No comments about Florence and Tuscany (Eyewitness Travel Guides).

4 comments about Rome: A Cultural History.

1. A witty insider's history of the Eternal City. Throw away your Baedeker and read Boardman.



2. A great little book complete with history, maps, and personal insight. Boardman really opens up to the reader and spills his guts about his love for this city. His complete love for the subject matter really comes out in his writing. The book reads like a history book and a story book which makes for easy reading. A nice little book about a city you really need to visit in order to come away with your own story. Bravo.



3. This very cynical Englishman, Boardman, uses this book to disparage Rome, its people and its culture.



4. I have read dozens of books on Rome over the years, and I am compelled to warn fellow readers that this one is for a very narrow taste. The author's idiosyncratic observations and very verbose writing style beg for better editing. This might have been entertaining as a magazine article. However, as a book purporting to be " a cultural and literary companion", author and editor must share the blame for not working the text into a better product. The acidic point of view almost worked, but in the end fell flat.

2 comments about Italian Camping: The Guide to Camping and Caravaning (Dolce Vita).

1. Good and factual. The descriptions could have been a bit deeper but mostly were right on the mark. Makes choosing campsites a lot easier and quicker than calling cold.



2. I visited Italy in March 2007 armed with my copy of this camping guide, relying on it to advise me about which campgrounds were open during the off season. Of 10 campgrounds I visited which were categorised as open-all-year, all but one were closed for the winter. This caused me considerable inconvenience, including two nights on the back seat of the car. It almost ruined my holiday.
   Interestingly, one campground I found that was open, was not mentioned in the book.
   My advice, bitterly learnt, is that one cannot rely on this book for off-season travel. It is inaccurate and incomplete.

5 comments about Let's Go 2005 Italy (Let's Go Italy).

1. As a seasoned traveller who's been visiting the world since the age of 17 (and I'm now 34), I'd like to share with you my input on the Let's Go series of travel guides. I won't bore you with a long speech. Simply put, I started using this guide when I was in high school, during summer break, 16 years old turned 17 on the day I arrived in Italy, and I've used it ever since. The insight contained in the Let's Go travel guides will always steer you in the right direction. Why, you ask? Because the Let's Go! series started off as college students (from Harvard, I think) going to Europe for the summer on a BUDGET (key word here). Upon their return, they decided to put in writing what they had experienced in the form of a handout for the benefit of other students who were interested in traveling abroad. They wrote about their experiences, where they found the best bargains and the most expensive places to stay, eat, shop. They also explained how to get around in that country, what the system of transportation is, how it works, where to get info, and whether or not the locals were friendly to Americans. Not only that, they even tell you straight up, regarding the hotels/hostels, which ones have a friendly staff or owners, and which ones are not nice at all.
   
   The Let's Go travel books offer a lot more once you look through them, in terms of discounts, youth hostel cards information, brief historic overviews of cities, suggested itineraries for every interest (museums, archeologic sites, art history, political history, fashion, wine routes, etc.), and key phrases in the host country's language.
   
   Of course, in my opinion all that stuff is secondary. What continues to be of paramount importance, to me at least, is that it is first and foremost a BUDGET gravel guide, and it tells me where I can sleep real cheap. That's the bottom line. And what's the best part of this series? That they issue a new edition every single year. That means that the information is always up to date (from the date of printing, because things can always change, of course), so hotel phone numbers and websites, as well as rates, are good-to-go.
   
   This year I'm taking my new wife around Italy, and a month later we're going to Paris. The first thing I did, without a doubt, was buy Let's Go Italy 2005, and Let's Go France 2005. Sure, other guides may look prettier on their covers, but as the old adage says, you should never judge them based solely on their covers. It's what's on the inside that counts.



2. This book changed my perception of Let's Go books. My fiance swore by the Let's Go Rome book when he went to Italy in 2002. I am an avid fan of the DK's guidebooks b/c of their colorful photos and easy to read style. So we took 3 books with us: his old Let's Go Rome ( which was still very helpful), the DK's Italy and this book. We ended up using this one the most for hotel and restaurant info. which are very accurate and very helpful except for only one disappointment in Rome. The DK's book is great too for historical, architectural data and quick references. The same information with more interesting and sometimes quirky details are buried in the Let's Go Italy but they are very very good information .... so if you buy this book ....you need to read it well in order to appreciate the wealth of information in it.



3. I bought this book as an addition to my long love - Lonely Planet. If you have to choose one of these two - choose Let's Go.
   I loved the way each chapter is organized: from the practical information of arrival, accomodation and food, tourist info, local transport to the "juicy" information on what to do and where to do it.
   Sights: this book gives general knowledge on all the big things to see in the big tourist citys (we went to Milan, Venice and Florence). Some of the attractions of the smaller places are not listed under "Sights", as expected, but under other categories like "Hiking", so don't be lazy and read all of the text!
   Directions how to get to places were very simple and up-front. we never got lost using the directions in this book.
   As expected from the written word - prices were a little old, but in no way off track - they gave us an excellent idea on how much we should have to pay.
   Food recommendation: we only tried them at the end of the trip, but we regretted not doing that beforehand. The prices quoted in the book were very close to reality (considering the expected price raise), and the food was as promised.
   Hotels: we did not try the recommendations, but one thing was missing in this book (as in the Lonely Planet). The hotels were devided by price, but no regard was made to the number of stars. This is crucial information since it gives you an idea of the quality of the hotel and the services it must provide. If this information was given in the book together with the price, you could get a feeling of "value for money".
   Over all, I found this book very easy to handle. the information was extensive and up to date.
   As I said - Highly reccomended. I Think I found a replacement for the "Lonely Planet" series.



4. Hello,
   
   I am very sad about this book. I expected better travel guide. It was nearly completely useless during our holiday. We have been in the north and middle part of Italy by car in this summer (2005). The maps of the cities were too small to easy understand it. The description of the cities were not satisfactory for us. The signs of the place of interest were right and the entrance prices were mainly correct. The book serves a broad choice of hotels, bars but you hardly find campsites in it. The bars and self service restaurants which are listed never signed in the maps. You get information from where and how you can go there but you don't know where you are exactly because of the poor maps.
   I think there is better travel book on the marked but I have no any experience with that so I can't offer better choice yet.
   I hope you will be luckier with any kind of Italian travel book like I.



5. I spent about 8 months in Italy last year with this book as a my bible. It helped me find the 'off-the-beaten-path' experience i was looking for especially in some of the major cities where it can be easy to get sucked into the tourist trap. I loved this book so much I actually bought another copy after losing my first, and the second quickly took on a beating. What I like most is it allows you to choose, there are enough major sites to keep you busy but enough quirky spots to make it an adventure. It does an excellent job with restaurants as well and after studying in Parma my standards were pretty high. I got lost quite a bit but i can't say that is the fault of the maps so much as my own directional ability. Anyway, in short this guide was an incredible resource that steered me towards spots where i could meet actual Italians and not just other tourists.
   A big thank you to Let's Go!

No comments about Along he Rivieras of France & Italy,.

1 comments about Hanging Out in Italy.

1. This book is great. I went to Italy a lame American devil and came back a lame American devil, but what a great book anyway.

   All the locations for hip convents are detailed, and mapped out. The Italian culture is described in intimate detail, by some of the finest wordsmiths since Dante. The restaurant reviews are so well written you almost see the stains from the extra virgin olive oil. There is section that descibes Italian fashion. The tip on the large lapels was most helpful for my nights on the town. Common Italian slang that peppers the pages makes this an educational as well enjoyable read. "molla benny"
   
   I love this book, no matter where I travel, even in the USA I read it for area recommendations.

   Good book.

No comments about A Great Weekend In Naples.

No comments about Mother Sea Travels in South Italy, Sardinia and Sici.

No comments about Fodor's Living Language Travel Pack ITALY.

No comments about Turin A Local's Guide to the Olympic City.