Rick StevesRick Steves Italy (Travel Guide)

Rick's books are the gold standard for making sure you see all the most popular tourist sites. I own a dozen of them and have gotten a lot of use out of them. Unfortunately, since they are widely used, the sites listed in the guidebook are now completely swamped with tourists and almost not worth seeing, even far into the shoulder seasons. Those of us who don't want to stand in long, long lines, need to find a different way to choose our travel destinations.

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!

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!

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.

Rick Steves is always the go to the traveling.

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.

Great book with a lot of information. You can use it to plan your own travel, travel with a group whatever your hearts desire.

It’s a gift for my cousin. Can’t wait to give it to her. Love Rick Steve’s information on overseas travel.