lavisitor

Obviously I have my Fodor's Green Guide, but
what other guides particularly for Rome, Venice & Florence/Tuscany are "must haves"?

Eloise

Fodor's Green Guides??? Fodor's has Gold Guides and a number of other series but no Green Guides. Do you mean Michelin's Green Guides?

How long are you going to be in each city and what are your interests?

If you have the time and interest, for detailed information on art and architecture, the best are the books in the "Companion Guide to..." series. Rome is by Georgina Masson; Venice by Hugh Honour; I don't remember the author of the Florence one.

suec1

I like Rick Steves to take with me - good practical info. I also like the Eyewitness books but I don't usually take them with me on the trip - I look at them ahead of time and afterwards. Actually now I have gotten in the habit of making my own guide from info off the internet - advice from here, or webpages of the sites I want to visit - these often will have maps, hours, prices, etc., - also train schedules/info, hotel reservations etc. I put them all in a folder and call it my vacation brain - if I ever lose it I may never find my way back home!

KT

The Companion Guide to Florence is by Eve Borsook, though I must admit that I find it a lot less enjoyable to read than Masson's Companion Guide to Rome, which remains one of my all-time favorites.

I am a great devourer of travel books -- both guidebooks and travel literature -- and it's my opinion that there's no single "must have" for any destination. It depends on your style and desires. I almost always take Blue Guides because they have a lot of detail about art and architecture (especially the older editions, before they started making them more readable and less detailed), but that may be way more detail than others want. Some guidebooks have really wonderful suggestions for high-end restaurants, but those are of no use to me. So, no matter what others suggest, you're the final judge.

ekscrunchy

I like the Access guide series; they cover both Florence, with day trips to towns in Tuscany, and Venice. Cadogan is another of my favorites.

Underhill

The Michelin Green guide series for France, above all else. Then the Cadogan Guide to the South of France, the Fodors guide for Provence, and the Fodors guides to Germany and Austria. I loved the Egon Ronay hotel and restaurant guide for Great Britain, but it's long gone, I fear.

ABENDIGO

I like the National Geographic bookguides. I went to Paris and Venice last year and they were very helpful. What I like about them are the suggested mapped itineraries and the articles they feature about curious facts.

aeiger

Hi
I used the Cadagon guide to Rome last year and found it very helpful. I usually check out various guides before I purchase one. Michelin Green guides are very helpful also.

Melissa5

I have half a bookcase of Italy guidebooks! I found Rick Steves Italy guidebooks are best for food...good food, good atmosphere, good prices. Because his books are light-weight, they are great for packing and taking with you.

Fodors Italy guidebook is good for it's system of rating all the different sites, so you can decide what you want to see.

It's nice to have a book with photos...they are usually too heavy to pack, leave them at home though.

One trick. Once you are in Italy, don't be afraid to rip the pages out of your guidebook and carry them with you. Even if you return to Italy, another year, won't you buy a new guidebook then? I rip out the pages I need that day, and save them for my trip report. I am talking about ripping out pages from a book like Rick Steves, which doesn't have pictures.

The pretty photo books get left at home, with all their pages intact.