Customer Reviews

Knopf Guide: Florence (Knopf Guides)

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While living in Florence, Italy, I used this little book on a daily basis. It is a beautiful book and a wealth of priceless information: from scenic walks along the Arno, places of cultural value, stories behind some of the world's most incredible collections of art, churches, markets, wines and trattorias, transportation routes and day trips into the Tuscan hills ... the list is endless. This book is worth its weight in gold.

I collected these Knopf series when I was a teenager in the mid 90's. The glossy pages filled with reprints of paintings, maps, and photos helped create a lust for travel. These guidebooks might not be the best weight for carrying around on a trip (they are quite heavy), but are great for planning a trip at home.

To state it as succinctly as possible, this guide is useless for the first time visitor. The maps included do not list all of the little side streets in the city (a must for the maze that is the historic center). The description of the sites are totally devoid of any practical information for the first time visitor, and what is included is shunted into a separate section in the back. We purchased this instead of the Eyewitness Tuscany because if was more focused on the city, but we found the others in the Eyewitness series to be much more user friendly.