Customer Reviews

Rome Little Black Book

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

 

 

I was recently on vacation in Italy, and while I spent four days in Rome - I found the "Little Black Book" to be a tremendous help. This Dining & Entertainment Guide is not only well written, but is also broken down descriptively, where a person can find exactly what type of entertainment, dining, and night life they are looking to find, or to learn about.

Restaurants (from diverse cultures of food, not just Italian), Cafe's, Bars, Nightclubs and Shopping are described in detail. Someone not familar with Rome, this book provides the addresses and the phone number of the establishments. This helped me on how to plan my day and night. After site-seeing at the Spagna a.k.a Spanish Steps, Vatican, and Coliseium - I knew where the closest location and what type of restaurant was near me, as I was going to eat lunch and dinner. Also as a result of reading the book, I discovered restaurants and clubs I would not have tried on my own without hearing something about them first.

Without this guide book, I would have had to ask many people where to go, where to eat, and how to find entertainment. I was able to avoid the hassle and stress of being a first time tourist with the help of Little Black Book. My girlfriend & I were able to find a few Romantic Settings from recommendations too. (One example is The restuarant at the Terrace Hotel Forum found on page 52) Little things like that, is not something you are going to learn from a tour guide as you are site-seeing.

Little Black Book's excellent descriptive details, let me know that this book was written by two people that are fully aware of Rome - Knowing how to spend your time in the city, to experience everything Rome fully has to offer.

When we travel, we consider the local food and culture a very important part of the experience. We carried the little black book with us always (it's small, so it's very convenient), and found it to be really helpful in finding great local food and dessert and wine places that made our trip that much more interesting and entertaining. The book is organized in a way that makes it easy to find everything while you're walking through the city. I'm glad we brought this book with us.

I just got back from a short vacation in Rome and was lucky enough to come across the guide book before I left. While the lack of inclusion of maps is a little inconvenient, the information more than makes up for it. All the recommendations were superb, and they're helpfully broken down by district. Most of all, though, it really feels like the book has been written by locals. The restaurants and bars are not your run-of-the-mill touristy places, but rather places in which you feel real Romans hang out, eat and drink in. Hopefully the writers will continue this series for other cities.

It wasn't really what I was looking for, which was more like a Zagats for Rome. I can see why others might find this useful, as it is tiny and easily fits into your pocket. But for a city with a zillion restaurants, to me it seemed more like a restaurant listing, rather than substantive reviews that would really help steer us, so I returned it.

As an avid admirer of the Mediterranean peninsula, Little Black Book's incisive portrait of the eternal city breathes in the delicious aromas of Rome's splendorous cucinas, gelatarias, and bars and vividly illustrates Rome's rich history and other leisurely points of interests. From the retail panache of Trastevere, to the antiquity of Ostia Antica and the Piazza San Pietro, Firpo's fresh, unique perspecitve gives a local view to the many jewels of the Italian south. A vibrant, new guide to Italy's grand old capital.

I have been to Rome and this handy, back pocket fitting guide is great. The writers hit the nail right on the head on this one. Very Informative and I share their passion for one of my favotites cities in the world. Many kudos.

Excellent book! Has all the inside info. on touring Rome and enjoying it like the locals. My wife and I went to Rome this summer and with the use of the book we were able to get away from all the tourist crowds and truly see Rome. Highly recommended.

Needs a map to quickly reference what is located in your vicinity and color coded for the type of establishment - Cafe, Deli, Formal Dining, etc.) Needs to show hours of operation.

I don't know how good or bad the contents of this book is. I just received it and upon opening it up it fell apart! It is very shoddly constructed and cheaply made. Pages fell out in several places. Don't buy this if you want a neat guide that won't loose important pages. This is not up to Amazon standards! Joannahs

This is an original well-written handbook that ensures that you don't end up in the typical tourist traps. It's awful to see how many people wander around holding the same copy of 'The Rough Guide to' or the other big name guide books. The Little Black Book has great recommendations and doesn't bog you down with superfluous detail - it's the kind of good advice that you'd get from a friend who lives there... and who doesn't need that?? Thoroughly recommend it...