Eyewitness Travel Guide to Italy (revised) (Paperback)

by Various (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
You'd be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive, engrossing and just plain fun-to-read guidebook than the Eyewitness Travel Guide: Italy. Spilling over with all sorts of useful information for the traveler, you'll find three-dimensional drawings, floor plans, and detailed neighborhood maps, as well as timelines, charts, and even popular Rome bus routes. Broken into several parts--"Introducing Italy," "Region by Region" (with northern, central, and southern chapters as well as impressive sections covering Rome and Florence), "Traveler's Needs," and "Survival Guide"--the guide provides the reader with a complete picture of the country. Readers will especially love the hundreds of color photos of everything from Rome's famous piazzas, Navona and di Spagna, to the red-roofed villages of Tuscany to room-by-room descriptions of the Uffizi Gallery and the Vatican museums (where you'll find the newly restored Sistine Chapel). There are also listings for the best pasta restaurants, wine bars, chic shopping streets, and some of the world's most romantic hotels. --Jill Fergus

From School Library Journal
YA?Today's students want pictures and more pictures, and they will not be disappointed with this series entry that provides similar coverage to standard travel guides. However, while other books describe a site or explain how to get there, Italy gives this information through maps, pictures, photographs, and cut-away drawings. Arranged by regions, it includes cities, villages, churches, food, museums, markets, and more. Many maps are illustrated so that armchair sightseers will know exactly what they would see on a visit. While visiting hours of tourist spots are listed, the costs, which are more likely to change, are not. All of the hotel and restaurant information is given in the back with prices shown in broad categories. Other material that will interest students planning a trip includes pictures of all the currency and directions for and pictures of telephone and rail-ticket machines.?Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: DK Travel; 1st edition (2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789404257
• ISBN-13: 978-0789404251
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #629,236 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

111 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars beautiful overview, less helpful for specifics, November 7, 1999

By	Joanne DeCarolis ([e-mail]) "decarch" (Morristown, NJ) - See all my reviews

What a gorgeous book. I fell in love with the Eyewitness series and decided to buy this book to learn as much as I could about as many places as I could in Italy, before I planned my trip. I also plan on collecting more, for future trips and because they are great educational books, even if one never plans on traveling. Great for the coffee table, too! Organized by region with an overview of each area and brief highlights about specific sites (most of which are churches). The map on Rome was a little confusing at first and I had to keep flipping page to page to navigate. Luckily, the book is designed with two flaps that can be used for page markers. Useful organization on the sites (such as which ones charge admission, open/closed times, market days for towns, etc.) Loved the sections on regional foods and festivals, useful travel info located in the back. Photographs are small but lovely and numerous, architectural cutaways give interesting perspective on the sites. Restaurant and hotel recommendations are well organized but I never really consulted them. (Stuck to the internet for finding rooms and our wanderings and recommendations from other travelers to find restaurants.) We went to the Amalfi coast, Capri and the Umbria area (staying in Gubbio) and found the book mildly helpful. It was most helpful in Rome. I saw many tourists with Eyewitness Italy and Rome guides everywhere in Rome, in many languages. I've also seen the Frommer's series and found that one to be more densely packed with useful information and suggestions for interesting (and often inexpensive) excursions. However, it lacks the stimulating layout of the photographs, maps and color coding found in the Eyewitness guides. I felt the need to get more specific local guidebooks as I traveled with more detailed information and photographs. For example, I bought a guidebook outside Pompeii in order to have more information on the sights as well as a more useful map. It turns out that much more of Pompeii was excavated since the Eyewitness book was written. Hardly any information was given on the excavation of Herculaneum, which we heard is even a better site to tour than Pompeii. We could have used information on navigating around Capri efficiently, too, considering a day trip allows little time to see many of the sights, which often are contingent on the weather (such as the famous Blue Grotto, inaccessible at high tide). Capri is also very expensive for just about everything. The only warning given is that it's a "tourist trap." Minimal, general information was provided for the Amalfi coast, so much had to be learned (such as driving hazards) by experience, which is one of the joys of traveling anyway. Overall, a beautiful,informative book, providing a good general overview of a variety of areas and sites. Decent maps, terrific photos, useful travel info (though limited description of bus and metro routes). Not detailed enough for many areas so local souvenir guidebooks, or a more densely informed and photo-poor book might be helpful for the more investigative traveler. A note to travelers: order foods that are specialties of the region. Foods adopted from other regions tend to be less than expected. (ex. Risotto in the south is often made with the wrong rice, pizza in the north is difficult to eat and has too thin a crust. Whereas gnocchi in the north is incredible.) What also would have been useful is a description of different shop names and what they sell so travelers know what to expect when they're looking for something specific. (Like a deli--"salumeria" for an inexpensive lunch of prosciutto and cheese) However, that is again some of the fun of traveling--finding these things on your own. Buon viaggio!

70 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You can't buy a better travel guide, September 6, 2000

By	Karen Bierman Hirsh (White Plains, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dorling Kindersley makes the best travel guides hands down. They are extremely well illustrated, have extensive and detailed maps (thank god, because I tend to get lost very easily), up to date information on hotels (rates, rooms etc), restaurants (costs and reservation policies), and sites to see.

The travel guides have wonderful pictures, well researched histories and facts about Italy, what wines to look for and taste (not just by region and vineyard but also by year), sample dishes that one should try, detailed walking tours, information on famous art (there is a great section on the Sistine Chapel and all of the figures you will find in each panel).

The book also covers customs, money changing, travel information - you name it!

This is one of the best guides available on the market. It is perfect if you are planning to go to a few cities in a limited time or for more in depth information when planning a longer trip. We always lend this out to people before they plan a trip and everyone else has agreed it is top of the line.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll keep reading this book after the trip!, August 3, 2000

By	Nicole Richardson (Rockville, MD USA) - See all my reviews

I brought four tour books with me to Italy - three of these just weighed down my luggage. Eyewitness Travel Guide: Italy is not only a critical companion for travelling Italy. It's the only tour book you'll need.

Not planning a trip to Italy? Flip through this book and you'll be calling your travel agent. It's visually enticing and information rich!

But the surprise happened when I came back from the trip. I couldn't put this book down! It put into perspective what I'd seen while in Venice, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Lake Como, and the Ligurian Riviera. Things that, while there, I was too overwhelmed to soak in completely.

This book continues to let me relive the glorious scenery, history, and culture that is Italy. This book is a must for your Italy trip and for always.