There was an excellent post on this forum regarding recommendations for a Venice street map, which I eagerly made notes of for my trip to Italy later this fall, but I'd also like to find out about the best map for Florence as well, since that's also on my itinerary. Any suggestions?

The city center of Florence is quite compact. Again, my Streetwise map was all I needed.

Hi h,

I also used the Streetwise map.

Florence never ruled the world so it always held onto its small town charm and appeal. It's very hard to get lost in Florence. There aren't enough streets or alleyways to confuse anyone.

As I've said before, I do a color-laser blow-up of the Streetwise map. 50% usually does the trick but if you go to a place like Kinko's outside of NYC, they may refuse to do it for you due to copyright protection. It can be trial and error to get it right but you're better off enlarging on your own. Your color laser copy can be folded to fit in any back pocket or zippered compartment in your purse.

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad to hear the Streetwise maps are fine - I used one for my trip last year to Paris and thought it was excellent, but when so many people commented that the Streetwise Venice map was inadequate, I had second thoughts about getting the one for Florence.

Love the laminated Streetwise series of maps. We buy one for all the cities we visit.

I compared the Streetwise map of Florence with the National Geographic map and opted for the National Geographic because the whole city is on the same side of the map. I used the Streetwise map for Berlin last year and had to keep flipping the thing over. It seemed like whatever I wanted to locate was always on the other side. The National Geographic map is a bit larger, is laminated and foldable.

Your hotel concierge will have a city (tourist) map. Sometimes so nice you will get an extra to keep as a souvenier (sp?.

true but one of the great things about the size of the Streetwise series is that it's small enough to slip into your pocket if need be.