Lonely Planet Tuscany & Umbria [Paperback]

Miles Roddis (Author), Alex Leviton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2006

Packed with practical advice plus cultural and historical background, this bestselling guide includes a driving map, advice on villa rental, and detailed itineraries. Full color. 74 maps.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Best for curious and independent-minded travelers' --Wall Street Journal
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; 4th edition (January 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1740599195
• ISBN-13: 978-1740599191
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,783,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #81 in Books > Travel > Europe > San Marino & Umbria
  • #81 in Books > Travel > Europe > Italy > Umbria

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lonely Planet Tuscany & Umbria, 4th Edition, 2006, March 1, 2007

By 

Nick O'Time - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Tuscany & Umbria (Paperback)

My partner and I used this guide for our trip to Tuscany (Toscana) in June 2006, and we found it very serviceable. The places we visited were Siena, Florence (Firenze), Assisi, Perugia, Orvieto, and Volterra, among others.

Lonely Planet's guide gave us all the options available for getting to and from each city and town in the region. Whether by train, car, bicycle, or foot, it provides enough information to help you get there and back without too much trouble. This is in contrast to the Let's Go guidebooks which provide more information about staying in the towns themselves than about how to get there. This guide helped us with taking the train from Rome (Roma), and renting a car in Siena and making daytrips to Assisi, Perugia, and Orvieto.

The information on hotels is sufficient but I'd recommend doing a little research online about places to stay BEFORE you leave. LP guides give you a sampling of hotels and inns and a little blurb about each, but don't expect too much information on them. The quoted price ranges can be a little off, but LP assumes one is travelling during the peak season (July-August).

The information on restaurants is okay, and LP provides a decent listing of places to eat in whatever town you may be. It was either hit or miss for us. A few of the places LP recommended turned out to be duds but a few were spot on. One of the hits was a little taverna in Assisi that served linguini with black truffle sauce--yum!

As far as sites and attractions go, don't expect a wealth of information. LP gives a brief history/description for all the major sites but a lot of minor ones are either only touched upon or passed over altogether. One would be better off using the Michelin Green Guides for more detailed information about specific sites and attractions, as those provide a plethora of names, dates, and events that make them more akin to history books than travel guides.

The maps in the book are really good; they are accurate and easy to read. For all the major cities and towns covered in the guide, LP plots out the locations of all the hotels, restaurants, and attractions they mention. In this regard they are exactly like Let's Go (and all other guides, I imagine).

In my opinion this Lonely Planet guide is not the definitive book on Tuscany, but when used with other guides it can be an invaluable resource for your trip to this wonderful region of Italy. Pack it with you when you go--and don't forget the sunscreen!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Awesome Travel Companion, August 23, 2008

By 

D. Saverino (Toronto) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Tuscany & Umbria (Paperback)

Upon traveling to the Tuscany and Umbria regions I brought two travel guides, one of them Lonely Planet. The LP became my travel bible, since the other guide was difficult to follow and lacking in critical information. Overall, the Lonely Planet saved us a great deal of travel time because the maps were accurate, the restaurant recommendations were bang on, bus and train routes were efficient, and the sight guides were adequately informative.
This is essential guide to anyone traveling to this region.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent overview, June 30, 2008

By 

pt "pt" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Tuscany & Umbria (Paperback)

This is a decent overview, but lacks in-depth directions and full details of the area. I found key areas and towns missing. Also, not a lot of hours are printed in detail. Lack of editorial reviews or even hints as of what is good and what is not. I'm getting a second book to supplement this.