66 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Buy it, read it, love it!, August 29, 2005
This book has become so hugely popular and successful there are no real secrets anymore. Booking recommended hotels is nearly impossible. Recommended eating establishments are usually crowded with Rick's book toting tourists, and I think this may even be now available in other languages.
The book is very helpful in several other areas. Directions are pretty clear and precise when navigating or planning a walking tour. Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this book (as well as his other travel books) was tips on getting around, what to buy, when to buy it and what to avoid. For instance, the book was exceptionally helpful when in museums. Thanks to this book's recommendations, we purchased the Venice card and Vaporetto Passes once we got to Venice. This suggestion avoided outrageous service charges by online services as well as high shipping charges. The Venice card got us into many museums without standing in line and we waited until the end of our 12 day stay to buy the three day Vaporetto Pass as our legs got weary.
Once inside places like the Doge's Palace or Correr Museum (included with the Venice card), the book will walk you through room by room pointing out the highlights. With that said some of the dry humor is okay but way overboard in many instances but doubtful this was Rick's own words. With book in hand, my wife read aloud (but not too loud) guiding us brilliantly through the massive Doge's Palace. Maps, directions, where to begin, which steps to take, what to see, sequence of rooms, and little known facts or secrets were pointed out along the way. These were tips and highlights I am sure were normally reserved for the paid tour guides. For instance; the secret note boxes (if your name fell in here, you were guilty), the map room with the newly discovered Americas painted backwards (California was on the east coast), the chamber with the secret door in the paneling (if you were in this room and were sentenced by the 10, you went sent through this door never to be seen again). Once inside the large hall with the largest painted canvas, we would have never found the entrance to the Bridge of Sighs had it not been for this book. A small placard marked this corridor which most of the visitors missed and we certainly would have missed had this book not directed us to a certain corner and narrow corroder. This turned out to be quite an amazing tour within itself. The Bridge of Sighs has to be one of the most photographed sights of Venice, from the outside. So imagine being on the inside looking out at the hoards of tourists pointing their cameras in your direction. Once through the bridge was another museum. One highlight that I am so glad was pointed out was the ancient graffiti carved into the stone cells over the centuries by the prisoners. Surely missed by most visitors but precise directions on where to go and look were pointed out by the book. We soon found ourselves experts on navigating this massive palace and apparently others did also as they began to nonchalantly listen into the commentary of the book and followed us in our tour as if we became their guides.
Some of the most beautiful and impressive Venetian art and Renaissance masterpieces are within the walls of any of hundreds of neighborhood churches within Venice. While most are not on anyone's tours, several are pointed out in Rick's book and are certainly not to be missed.
A great companion books to this edition is; Knopf Map guide Venice: The City in Section by Section Maps (invaluable true pocket size book with easy to read fold out maps, guide, eats, drinks, sleeps and sites of the 6 districts of Venice) and Rick Steve's Italian Phrase Book (handy for even those of us that do speak some Italian).
I have been to Venice perhaps a dozen times, this being the first trip back in numerous years. This book was extremely helpful in the preplanning, preparations, expectations, and guiding that it should be a must have if not memorized. Read the entire book well before you go, on the plane as you are going, and once you get there. That's how important and useful this guide is.
As mentioned, this book has become so hugely popular that if you plan on going book the hotels referenced well in advance but don't be surprised if they are booked up. As a side note, search many sites for the same hotel availability (not just Expedia, Orbitz, etc. but also Venere.com and even search for a particular hotel's web site) and even call the hotel for availability. We got lucky this way with a side trip to Verona when all sites said there was no availability. By the way, Padua (Padova) and Verona are must see day trips also mentioned in this book if you have the time.
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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely wonderful guidebook--best I've ever used., January 26, 2005
I just got back from a four-day trip to Venice, and this guidebook was absolutely wonderful. The real strength of it was the detail--along with an overview listing of the main sights, several full tours of the main museums, churches, and other landmarks were included in the book, room by room. Some of the museums had their own English-language notes, but every time I found the commentary in this book more interesting (and entertaining!)--and for several sights, including most of the churches (with some of the best artwork in Venice), there was no information available at all--having this book with me meant I knew what I was looking at! In addition, he has some great walking tours with little interesting placese that I never would have found otherwise, and his dining suggestions were absolutely great--my boyfriend and I did a pub crawl of several little eateries he recommended, and every place was delicious, affordable, and in most places we were the only tourists there! I cannot recommend this book highly enough--I'm going to get the Rick Steves city or country guidebooks for everywhere I visit in the future for which they're available.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely helpful for a short trip, July 23, 2007
This review is from: Rick Steves' Venice 2007 (Paperback)
I use this book for a two day trip to Venice. As I had very little time it really helped me focus on the important sites. Most important were the little hints about when to see the sites. Although Venice was overrun with tourists, I did not find the restaurants or musems to be a problem if I followed the time recommendations. Skip the commercial tours and follow the book recomendations.
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