Product Description

Beyond the magnificent Renaissance cities is a rolling landscape crying out for exploration, whether it's bustling markets and medieval hill towns, drowsy piazzas and ancient vineyards, or frenetic festivals and thermal springs. With detailed regional coverage, this definitive guide to Tuscany and Umbria is the key to your perfect getaway.

TREASURE HUNT - tracking down fine art or hunting great espresso, our in-depth descriptions ensure you find the region's hidden gems

ESCAPE - leave the crowds behind with detours to local haunts and insider tips for getting off the beaten track

WINE & DINE - from family-run trattorie to truffle festivals, seek out the regions' outstanding cuisine with over 250 refined restaurant reviews

KNOW YOUR WAY - inspirational itineraries and comprehensive maps help you plan ahead and get the most from your holiday

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #832636 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 392 pages

Review
"Best for curious and independent-minded travelers"
-- Wall Street Journal

Best for curious and independent-minded travelers' --Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher
Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Tuscany & Umbria, 4th Edition, 2006

My partner and I used this guide for our trip to Tuscany (Toscana) in June 2006, and we found it very serviceable. The places we visited were Siena, Florence (Firenze), Assisi, Perugia, Orvieto, and Volterra, among others.

Lonely Planet's guide gave us all the options available for getting to and from each city and town in the region. Whether by train, car, bicycle, or foot, it provides enough information to help you get there and back without too much trouble. This is in contrast to the Let's Go guidebooks which provide more information about staying in the towns themselves than about how to get there. This guide helped us with taking the train from Rome (Roma), and renting a car in Siena and making daytrips to Assisi, Perugia, and Orvieto.

The information on hotels is sufficient but I'd recommend doing a little research online about places to stay BEFORE you leave. LP guides give you a sampling of hotels and inns and a little blurb about each, but don't expect too much information on them. The quoted price ranges can be a little off, but LP assumes one is travelling during the peak season (July-August).

The information on restaurants is okay, and LP provides a decent listing of places to eat in whatever town you may be. It was either hit or miss for us. A few of the places LP recommended turned out to be duds but a few were spot on. One of the hits was a little taverna in Assisi that served linguini with black truffle sauce--yum!

As far as sites and attractions go, don't expect a wealth of information. LP gives a brief history/description for all the major sites but a lot of minor ones are either only touched upon or passed over altogether. One would be better off using the Michelin Green Guides for more detailed information about specific sites and attractions, as those provide a plethora of names, dates, and events that make them more akin to history books than travel guides.

The maps in the book are really good; they are accurate and easy to read. For all the major cities and towns covered in the guide, LP plots out the locations of all the hotels, restaurants, and attractions they mention. In this regard they are exactly like Let's Go (and all other guides, I imagine).

In my opinion this Lonely Planet guide is not the definitive book on Tuscany, but when used with other guides it can be an invaluable resource for your trip to this wonderful region of Italy. Pack it with you when you go--and don't forget the sunscreen!

An Awesome Travel Companion
Upon traveling to the Tuscany and Umbria regions I brought two travel guides, one of them Lonely Planet. The LP became my travel bible, since the other guide was difficult to follow and lacking in critical information. Overall, the Lonely Planet saved us a great deal of travel time because the maps were accurate, the restaurant recommendations were bang on, bus and train routes were efficient, and the sight guides were adequately informative.
This is essential guide to anyone traveling to this region.

Decent overview
This is a decent overview, but lacks in-depth directions and full details of the area. I found key areas and towns missing. Also, not a lot of hours are printed in detail. Lack of editorial reviews or even hints as of what is good and what is not. I'm getting a second book to supplement this.