Customer Reviews

Rick Steves' Italy 1999

5 star:		(96)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

This was the 3rd guide that I have used in this extremely useful series. If you are planning a trip to Italy, buy this guide first. It is concise and will focus your attention on the most worthy destinations in Italy. Once you have decided on which regions to visit you can buy supplementary regional/city guides geared towards your specific interests.

As expected with this series, the guide provides great coverage for compact regions served by great public transport. For example, the chapter covering the Naples/Pompeii/Sorrento/Amalfi/Paestum region is particularly excellent. The maps and directions for using the local commuter transportation were flawless. I used buses, trains, and boats to move around the region with ease, avoiding the readily available and costly tour buses. Rick also correctly instructs you to stay in Sorrento, which is pleasant and safe, rather than Naples, which is neither.

I also visited Florence and the Hill Towns of Tuscany and Umbria. Once again, Rick's recommendations were on the mark, correctly focusing you on the most enjoyable destinations such as Siena and Assisi. If you want to cover the region in depth, as I did, you will need an additional guide (I recommend Blue or Green).

Other chapters that looked particulary good were those for Rome, Venice (great maps and instructions for using commuter boats), Cinque Terre, and the Dolomites. I can't wait for my next trip to Italy!

I found the hotel and restaurant recommendations somewhat low-end for my needs, but did have success with 2 hotels and a few of the restaurants.

I was looking for a guide book to help with an upcoming trip to one of the lesser known places to see in Italy. Paestum. Rick Steves' book was the only one that had a comprehensive guide to the city and ruins of Paestum. All the other Italy tour guide books only slightly mentioned it and how to get there. Steves' has a great layout of the ruins and a guide to the museum and places around Paestum to visit. This book is also a great guide for people coming to Italy for an extended period of time. The book has information for the big places to visit (Rome, Florence, Venice, and Milan) as well as the lesser known places to visit (Paestum, Puglia, Assisi, and Cortona). A must for the traveller. Not much of a difference with the 2002 book. It mostly has updated phone numbers and updated prices. If you have the 2002 book and don't have the money you really don't need this one, but if you are crazy about Italy or are looking for a book on travelling around Italy this is the best book out there.

We've just returned from Italy and Rick Steves' Italy 2000 was the travel book we could not have done without. Rick does a great job of highlighting the sites as well as providing useful information about the best times of day to visit, how to make reservations for the busiest sites, and easy to understand maps. The book's size also makes it easy to carry with you as you travel during the day.

I just returned from Italy and found this guide extremely useful. Although it is not designed as a detailed site guide (you will need Green or Blue Guides for that), it is definitely useful for planning where you will go and how you will get around. Also, given it's small size and light weight, you can always find room for this guide in your suitcase or backpack. With regard to hotels and restaurants, some are a bit low end for me, but I did stay at 2 of the pricier hotels and ate in a couple of the restaurants and found them quite good.

I spent 3 days in the Sorrento/Naples/Pompeii area and the chapter for this region was perhaps the best I've encountered in this series. Rick correctly guides you to stay in Sorrento, and provides exceptional advice on what to see and how to use the excellent transportation system in the region, including great maps, trip durations and fares. Other than buying site guides at major sites such as Pompeii, this is the only guide you need for this region.

I also spent a considerable amount of time in the hill towns of Tuscany and Umbria. I visited most of the Hill Towns that Rick recommends, as well as a few others. While I enjoyed all of these visits, I would say that Rick does a good job of highlighting the most worthwhile towns (especially Siena and Assisi).

If you are going to Rome, Florence, or Venice, then this book will definitely help you to prioritize your time, decide where to stay (area if not hotel), and figure out how to get around. I did not go to Venice, but noticed that there was a great map and text describing how to get around the canals. The chapters on the Cinque Terre and the Dolomites also looked very useful. My one disappointment with this book is that Sicily is not included, perhaps because it is not practical to include it in a whirlwind tour.

We traveled to Italy with this book as well as several others. We found that this book was the one we kept coming back to for insightful and accurate information on sights and highlights. We were amazed to see so many other people carrying this book with them.

Rick Steves is the only travel writer you can trust 100% of the time. I lived in Italy for 2.5 years, so I know of what I speak. Only Rick Steves tells it like it is.

Frommer and Foders are hacks for the travel industry. Following their suggestions will give you nothing but a "canned" version of Italy. Rick Steves, however, shows you Italy from the native's perspective. . . which is what most people want but never get with the "mainstream" guidebooks. Steves never compromises and is blunt and accurate in his advice. He's also a joy to read, far better than the dry writing one finds in other travel guides.

If you are going to spend several thousand dollars on a trip to Europe, don't cut corners when it comes to the essentials - and Rick Steves' Italy 2001 is a bargain-priced ESSENTIAL. Study it before going and bring it with you for reference. I highly recommend all of Rick Steves' books, especially Europe Through the Backdoor for first-time travelers to Europe.

This is definitely not the ONLY guide you should buy. One such as the Eyewitness guide povides much more in-depth information as well as eye-candy. I read the comprehensive books (especially on Rome) until my head was spinning. What a delight and relief it was to open Steeve's book and read such practical advice as "bus 64 is a haven for pickpockets," "taxis start at L5000, and must be hailed from a stand," "a small door at the rear allows you to escape directly to the Bascilica," avoiding tourist traffic jams. Specific prices, hours, directions, and hints on what to avoid as well as what to see, make this the book unique, and the one that I will carry in my bag!

With the deficiencies listed below, this guide would normally warrant a star less than the four I gave it, BUT, Rick Steves' recommendations are exemplary, unique and most of them keep you away from the hordes of tourist that often plague Italy in the Summer. This guide truly has unique vignettes that separate it from the glut of guides on Italy.

When I was in Venice, I used Rick Steves' guide and it lead me to an interesting Gregorian Mass at San Giorgio Maggiore Church. Rick also dutifully told me what to do if one of Venice's pigeons take a dump on my head (you grin, but think this not strange for Venice has tens of thousands of these strategic bombers). In this guide you will find selected venues that most other guidebooks completely omit, but alas, going off the beaten path you will often miss out on the tour buses, fat ladies with sun hats, trailed by the downcast husband with a camera as a dog-tag around his neck. Drats!

The index is grossly anemic and the maps are hand drawn, giving you only a basic idea of where you are in Italy. Also, this is not a complete guide to Italy. Rick Steve is selective and omits a significant portion of Italy, areas which I found fascinating, such as Bergamo. "Rick Steves' Italy 2001" includes: Rome, Florence, Naples, Venice, Lake Como, The Dolomites, Cinque Terre and five hill towns. If you are going to any of these areas specifically then Rick Steves' guide would be a welcome addition, along with a more comprehensive guide such as Frommer's Italy. Recommended

I have read a couple reviews where people condemn this book for the lack of maps and information about major tourist sites. I studied last summer in Italy and used the 1999 edition of this book as well as another, more traditional, guidebook. I found that out of about 5 different guidebooks that a group of us had this book was the best for locating inexpensive and interesting places to stay. If you have never been to Italy before than you should definitly purchase an additional book with more traditional information like maps, history of the country, etc, because that extra info isn't included in this book (alhtough all of Rick's insights are). However, I think that this book is definitly a must. Plus, it is small and not too expensive so it's worth it!

I used this book (the 1998 version) to plan a 10-day trip for my family in Italy. Every hotel, restaurant and site was right on! If you want to experience Italy as an Italian (almost) this is the book for you. Rick tells you where to stay in the big cities so that you feel like you are part of the neighborhood. The small towns he recommends help you discover a new old world. I used several of his books during 3 years of living in Europe and he never missed. This was the only guidebook I took with me and never lacked for information.