, it was even helpful during those moments (as in the Vatican) when our chirpy "Valley Girl" tour guide was trying to explain the background of the feast of objects and buildings in that remarkable venue, but lacked the knowledge to carry it off in anything other than a superficial manner.

We are a military family stationed in the Veneto region. I received this book as a gift right before we left the US. It has been an invaluable resource; I can't begin to tell you how many times I have used it. In fact, we purchased the Venice & the Veneto region book to supplement it and have used both extensively. When we visited Rome, it was a great assistanced in the Vatican museums---it is great to have background about what you are looking at. It also helped as we wandered around the city. This book has become the standard gift for our newly arrived friends, as it certainly helps you make the most of Italia!

I've been to Italy several times.....Rome, Venice, Florence, Bologna, Milan, some of the hill towns, etc. Here are my reviews of the best guides to meet you r exact needs.....I hope these are helpful and that you have a great visit! I always gauge the quality of my visit by how much I remember a year later......this review is designed to help you get the guide that will be sure YOU remember your trip many years into the future. Travel Safe and enjoy yourself to the max!

Rick Steves' books are not recommended. They may be an interesting read but their helpfulness is very poor. They don't do well on updates, transportation details, or anything but the first-time-tourist routine and even that is somewhat superficial on anything but the mega-major sites.

Frommer's
These are time tested guides that pride themselves on being updated annually. Although I think the guides below provide information that is in more depth or more concise (depending on what the guide is known for), if your main concern is that the guide has very little old or outdated information, then this would be a good guide for you.

Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet has City and Out To Eat Guides. They are all about the experience so they focus on doing, being, getting there, and this means they have the best detailed information, including both inexpensive and really spectacular restaurants and hotels, out-of-the-way places, weird things to see and do, the list is endless.

Blue Guides
Without doubt, the best of the walks guides.... the Blue Guide has been around since 1918 and has extremely well designed walks with lots of unique little side stops to hit on just about any interest you have. If you want to pick up the feel of the city, this is the best book to do that for you. This is one that you end up packing on your 10th trip, by which time it is well worn.

MapGuide
MapGuide is very easy to use and has the best location information for hotels, tourist attractions, museums, churches etc. that they manage to keep fairly up to date. It's great for teaching you how to use the public transportation system. The text sections are quick overviews, not reviews, but the strong suite here is brevity, not depth. I strongly recommend this for your first few times learning your way around the classic tourist sites and experiences. MapGuide is excellent as long as you are staying pretty much in the center of the city.

Time Out
The Time Out guides are very good. Easy reading, short reviews of restaurants, hotels, and other sites, with good public transport maps that go beyond the city centre. Many people who buy more than one guidebook end up liking this one best!

Let's Go
Let's Go is a great guide series that specializes in the niche interest details that turn a trip into a great and memorable experience. Started by and for college students, these guides are famous for the details provided by people who used the book the previous year. They continue to focus on providing a great experience inexpensively. If you want to know about the top restaurants, this is not for you (use Fodor's or Michelin). Let's Go does have a bewildering array of different guides though. Here's which is what:
Budget Guide is the main guide with incredibly detailed information and reviews on everything you can think of.
City Guide is just as intense but restricted to the single city.
PocketGuide is even smaller and features condensed information
MapGuide's are very good maps with public transportation and some other information (like museum hours, etc.)

Michelin
Famous for their quality reviews, the Red Michelin Guides are for hotels & Restaurants, the Green Michelin Guides are for main tourist destinations. However, the English language Green guide is the one most people use and it has now been supplemented with hotel and restaurant information. These are the serious review guides as the famous Michelin ratings are issued via these books.

Fodor's
Fodor's is the best selling guide among Americans. They have a bewildering array of different guides. Here's which is what:
The Gold Guide is the main book with good reviews of everything and lots of tours, walks, and just about everything else you could think of. It's not called the Gold guide for nothing though....it assumes you have money and are willing to spend it.
SeeIt! is a concise guide that extracts the most popular items from the Gold Guide
PocketGuide is designed for a quick first visit
UpCLOSE for independent travel that is cheap and well thought out
CityPack is a plastic pocket map with some guide information
Exploring is for cultural interests, lots of photos and designed to supplement the Gold guide

This is the quintessential travel guide, the one I use when traveling in Italy, and I am a travel agent. It provides indepth information, graphic diagrams, photos and other essentials to make the trip easy and enjoyable. Though a bit cumbersome for carrying around, I popped in my little backpack and pulled it out often. If you buy only one travel guide for Italy, this should be the one.