Customer Reviews

Rick Steves' Rome 2009

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Recently spent a week in Rome with the family. My 12th trip, the family's first. We took Rick's book and DK Eyewitness Travel Rome. Rick's book is a great book. Lots of detail and a clear picture of some out of the way places in Rome. Rick has a good eye and his research is second to none. His descriptions of places and events are as good, or better, than a tour guide. That is the good, and bad, news.
If you are interested in what Rick is interested in, you'll do great. If not, you may miss out on a lot of sights and attractions. Some of his favorite places are virtually next to other attractions of which his book makes no mention.
Rick's tours and focus have a definite "Christian" slant. While early Christianity and the Catholic Church play a huge role in Rome and its' place in history, I felt his self guided tours and places to visit steered the reader more to this part of Rome than necessary.
On the other hand, the DK Eyewitness Traveler Rome packs a tremendous amount into their book, but lacks the detail and descriptions of Rick's book.
We used each book about evenly, with a slight advantage to the DK book. Towards the end of our stay, after becoming more comfortable in our surroundings, we found ourselves using the DK book more and more.

A hint that neither book mention: Men..wear pants and polo or short sleeve shirts; women and girls...forget about the short-shorts, tank, tops, or spaghetti strap tops. Many, many of the attractions associated with the Church, from the Vatican to The Capuchin Monks Crypt, REQUIRE modest dress. Women must have covered shoulders and appropriate length leg coverings (like capris or a skirt). Likewise men shouldn't show up in shorts and muscle t-shirts.
Also for women...those great looking sandals you like so much...ok to bring them, but not the best thing for walking around Rome. Most of the tourist areas are cobble stone or Roman roads. Comfort is a must.

I'm a little confused with previous reviews of Rick Steves' Rome book. Are we reading the same book? Poor content? Really? I'm planning my first trip to Rome and, if anything, this book has been an indispensable planning tool for our big trip. I have been "traveling" with Rick for many years now. I update my "Europe Through the Back Door" books whenever I plan a trip to Europe, and my 3 versions of these books are all dog-eared, full of highlighted sections and are well worn. Rick's books have been my best friends during past trips to the UK, France and Germany, so his book on Rome was the first book I bought when we began just even considering a trip to the Eternal City. And one of the best things about Rick's country/city books is that he updates them every year, so you know that you have the most up-to-date information available on print. His website is also a fantastic travel resource.

Rick Steves' Rome is subdivided into several categories: Introduction (planning tip, what to know before you go), Orientation, Sights, Sleeping (accomodations), Eating (restaurant suggestions), Rome with Children, Shopping, Nightlife, Transportation Connections, Daytrips, Roman History, Appendix and the Index.

* The "Sights" section alone covers over 230 pages with fantastic and detailed information on Self-Guided Walks (Nightly Walk, Trastevere Walk, Jewish Ghetto Walk) and Self-Guided Tours (including the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, Capitoline Museum, Borghese Gallery, Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica to name a few). Each section of this self-guided tours and walks has practical information (hours, cost, how to get there, how to avoid long lines), background history, descriptions of the interior and exterior, maps, pictures and details on each "must see" (whether its a painting, sculpture, structure or item of architectural/historical interest). I've browsed through many travel books on Rome and Rick is one of the few (or the only one) who has given useful tips on the best tours to take, how to avoid long lines, what sights are not worth the trip, what sights are underrated, and how to travel well on a budget.

* "Sleeping" and "Eating" sections covers his recommendations for a wide range of budgets (although those who know Rick knows that he specializes in travel for cost-conscious travelers).

* "Shopping" covers tips on markets, ideas for souvenirs and general shopping tips. It is sparse, however, so if you plan to do some serious shopping, then I recommend that you supplement this book with a "Rome shopping guide" as well.

* "Daytrips" covers Ostia Antica, Tivoli, Naples and Pompeii (sights that are within a 2-hour train ride from Rome). If you are looking for sights around Tuscany/Umbria, then you will want to pick up Rick's "Florence" book for information on those areas.

I highly recommend this book to anyone (especially budget-conscious travelers) who is contemplating a trip to Rome. In my planning, I have also supplemented this book with the latest version of Rick's "Europe Through the Back Door" (fantastic practical planning guide) and "Europe 101: History and Art for the Traveler." If Rick's books have a shortcoming (and, yes, no travel book is perfect), it is the lack of glitzy color pictures that some travel books have. What he lacks in snazzy pictures, he makes up for in content. His self-guided tours and walks, and his tips and budget recommendations are always excellent. However, if you are a "visual" person like me (who must have my pictures) and particularly if you are going on your first trip to Rome, then I have found that Fodor's Rome (Full-Color Gold Guides) with its color pictures, visuals and maps is the perfect complement to Rick's books. I always find that investing in a guidebook or two, and a really good map are well worth it. As a seasoned European traveler, I know that Rick's Rome book, Fodor's Rome and MapEasy's Guidemap to Rome are all I need to help me make my trip a success.

I am really glad I purchased this for our recent family trip to Rome. We did use it ALOT! It doesn't have everything in Rome to see but it has all the Majors!! Was especially helpful when we didn't really know the background story on some of the peices in the National History Museum. This book is really good if you don't plan on taking tours in Rome with is almost impossible with how many tours out there that they offer you. Maps are especially helpful for the areas where your bigger map doesn't go into as much detail.

Before I left for Rome, I was considering not getting a tour guide at all. I figured, with a place that has so many tourists it certainly must be easy to know where to go and find out the history of what you are looking at. However, that's not the case.

I decided at the last minute to order this book, and boy was I happy that I did so.

I spent five days in Rome (which is just about the perfect amount of time to see everything) and brought this book with me everywhere I went. Let me tell you, it was a necessity.

I was shocked that every single tourist attraction (the Colosseum, Pantheon, Forum, Vatican, etc.) did not offer any information at all about the history of what exactly it was that you were looking at. Some of these places let you rent an audio guide with headphones for a fee, however I find those annoying and they don't always tell you the whole story. If it were not for me purchasing this book, I wouldn't have learned half of the stuff that I did. Constantly throughout my whole vacation, I was shocked to see tourists walking around looking at these ancient ruins without any clue at all what exactly it was that they were looking at, because there are no types of historical information presented to you when you visit them (Literally! There's no signs that say what something is, no pamphlets that you can pick up, nothing!) Without this book, my vacation would have been totally different.

The self-guided tours in this book are fantastic. Rick Steves will have you walk into a museum, and literally step-by-step he points out where certain objects in the museum are and gives you plenty of background information, which is presented to you in a light-hearted, fun way. This was definitely most beneficial at the Forum and Palatine Hill, where you literally walk amongst hundreds of ancient ruins that have no signs or explanations telling you exactly what it is that you're looking at.

My favorite parts of the book were the self-guided Night Walk Tour, and also the self-guided tour of Trastevere. Those are definite musts to do on your trip; we had a lot of fun. He even points out great places to get gelato and cappuccino along the way! It felt almost like a scavenger hunt - it was both educational and fun.

The tone of the book is very conversational and quite often humorous. It is not a dull, boring history book at all. Rick Steves really brings excitement into the trip. He also presents everything in an even, unbiased way, not trying to re-write history (for example, many items used to build and decorate some churches and other buildings were often stolen from other people/places, etc). This was especially beneficial in a place such as the Vatican Museum, where if I had to guess a lot of that type of information was probably not presented to the people who rented the Vatican's self-created audio guide headphones.

I will definitely advise anyone visiting Rome that bringing this guide book with them is a must (and literally, carry it around with you everywhere, you won't regret it. It can fit in a jacket or a small bag. I carried it in my backpack, which I brought with me everywhere. Don't worry about feeling like a tourist when you take it out and read it while standing directly in front of the site that you are reading about - plenty of people were doing that, it is very beneficial. Of course, you don't want the fact that you are a tourist to stick out like a sore thumb due to pickpockets, so be somewhat careful). If you don't buy this particular guide book, then at least buy some other guide book to carry around. Without a guide book, your trip to Rome will be less interesting, again due to the lack of information that's presented to you at the actual sites.

This was the first Rick Steves book that I bought, and the next time I go anywhere else in Europe, I now plan on getting his other books too.

It was very helpful that I had this book while I was in Rome at the end of February this year. It was the first time I've been in Rome. I could be able to find any information that I need regarding a one week stay in Rome including sight seeing, sleeping, eating and even shopping.
I will buy Rick Steves's guide books whenever I decide to travel to any place in Europe in future.

I just got back from Rome. This book was very helpful in the planning of my trip. Great infomation with a good amount of detail and history. My only dislike is the lack of color photos compared to other books. But I do like the hand drawn maps. Im planning a trip to spain next year and plan on buying his Spain book now.
JK

I tried several restaurants listed in this guide, and they all had inedible food. Do not bother with that section. Use Time Out Rome if you want a decent meal. During my 2+ week stay, I only saw a couple Midwesterners carrying this book and another New Yorker with Time Out. Everyone else had DK in multiple languages. I bought 5 Rome travel guides for reference before my trip- Time Out, DK, Insight, Rick Steves, and Knopf. I only ended up carrying around Time Out for the restaurant section.

I went to Europe this past May for the first time by myself - and I was pretty nervous. I bought this book hoping to do a lot of research ahead of time so I wouldn't look like an ignorant tourist and become the victim of any kind of scam. Rick really knows what he's talking about. I followed many of his suggestions by booking tickets in advance online, and was able to walk to the front of the really long lines for museums - especially the Vatican. Not like Rome has a complicated Metro system anyway, but I knew where to get on and off better then some Canadians I met who had been there for longer than I had! The blown-up street maps made it easy for me to wander around, without a map or guidebook right in front of me, and still have an idea where I was. I had someone come up to me and ask me for directions - in Italian. His tips about the cost of things were great as well - I knew when someone was trying to take advantage of me. Finally, I hit some of the restaurants he suggested and followed his general rule of going about two-blocks inward from tourist attractions, and I got some of the most amazing food!! I'm going to Paris, again by myself this upcoming May, and I will definitely buy Rick's book because I know it will give me what I need to know - not a bunch of fluff.

My husband and I just got back from 18 days in Italy, and we used this book and Rick Steves' Florence and Tuscany book for when we were in those areas. Both books are excellent! He gives you great information that is accurate and reliable (about pricing, opening hours, etc.), and provides a great overview of the region. We had brought along two other guidebooks about Italy, but ended up using the Steves' ones pretty much exclusively since they were so thorough and complete. He also has a great sense of humor that makes his books fun to read.

If you go to Rick Steves' website, he also has free audio tours that you can download and put on your mp3 player. My husband and I did downloaded them before we went, and it was great to be able to have tours of many of the major attractions in Italy (the Colosseum, the Uffizi, Pompeii, etc.) that were conducted at our own pace. We saved quite a bit of money from not having to rent audio tours at every site we visited.

The only downside is that so many people in Italy had Steves' books that getting into some of his recommended restaurants was a bit difficult. He mentions this problem himself in his books.

Overall, though, I highly recommend this book if you are going to Rome! It was our first time using Steves' books, but it won't be our last!

I bought the Rick Steves guides for a recent 2 week trip to Italy and they made the trip so easy. The guides are easy to figure out, have great recommendations on places to eat, sleep, see. The walk-though tours of various museums are great (& save you money on an audio guide - especially if you use in combo with his Italy podcasts). The descriptions and maps are easy to follow too. We ate at several of his recommended restaurants and were never disappointed. The guides are also light weight so you can easily carry them around all day for easy reference. I highly recommend these to anyone planning a trip to Italy (we used the Venice, Rome, Cinque Terre & Almafi Coast guide as well as the Italian Phrasebook & the free pod-casts).

For Rome you will also need a good map - we used this map and liked it:
Streetwise Rome Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Rome, Italy - Folding pocket size travel map with metro map, subway