14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as good as Eyewitness, February 25, 2005
Although this guide book did have useful information and was small and easy to carry, I thought our Eyewitness Venice travel guide was much better. The Lonely Planet descriptions seemed to tell me about everything that was going badly in Venice and focused very little on the beautiful and positive side of the city. I would recommend checking out the Eyewitness book instead.
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47 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
For Venice - anything but Lonely Planet. Sorry., November 3, 2002
Some devoted followers of Lonely Planet will immediately click "NOT HELPFUL" to avenge this comment, I am sorry if this reviews disappoints you, but one has to be honest, right?
Yes, I admit I am not the greatest fan of Lonely Planet - although I recognize there are destinations where no-one does the trick better than this cheap-and-nasty house of publishing. In Africa, for example, Lonely Planet was the best guide available. But Venice, this magical and charming little patch of magic in the Adriatic? This guide is a joke, but I am not laughing.
The book is more concerned with righting the world than with doing its job. Do you want to read more of the same moans about evils of international tourism and how irresponsible travellers are ruining the world? If the answer is yes, go buy this book. It will certainly accomplish the mission of ruining all the enjoyment of travel to one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
However, if you need a travel guide, not a campaign newsletter, you will be better off with another book. A book which might tell you that all the tourist crowds in Venice occupy perhaps five percent of the city's territory, while the rest is the real Venice with people getting on with their lives, buying groceries in small shops and hanging their washing outside, Italian-style. Another book may show you how charming, how crazily enchanting and breathtakingly delicate this city is.
Maybe with another book you will realize that all the alarmist moans about Venice which will die in five/ten/fifteen years unless tourism is banned are just another shameless exagerrations, concocted by scaremongers and killjoys.
Writing is excessively dry and is difficult to follow or enjoy. I find it hard to believe that a reviewer was pleased with maps - they are just sad and amateurish, worse than anything that I have seen in my life, aside from Lonely Planet Iceland and Greenland, which is and probably will be the world champion of poor mapping.
This guide is not a match for Eyewitness or Fodor's, it does not even come close to being a good guidebook. Do yourself a favor - buy something else.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent travel guide, November 26, 2000
The guide itself - like most Lonely Planet guides - is divided into basically two parts: First, things to know before you go, like history, geography and climate as well as information about visas, customs, money, health, etc. Second, the "traditional" description of places, monuments and museums as well as tips of where to stay and where to eat. The book is written in a casual way that makes reading easy, but still gives precise information when needed. On my last trip to Venice I found that almost all prices, opening times and other details where up to date. Another detail I liked was that some recommended hotels had their e-mail addresses in the guide. It made advance reservation so easy, and I am not talking about a Hilton, but a midrange hotel. One point that some people might find offensive is that sometimes the authors don't hesitate to give their personal opinion about politics, lifestyle, etc. But if you just take it for what it is, an opinion, and are able to go, see for your self, and make up your own mind, than this travel guide is for you. I really recommend it.
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