Product Description

Completely updated every year Frommer's Italy features a completely redesigned section of gorgeous color photos and maps of the most of the ancient and modern cities, classical architecture and ruins, vineyards, villages, and gorgeous countryside vistas that await you. Much more detailed and comprehensive than the major competition, this is simply the most reliable and in-depth guide you can buy. It's personally researched and full of candid opinions. Our authors have chosen the very best places to stay, from the grand hotels of Rome and the chic resorts of Capri to charming and affordable inns and small hotels in regions like Tuscany and the Lake District. And of course, we'll make sure that you dine memorably throughout Italy, whether you're splurging on a world-class restaurant in Florence or looking for a little-known trattoria that serves all the classics. Wherever you go, you'll rely on Frommer's for authoritative but fun-to-use coverage of all the historic, artistic, and cultural treasures. You'll get a complete shopper's guide, the latest trip-planning advice on everything from bargain airfares to rail passes, and a complete shopper's guide. Frommer's Italy even features a color fold-out map!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #91565 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 832 pages

From the Back Cover
Frommer's. The best trips start here.

Experience a place the way the locals do. Enjoy the best it has to offer.

• From the finest ruins of ancient Rome to the best of Italian wine and cuisine, our authors provide up-to-date advice on how to make the most of your experience.
• Outspoken opinions on what's worth your time and what's not.
• Exact prices, so you can plan the perfect trip whatever your budget.
• Off-the-beaten-path experiences and undiscovered gems, plus new takes on top attractions.

Find great deals and book your trip at Frommers.com

About the Author
A team of veteran travel writers, Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince, have produced numerous titles for Frommer’s, including best-selling guides to Rome, Venice, Spain, France, the Caribbean, England, and Germany. Porter, a former bureau chief of The Miami Herald, is also a Hollywood biographer. Prince was formerly employed by the Paris bureau of The New York Times.

Customer Reviews

Good not great
Well I got this guide because I was planning to go to Italy, but ultimately wasn't able to make that trip, so my review is based on my experience reading this book, not on how much it helped with an actual trip to Italy.

The book is helpful at establishing what the main attractions are in Italy, as well as a bit of the culture and heritage of the country. If you want a good place to start in planning your trip, this isn't a bad option. However, it has very few illustrations, so I found myself referring to other reference books or the internet to get a good mental picture for certain locations.

not impressed
This book was simply not as helpful as a guide should be. The basic itineraries it suggested were good - but those can be found in minutes by searching the Internet.

We followed its suggestions for Tuscany and those were the worst! We ended up spending beaucoup bucks on winery tours that this book very highly recommended but were horrible serving wines that were not that great! And touring the outside of castle gardens that must have seen better days. Oh, and visitors were not allowed inside the castle either. What a waste.

We used the Rough Guide for Egypt and that book was indispensable. So for Italy, I'd look elsewhere from Frommer's.

Useful sometimes, frustrating at others
I bought this item to plan my trip to Italy this past April. I think that the reviews for what sites to see are the most useful parts of this book, and I think most of them were right on. I do disagree with the sections on 'what to do if you have XYZ amount of time' because some of those itineraries have one missing some incredible opportunities. Some reviews had directions on how to progress through a particular museum to view the must-see attractions; this was particularly useful.

What I found frustrating were the reviews on where to shop and where to dine. In spite of locating the correct address for a given establishment, most of the time the places were no longer there. Additionally, the ones that were still in business were usually very expensive, especially given the current weakness of the dollar to the euro. Many of the shops listed for 'authentic' items (glass, lace, mosaics, etc) contained items that would have cost several hundred dollars, sometimes well over a thousand. This is just out of budget for most people, I think. A good addition would be sections that contain reviews for places that are truly inexpensive, for example a good place to pick up lunch on the run and not 'inexpensive' as in double-digit euros (the equivalent of $40-50) for a mid-day meal.

I had also bought a detailed, water-proof map for each major city made by Rough Guide. These maps had starred establishments of this kind, that were truly inexpensive, and I found them more effective than this Frommer's guide. The suggestions for gelato in Florence were spot-on; I went back more than once. I will try a Rough Guide book for my next trip.