Rick Steves Italy (Travel Guide) Paperback – Folded Map, November 15, 2022

Whoa... this lil' book is thick and chock full of not only helpful travel info and recommendations - but it's the micro details that make this book valuable. Such as location of laundermats in cities and towns and recommended roads to traverse and of course recommendations to local, vetted guides.We used the book this year for 'on our own' travel and this book made the trip soooo much more!

Rick Steves is the best guide for what most tourist need to make the most of their trip to Europe. Erudite, succinct, humorous, complete. We are from the U.S. but lived in 4 places in Southern Europe over 14 years. When people ask me for advice, I always tell them to get both his country guide and his in depth city guide for wherever they were going. I sound like an ad, but we also have all of his CD's. Its good info, but also kinda nice to see later as souvenir. His language translations are also great. I'd tear out those pages and keep them in my pocket. Also got his language books which were great as a tourist, but also great to learn the language as a local. Also loved his "Europe 101" book. He should pay me. For smaller off the tourist track places, we found Michelin Guides were the best.

So much good information - probably best single source of info for first trip to Italy.Helped me plan my honeymoon this May 2024 and helped me decide what to see and what not to see - going to Milan, then Venice, and Cinque Terre.Small negative: didn't include stuff in Bologna - but you know what - maybe it will be less touristy there - so this ultimately could be a good thing.Otherwise I also used Rick Steves for Scandinavia and that was excellent - I wouldn't use another primary guide for Europe. I'm used to his style/format and customize what we want and don't want to see/do. I love his city walk/guides - always underrated - simple/free thing to do. Also like supporting Steve since we got to see so many free episodes while younger and he does cool stuff like take seniors to go traveling to Europe with him - totally support that. I like that my guide book has a face to it - compared to Lonely Planet, Rough Guides and others.The pages are phone book/paper thin style which I love - because more info is packed into it and it's still relatively light - can call audibles while traveling or do more if I get bored or need to change plans for some reason. I can tear stuff out and write all over it and high light it and not feel bad.

You can't go wrong with Rick Steves, by far the most well laid out and easy to follow information. I've never been to Europe let alone Italy, but I'm planning a trip next March and this book has been incredibly helpful. It will be in my bag for sure.It has such useful information from history and recommendations, to guides only someone whose been enough times could give.For example, before getting this book I was trying to see if it would be possible to take a quick day trip to switzerland from the lake como area. I googled it and in a round about way its doable, however, after reading this book there is a perfectly laid out way to make a trip with far less hassle, and in ways Google couldn't put together or that would take a ton of research and planning on your part.There are maps with self guided tours, and information on what you'll be seeing. It's a handy all in one trip to Italy guide that is well worth it.I've read reviews on other guide books and pretty much all of them have reviews that read "it's good, but not as good as Rick Steves"

Comprehensive as I could possibly wish for from hotels, transportation, eating experiences. Granted, it takes time and effort to peruse the tome but foreknowledge of what to expect and the ability and confidence to make good choices due to this book were, as expected from other Rick Steves travel books, priceless.

The usual excellent Rick Steves guide, however, it significantly understates how crowded places have become since the guide was written and also understates the importance of advanced ticketing, timed entry, and dinner reservations whenever possible. Varenna and Cinque Terra, in particular, had unexpected shoulder-to-shoulder daytime crowds in April 2025, so not even really the high season. Packed main streets and rail platforms, standing room only trains and ferries, all much more crowded than the book describes. The book cautioned about going to Cinque Terra when there was a cruise ship inport, but now there are almost always multiple cruise ships inport--so use that description as a baseline. Bellagio and Lucca were also more crowded in daytime than described, but still manageable.

This book literally saved me thousands of dollars on a recent trip to Italy. I had considered using a tour group but was not prepared for the cost. I ordered this book ( Rick Steves Italy) because I had watched some of his adventures on television and I might see what the book could offer as far as planning a trip to Europe with an itinerary. After reading the parts of the book related to the areas I wanted to visit I then proceeded to plan my trip with airfare and hotels. This book will help you with every detail of planning an Italian vacation. It even has pull out maps to guide you. From the smallest province to the largest city/state. What areas to avoid and where the most authentic foods are. Options for travel from Rome to Florence to Venice. We used the Italo high speed train. Little things like not putting your hands on fruits and vegetables in a grocery store but instead pointing to let the merchant know which you want. Not ordering cappuccino for dinner because Italians drink cappuccino for breakfast. After breakfast it is espresso with lunch or dinner. Customs that we may not be aware of no matter how much you think you know. It’s helpful for attractions and how, when and where the best place to buy tickets. This book is the travel bible for an Italian vacation. Highly recommend!