Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Walking in Italy

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Serious trekkers should add this invaluable guidebook to their travel shelves. In its rapidly growing walking guide series, Lonely Planet very effectively defines its audience and focus. Walking in Italy is aimed at travelers who want to include extensive hiking in their trips or those who plan long-distance trekking journeys. The authors have selected nine areas of walks and organized both regionally and thematically. Sections such as the "Volcanoes of Southern Italy" tempt readers to plan trips that will immerse them in the rich culture and natural history of the regions described.

My wife and I field-tested this guide on a recent trip to Southern Italy and greatly valued its level of detail. We found the maps and trail directions highly accurate and easy to follow, and we particularly appreciated the many sidebars on local culture, history, and the environment. Walk descriptions also include public transportation to trailheads, campgrounds, budget lodgings and restaurants, even local sources for maps and trail guides. The first quarter of this compact book, moreover, is devoted to general travel information, which just could make this single guide all the walker needs to carry on a trip to Italy.

The emphasis of this useful little handbook is on walking in rural, even wild Italy. It describes walks in nine areas: the western Alps, the Lake District, the Dolomites, Maritime Alps, Liguria, the southern Italian volcanoes, the Amalfi Coast & Sorrento Peninsula, Tuscany and Sardenia. Also, it describes four long-distance walks which traverse the length or, pretty nearly, the width of Italy.

Coverage of each geographic area is uneven, but it's always at least enough for a rapid overview. For example, Liguria gets just 13 pages. However, it has so many wonderful walks that it's worth a book of its own. The volcanoes of southern Italy get 40 pages. And that's just about right.

There are useful chapters about the housekeeping details of taking a walk in Italy. These cover how to get to Italy, finding transport to the site of each walk, health, safety and first aid tips, facts needed for planning a walk and those background details of Italy which may be important to a walker.

This book walked us through some great walks in northern Italy. It has all the details you may need. The track is described in a way you can't go wrong. They warn the reader about every possible obstacle, give exact transportaion schedule, recommend maps, seasons and walking gear.

The tracks vary in length and difficulty. The book mentions the length, duration, and difficulty of every walk, so the reader can stay with what suits them.

We even took their recommendation for a hotel, and it turned out to be a good recommendation. It was not fancy, but clean and pleasant, just as the book said.

(I refer to the hotel they recommend in Malcesina, on lake Garda).

All in all - I'm very glad to have bought this book. It brought our trip to a whole different level.

There is a lot of general information about each area. I found it verey interesting, and I think you should read the descriptions carefully before you start your walks.

Have fun!!

This book covers so much territory so quickly, i didn't find it useful for the amalfi coast. there it only covered a few main walks in main towns instead of getting very deep. the Sunflower Landscape series is much more thorough but doesn't have hotel recommendations.

Seeing Italy in all its grand beauty is simply not enough by plane, train or vespa. NO my friend, you must get out and WALK. There is no better way to see the hidden wonders of this wonderful country, and Lonely planet is the only walking partner you need. Tips on the best walking tracks, great food, hidden splendors...they are all in this easy to carry wealth of a paperback. When your trip is over, you will not want to part ways with such a book. I often look over this book to conjure up memories of my trip. If your heading to Italy, get this book, I dont think there are any others that fare better in comparison to Lonely Planet.

I bought this book because it has a great colorful cover. The book does host moderate detail about each hiking trail in Italy. I feel that it lacked substance. It also did not have very many color photos to attract you to different hikes available. I give this book a C+.

This guide book gave excellent details for the two hikes I did, which was all very thorough and useful. However, there were two serious errors. One of these (the second) is a significant danger, which is why i mark the book down to three stars -- barring this grievous mistake, the book warrants 5 stars.

The first error is understandable, and presents no great harm. For the Tuscan Hill Crest hike, the instructions are incorrect at the point after Torracia di Chiusi (p 206), where the text incorrectly reads "Veer right on the other side by a pylon and branch out on an overgrown grassy track through an olive grove." You have to veer *left* about 5-10 feet before you reach the pylon; you do not turn right on the far side of the pylon. (Past the pylon you pick up the Via Francigena trail, which one has just left at this point). This is an obvious mistake which was a confusion & bother. It took about 30 minutes to figure out the right way, after going the wrong way. The directions after the olive grove were very detailed and helpful (as i found throughout the guide), which allowed me to confirm I was back on track.

The second error is more serious. The book says the Promontorio di Portofino circuit (pg 64) is a "moderate" trail. While the trail is moderate from Camogli to the Batterie, after that point the circuit is an expert trail. There are large signs at the beginning and end of the trail which warn the trail is of "high difficulty", and only for "expert" hikers. I think if you have a trail where there is a significant part that is expert, the trail cannot reasonably be called "moderate". The expert trail constitutes the majority of the Promontorio circuit. This is noted only passingly on the map as a "hazardous path area". The text gives only this: "Conglomerate cliffs now rise above the track, and the walk gets tougher with five or six exposed sections that offer a wire cable fixed to the rock as hand support (not suitable for children or those unsure of foot)". The trail is certainly far more than "exposed", and "tougher"; it is expert. The description rather understates the cliffs passing here, where you are walking on the extremely steep edge of a cliff, with only a few feet between you & a precipitous fall directly into the cliff-side and the sea below. It is safe with the cable chains, but there ought to be warnings; those with vertigo are at significant risk. The danger is multiplied by the length of the cliffs passage, which can be very tiring. At the end of my hike, I saw a rescue helicopter picking someone up off the cliffs. Also, proper hiking footwear (i was okay in running shoes, but this is the absolute minimum) is absolutely required here, and this was not clearly explained.

Also, the time given for completing the Promontorio trail was seriously aggressive, given the difficulty of the cliffs passage. The Tuscan Hill Crest took me about as long as was specified; but the Promontorio circuit took at least an hour or two longer. Also, there is one spot on the Promontorio trail that is poorly marked and easily lost -- this is shortly after you have finished the cliffs passages, and right before you enter the last part of the trail before San Fruttuoso.