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Title: Italy (Eyewitness Travel Guides) by DK Publishing ISBN: 0-7894-9386-1 Publisher: DK Publishing Pub. Date: March, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.62 (61 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: beautiful overview, less helpful for specifics
Comment: 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!
Rating: 5
Summary: GOTTA SEE THIS!!!!
Comment: So you are looking for a travel guide to Italy!? Well you have found one of the most helpful books out there. DK Travel books, if you have never used one, are extremely well written guides to getting around almost any european country, and are organized as follows...First the book is divided into 17 sections, one for each area of the country (Tuscany, Umbria, etc), with a section on Rome, Florence and Venice as well. Then each section has a beautiful hand drawn map with roads and mini castles drawn in, which is numbered...for example, Tuscanys map will have 28 numbers on it with San Gimignano being 24. You then look a bunch of pages later for number 24 and there is a whole page on San Gimignano, including 5 pictures from around town and a 3d drawing of the town with the important sites marked and a proposed walking tour of the town. That is what makes this book...the attention to detail. The drawings are very numerous and very helpful and are only outdone by the wonderful photography that allows you to see where you are going to go.
Also included are sections on driving in Italy, sleeping in Italy (hotel prices and numbers included), eating in Italy, etc. The eating section is even unique in that there are little pictures of the different dishes you will run into so, even if you can't pronounce Pesto Figitaloni(sp?) you will know what it looks like. A section is devoted to the different wines you will find and one on the most beautiful buildings and castles throughout the country. What all these benefits give you is not only an awesome tool to plan your trip but a great picture book to keep on your coffeetable!
Only weakness I found with this book is that most of the accomodations listed are fairly expensive...hotels +75$ a night and restaurants +20$...this is over my budget so...
One word of advise...Couple this book with 'Rick Steves Italy' (For the real intimate details of each of Ricks favorite areas of Italy) and if you still need info on hotels, restaurants and tips of what to see than settle for Let's Go Italy or western Europe. This combo of books will tell you all you need to know while planning your trip and while travelling around in Italy...Enjoy and have safe travels...
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Rating: 1
Summary: Useless... but great pictures!
Comment: As a travel guide, this book is beyond useless! The pictures are amazing and they will definitly inspire you to take a trip to Italy but once your get there, if you depend on this book, your family will have to declare you missing! There aren't any directions to any of the places addressed in the book. And some of the places discussed would be impossible for the average person to go see on his/her own. I used Let's Go Italy as my travel guide for my 3-month italian excursion and it was the best! Yes, it wasn't without it's errors, but nothing too off the wall. I brought both my Let's Go and my Eyewitness Travel Guide with me on my trip. I gave the Eyewitness book to a British girl I met while working. She only liked it for the pictures too!
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Title: Rick Steves' Italy 2004 by Rick Steves ISBN: 1566915333 Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing Pub. Date: December, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Rome (Eyewitness Travel Guides) by DK Publishing ISBN: 0789494213 Publisher: DK Publishing Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Florence & Tuscany (Eyewitness Travel Guides) by Christopher Catling, DK Publishing ISBN: 0789494280 Publisher: DK Publishing Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: France (Eyewitness Travel Guides) by DK Publishing ISBN: 078949387X Publisher: DK Publishing Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book and Dictionary by Rick Steves ISBN: 1566915201 Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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