Others say...

"Informative, Accurate, Entertaining"
Rick Steves states his approach to travel in Italy clearly: he doesn't cover everything in the country, just the "best" places, the best according to him, of course. If your tastes and orientation align with his (interesting, moderately priced travel, including as much local immersion as is reasonable), then this book provides the wonderful backbone of a great trip. For visiting places other than his "best" you will want a more comprehensive guide book, like Lonely Planet, in addition to (rather than instead of) this one.

Steves' enthusiasm for "Europe's richest, craziest culture" comes through in every page while his practical suggestions from an often humorous perspective makes this book sound like personal advice from a friend who knows the area well. I find his information extremely accurate and insightful, based on my own experiences living in Italy for a year. Now I rely on his detailed, up-to-date information about important sights, accommodations (three levels of moderate prices), transportation, and dining (or picnicking, snacking, drinking, etc.) to help me plan return trips.

-Lynn Michelsohn, author of Roswell, Your Travel Guide to the UFO Capital of the World!


"Rick Steve's Italy 2008"
This book came highly recommended and is awesome. We're looking forward to our visit to Italy.

"A must for first-time travelers"
I think this is a great resource for those who have never been to Italy and need some basic information. The book is comprehensive covering all the regions of Italy, great to use during stages of preparation. I would highly recommend also buying "its companion", the Eyewitness Italy Italy (Eyewitness Travel Guide) book because it'll cover the history and art more in depth.

"This will save you time and Money!!!"
Dude, get the book. It saved us a ton of time in picking up our tix at the Palatine hills rather than at the Coliseum. It also got us to St. Peter's at 1pm with a 30 min wait, rather than do what everyone else does which is to arrive at 9am and have a 3 hour wait.

The tips alone is certainly worth worth every penny. Let's not forget the key things to see in his book and the slight bit of history on each place. However, I found the restaurants really difficult to find in Italy, but I had a tough time finding the Coliseum too:P

"Steves usually has a good take "
Rick Steves did a great job on his ITALY 2008 book. I was going to the Cinque Terre and he has a great breakdown for that area in the book. Also, he made good calls on nearby Pisa and Lucca. Steves said that one need not spend A LOT of time in these cities and he is right. A few hours to see the main sights in Pisa (3 including the leaning tower) are fine and a good 2-hour walk-a-round in Lucca is enough too. Special Note on Lucca: Puccini was born in Lucca and they perform recitals of his works in one of the churches there. This would be worth an overnight to catch a recital if you want to soak in more culture than you can from just street scenes. Suggestion: travel to Pisa early in the day, visit the Field of Miracles, then end up in Lucca in the PM (short train ride between the two) for your overnight. Do your Lucca walk-a-round PLUS attend a Puccini recital. Then you will have done most if not all of what you should do in these two "competing" towns. Steves points out stuff like this. This was the first time I used a Steves book. Normally I use Michelin Green Guides. But now I would use more tour books by Steves. His style is engaging, even if sometimes it might be a bit preachy for those of us who already know how to mind our (American) manners! In my travels in early June 2008 I did not see any Americans out of line, whatsoever. Not along the Cinque Terre and not at either Pisa or Lucca. In fact, I did not note anyone out-of-line, or drinking too much, or similar stuff, in any of my recent travels. I accept such things can happen, but during my recent excursion I did not notice any such disappointing behavior.