Customer Reviews

Rick Steves' Italy 2008

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Not quite a tourists' yellow pages nor quite a piece of literature on Italian history, Rick Steves' Italy 2008 had everything (almost) we wanted and nothing we didn't in order to plan and execute our first Italy trip. My wife and I used this book for preparing our trip and found ourselves carrying it everywhere we went during the trip.

From form factor to content organization, the book reflects a certain level of maturity in writing and editing a travel book. The names of hotel and restaurant owners provided the much needed personal touch and ice breaker; little side notes minimize surprises due to benign mistakes that have a way of ruining good vacations; current information on trains, tours, hours, fees, phone numbers and maps take away the need to collect flyers as soon as you get to a new place. The book seems to have the right mix of information and opinion.

Don't use the book as a guided-tour replacement at museums. Information about Tuscany is minimal and sub-par compared to rest of Italy. Focused tourists (say second time Italy visitors) may not get everything they are looking for. For hotel reservations, we cross-checked the book's suggestions with consumer reviews on TripAdvisor.com and found that to be very useful. Other than that, you should be pretty well covered.

Rick Steves Italy is a great travel guide. When I first received it, I was a bit skeptical due to the fact that it was not as visually appealing as were other books I received on the same subject. Once I began reading the book, I was very much surprised as to how much detail and very important information the book provided. Examples of this are locations of where to be carefull of thieves to the exact street corner. Also, the book gave great detail on restaurants, hotels, and what to see including how to find them, who to ask for, and hours of operation, which helps in planning. Many other travel guides do not go into such detail. In my opinion, I would purchase as an example Fromers guide, and then in addition to that purchase Rick Steves as you will get much more detailed information about all the little things that make a difference in traveling to a city you have never been to.

We are still in the planning process of our trip, but so far Rick Steve's book has been great. It is easy to read and organized in a user friendly manner. The size is small enough I can carry it around on our trip and use it as a quick reference. I used his 2006 England book with great success and believe the Italy book is going to be just as useful!

I also bought Frommer's 2008 Italy and am not as pleased with it. In comparison Rick Steve's reads easier. Frommer's reads like a dense textbook. There is almost too much information. Also, Rick Steve's offers complete museum tours so you don't have to buy the audioguides. All the information is in his book and tells you the best path to take. He also does walking tours so you can enjoy a free activity that really highlights a town. Frommer's just lists all the sights and leaves you to sort it out. Frommer's is definitely more inclusive than Rick Steve's; it has more towns, more hotels, more dining, and more sights, but I think it would be way to overwhelming to carry with me.

My plan is to carry Rick Steve's with me on my sightseeing, but to make some additional notes in it on stuff I found in Frommer's. All in all though, I think Rick Steve's is the better book, and if you only want to buy one, I'd buy Rick Steve's.

My girlfriend and I got this guide after reading some pretty good reviews here about Rick Steves' Italy. Rick Steves provided money saving tips like the Roma Pass which was useful and helped us saved time and money. His tip to call and reserve tickets with the galleries was a handy shortcut and allowed us to skip the queues. We saved some money by showing this book to a few hotels and restaurants too.

Little did we know that the poorly hand-drawn maps were to lead us in merry-go-rounds around Milan, Florence, Rome and Venice. Some of the recommended restaurants like Dante's Pizzatoria in Florence and Princi's at Milan were outright dishonest and rude. On top of that, the written directions to several places were vague. For example, we were unable to locate a recommended hotel in Venice listed on the guide even after two hours of relentless search.

To be fair to Rick, his information on Ferry transfer and train information were largely helpful. However, it would have been preferred if Rick had included cultural pointers for Asians. Having said this, we would like to prepare Asian or non-European travelers heading to Florence to handle their unique form of hospitality. Please note that our experiences at the city were less than pleasant.

We recommend that you get a proper map along with this book or have a look at Fodor's Italy 2008.

This is my favorite Italy travel guide, and I buy each yearly update when it comes out. The Maps are the best for actually getting around!

Don't buy this if you expect to find information on the southern Italian mainland.

The map at the front of this book sums up its disappointing lack of coverage of southern Italy. The map stops at the Amalfi coast and does not show the "foot" part of the country. Rick Steves' Italian mainland ends at a line drawn between Paestum and Manfredonia. So .... no Lecce, no Matera, no Otranto - there's absolutely nothing on Puglia. Truncated map = truncated coverage.

The title should be "Rick Steves Most of Italy 2008".

Mr. Steves supplies a wealth of information for MOST of Italy, but unfortunately for those of us who desire to see Southern Italy, the book is not helpful. I would also like to suggest that Mr. Steves refrain from denigrating U.S. tourists. Many of us are well-seasoned travellers and can enjoy other cultures without the immature lectures offered by Steves.

Rick Steves states his approach to travel in Italy clearly: he doesn't cover everything in the country, just the "best" places, the best according to him, of course. If your tastes and orientation align with his (interesting, moderately priced travel, including as much local immersion as is reasonable), then this book provides the wonderful backbone of a great trip. For visiting places other than his "best" you will want a more comprehensive guide book, like Lonely Planet, in addition to (rather than instead of) this one.

Steves' enthusiasm for "Europe's richest, craziest culture" comes through in every page while his practical suggestions from an often humorous perspective makes this book sound like personal advice from a friend who knows the area well. I find his information extremely accurate and insightful, based on my own experiences living in Italy for a year. Now I rely on his detailed, up-to-date information about important sights, accommodations (three levels of moderate prices), transportation, and dining (or picnicking, snacking, drinking, etc.) to help me plan return trips.

-Lynn Michelsohn, author of Roswell, Your Travel Guide to the UFO Capital of the World!

Once again, I was not disappointed by a Rick Steves book. He gives you everything you need to know to plan a great trip. Lots of details and personal recommendations. We have used his books in the past and have followed his suggestions for where to sleep and eat. He is rarely wrong. I highly recommend this book for any one who is traveling to Europe.

I went on my honeymoon to Italy and this book was the only thing I used to guide me around Rome. Rick Steves is simply AWESOME! The best thing I remember was following his tip about buying the Colosseum tickets on the Colina Palatina booth, in order to skip the HUGE lines on the Colosseum! I did just that and me and my wife went laughing ALL the way from the back of a 200 person line to the entrance and into the Colosseum! AMAZING! This book is filled with MANY, MANY secrets like this and I couldn't find any situation on which Mr. Steves was wrong. If you are going to Italy, take this book with you and SAVE a TON of money! Highly Recommended!