Product Description

City Secrets: Florence, Venice and the Towns of Italy is the second volume in the acclaimed City Secrets series. Unlike a standard guidebook, City Secrets' unique format brings the passionate opinions and informed perspectives of more than 200 distinguished contributors -- including curators, composers, artists, journalists, architects, and historians. An architect leads you through a hidden Florentine passageway built for the Medici; the most renowned of Italian cooks divulges her favorite Venetian eateries; an artist directs you to the courtyard of a Renaissance convent, where you will ring for access to the frescoes -- and a miraculous handprint that lie within. Topics covered include art, architecture, museums, restaurants, shopping, flea markets, monasteries, churches, wineries, gardens, vistas, drives, day-long excursions, hikes, artists' haunts, and cultural tidbits.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #423958 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-09
• Released on: 2001-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Library Binding
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781892145017
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
... fulfills the seemingly impossible goal of providing a sophisticated guide to Florence, Venice including precious itineraries through seldom-visited treasures. -- Il Mosaico

If you require a guide more refined than rough, the City Secrets travel books may be up your alley. -- Irish Times (Dublin)

Like last year's indispensible Rome guide, the pocket-size [book] offers insider tips from artists, writers, historians and architects. -- New York magazine

Niles and Frasier Crane would love this book ... crammed with tips ... Full marks for letting words do the work ... -- The Observer (London)

“... it should be everyone’s pick to supplement any guide more devoted to the travel basics.” -- Barron's

Customer Reviews

Not for everyone, but a must if you take travel seriously
This series is not for everyone and in most cases not for your first trip to one of the cities covered. The City Secrets is exactly what is says: secrets - small details, curious trivia, stuff you pick up from really good tour guides who gently guide you through the city revealing tiny nuggets of local knowledge here and there. It is a very friendly book, and the style of writing - a mosaic of bits of familiarity, contributed by individuals, is very endearing. There is a feeling of warmth about this publication.

A new or casual visitor may find this thoroughness and depth of insights of the guide overwhelming. This little book is unlikely to serve as the single multi-purpose travel resource for the glorious Italian cities covered. You will probably want to supplement it with some mainstream guide (try Eyewitness, Fodor's or Frommer's, for example) - a combination like this should work very well.

Unlike with most other books, a serious traveller will probably be captivated by ALL the writing in this book and will read it back to back (does this often happen with other guides? Don't think so...) You may find yourself willing to see all the curious things mentioned in this little book; most certainly you will want more of these books published.

Best paired with a more comprehensive guide
While our cousin, an art-history graduate residing in Italy, agreed that the Rome version is excellent, this book attempted to cover too much ground with few 'secrets' to spread around the different parts of Italy. Highly recommend pairing this book with a more comprehensive tour book such as the Eyewitness Guide. It was worthwhile cross-referencing the books to make sure that we cover the top sights and some less-traveled gems.

Thanks to this guide book, we enjoyed an excellent picnic packed by the suggested grocery in Radda in Chianti. We followed the book's advice to Osteria di Rendola and had an absolutely amazing lunch. This book provided some pleasant surprises for us first-time goers and gourmet lovers.

Beyond Rome, the Series Disappoints
I loved City Secrets: Rome, the first book in this series. It offered lots of good, insider information on that wonderful city. This sequel attempts to cover the rest of the country (or most of it-- Chianti is curiously missing), and what is offered are hits and misses. Many major cities are omitted, and the book scratches the surface in too many places. Major Disappointment.