Customer Reviews

Rick Steves' Florence and Tuscany 2011

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have both Rick Steve's paris and florence guides. Both are excellent (as are his audio tours which can be downloaded free). His free-standing guides are full of useful/practical information without overwhelming the reader with more. This guide probably contains the info normally requiring 2-3 guides. The guide contains a lot of useful, time saving tips and helps prioritise sites for visitors short on time. It has just the right balance of history/culture for the average traveler and logistical museum ticket/transportation tips, and addresses.

We had a copy of Rick Steves' Italy guide but later got an opportunity to browse this Florence & Tuscany guide. There is more detail in this localized guide, so we took both for our trip. For self-guided tours through the museums, this local guide is better.

Used the 2010 version this past Summer and was essential. Got the 2011 as soon as it was released. Reading it post-journey was like visiting an old friend. Many suggestions in the book make even more sense after being there. We trust Rick Steves guides.

While I usually am a big fan of Rick Steve's guidebooks to Italy, I do NOT recommend the Kindle version of his Florence and Tuscany 2011. It is formatted in such a way that it's nearly impossible to find particular information you want. For example, I wanted to see what he says about using cell phones in Italy. I went to "Go to___" and "Search this book" and put in "cell phones",and clicked on "Find." I won't go through all the steps including the "Index" it put me through but I never did find the passage I wanted. I called the KIndle Support hotline but no one could help me there including a "specialist" I was referred to. By accident, when looking for something else, I finally discovered a site called "phoning" in the APPENDIX, but when I clicked on that all I got was a few generalities and word that I should go to his website for more details. Say what?? So I turned the wireless on, went to the site and what I found was unreadable and when I enlarged the type it didn't fit the screen even rotated sideways. I asked for a refund and am buying the paperback copy. Bummer!

Love it, love it, love it. This summer, my wife and I will be taking our family of three adult children plus Mom to Italy. It will be our 2nd trip to Florence and our first trip to Siena. Rick's guide has given us so much advice that it is our "bible" for the trip.

Especially helpful have been the reviews of places to stay. Finding places to stay for six adults has been difficult, but Rick's guide has shown us where to go (and what to avoid).

Highly recommended!

Rick Steves does a good job of getting the proper information to the traveler. All of his suggestions are good suggestions regarding banking, transportation and interesting sights. He also gives helpful tip on buying tickets ahead of time rather than trying to do it on location where you would encounter long lines.

The part I liked best was his self-guided museum tours and walks, and the ranking of sights by what is most important to see. It really helped me budget my time.

My husband and I spent an entire week and barely scratched the surface of Florence. It is so full of art, I don't understand how some people come for just a day or two.

Make sure to get his free audio tours from itunes, too. We used our phones to listen to those during walks and museum tours.

Having used two different "Steves'" guides in a recent trip to Italy, I was very impressed. Info always seems accurate! Reading it carefully will provide great tidbits on most commonly-visited locations.

Bought all Rick Steve's books for all the cities we visited on Europe. They are very helpful in everyway! Wouldn't travel without one!

The information and suggestions in this guidebook to Florence and Pisa are certain to make our visit to those places extremely enjoyable. We are big fans of Rick Steve's and will follow his suggestions to the letter.