Rick Steves' Italy 2014

Rick Steve's guide to Italy is just published and updated for travel in 2014. Having been In Italy in 2013 and we are going back in 6 months, we know that the most updated info is so important. Also this book cover all the major sites. The fold out map has driving distances between the cities on one side and city maps of Rome, Venice, Florence and Siena on the other side. We also really liked the 15 pages of history tucked into the book. Rick Steve's tells you what you really need to know when traveling in Italy. The book is loaded with info, references with phone numbers, and lots of tricks of traveling on a budget. The book has different sections for each region, so it is easy to navigate through the book as you travel.

I love Rick Steves guidebooks. If you have the time and inclination to do a proper survey of your travel destination in advance, there's no better framework for your explorations. And if you find yourself in a country without the internet/linguistic ability/adventurous spirit to find your way, having Rick Steves direct your itinerary isn't terrible. (Also I always silently read the introductions in that Rick Steves voice, which I find more diverting than I should.)

So. 3 stars. Why? I'm starting at Rome and going South, so this book is 70% useless for me. I wouldn't have bought the book if I knew its limits. The material present is 5 stars, but it doesn't merit being called a guidebook for Italy. Consider it a guidebook for the most traveled parts of North and Central Italy. Even the "central" part refers more to Tuscany and Le Marche than, say, Umbria and Abruzzo. This book is very useful for people centering their trips around Northern Italy, or doing the Florence/Venice/Rome/Naples tour, but its not good outside of the typical destinations.

We just spent a wonderful Christmas in Rome. It is our first trip in Italy. I used this book to plan our six-day stay in Rome. All the guide and tips from this book are very very useful. In addition, the android app is great. Please make sure download them before you go. The audio guide is better than the some of the renting audio guide at the location (especially at St. Peter Basilica). The restaurant guide helped us to have great food in the trip.

Rick Steves is great. Where to buy tickets. Which attraction has WC.
This book does a great job of those locations it covers, but that coverage is limited. Overwhelmingly major cities/sights in Northern Italy and Rome.
Southern Italy is Naples, Pompeii,Sorrento ,Capri, Amalfi.
Sicily, Calabria, Puglia, Basiclata are not included.

Not impressed. Can not recommend. Once in Italy this book proved to be completely outdated. Probably info from five years ago.

The content of this book was probably fine. But the pages were almost like tissue paper making it hard to flip through the pages. I have purchased dozens of travel guides and have never found a book construction to be so poor.

So many people recommended this book to me, that I finally gave in. Where it seems to be most helpful is in the details about such things as transportation. Upon reading this book, I have more of an understanding on how to move from place to place be it Venice with the water taxis or catching the train to Rome.

This book was amazing. I would by Rick's book for anywhere I was visiting. Tons of good tips, and it's great even if you like to really go off the beaten path like do.

Bought this on our recent trip to Italy. Rick Steves does a great job documenting all details of the country - what to look for, where to stay, where to eat, what to buy and what to avoid. I did my homework before I went to Italy, and knew most of what to do, but when I got lost, Mr. Steves helped us. You will get many times worth of the few $$$s you spend on this book. A must have. My wife got so hooked to this book that my kids kept teasing her "mom - what does your guruji say?"

I only wish I bought a Kindle or iPad version of it (not even sure if it comes in that format) - this book is bulky and does get heavy when you have to carry it. Especially becomes a burden if you are going to multiple countries in Europe the way we did.

We used this book on our honeymoon to Italy.

Pros:
- Rick never disappoints. His descriptions of the destinations are adequate and provide you background that will help you appreciate the sites. His 1 to 3 pyramid rating helps you distill the essential sites from the thousands of lesser sites; very important if you're unfamiliar with Italy or the city you are visiting.
- Rick's tips and time savers are life savers. For example, if you want to skip the line at the most popular site in Venice, go right to the baggage check, drop of your bag and take the receipt they give you to the front of the line... Boom. You save an hour. Want to skip most of the lines in Florence? Get the Firenze pass.
- Eating recommendations. We tried a few of these and they worked great. After eating at an amazing restaurant in Orvieto, we decided to email Rick to tell him how great it was... until we realized it was already in the book!
- Tips for Tuscany and Cinque Terre were fantastic, as were the tips for Florence, Venice, Siena and Rome. I'm sure other destinations are covered just as well, but we didn't visit them so I cannot confirm.

Cons:
- This book is popular. We accidently left it on top of the Duomo in Florence, only to realize our mistake when we stepped outside. I immediately ran back up tot he top to find my copy and it was gone. To the person that found my AUTOGRAPHED copy of this book on top the Duomo and didn't give it to lost and found, I'm not sure I'm too happy with you at the moment. Oh well.
- We bought another copy and accidently left it on our train in the Cinque Terre. Guard your copy!