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The Best Travel Guide for You
Every travel guide has wonderful itineraries and brilliant options of places to see and visit, so how do you know which one you should buy when planning your trip?
We have reviewed the top travel guides and narrowed down which is the best for you according to what you are interested in.
Easy Planning
If you’re like me, you can’t stand reading all the boring fine print. I want to look at a beautiful picture and say, “That’s what I want to see on my trip! Where is it? How can I get there? How much does it cost?” Easy peasy.
While most travel guides had my eyes glazing over within minutes, Fodor’s Travel “Essential Italy” was exactly what I needed for easy planning.
It has stunning, bright, colorful pictures. It also contains large titles and subtitles, helping to keep my attention while skimming through the text.
If you have a more relaxed approach to planning your trip and want less fluff and more important information, this travel guide is for you!
Click the picture below to purchase yourself a copy! 🙂
Click the picture above to purchase on Amazon!
Traveling with Kids
Looking for kid-friendly activities on your vacation?
This travel guide has a small but special section on things the children will love to do while in Italy, including history trips, outdoor fun, and even what to do on rainy days.
It has recommendations for children in each region so wherever you are planning to go, there will be something fun for everyone! This guide includes super useful resources and websites for the little tikes too.
Click the picture below to check it out.
Click the picture above to purchase on Amazon!
History/Art Bookworm
If you are an art and history lover, this may be the best travel guide for you.
It includes books and movies along with other information that you can study prior to traveling.
With more than 40 pages on history, Italian art, architecture, and the Italian way of life, you are sure to better understand the sights you will see upon arrival.
Click the picture above to purchase on Amazon!
Traveling around Italy by Train or Ferry
This travel guide has the most amazing map if you will be traveling by train or ferry on your trip.
It details major, national, and regional train stations, ferries, and the super-fast Eurostar train (now called Frecciargento or Frecciarossa).
This map calculates the time it takes to travel from one city to the next (the fastest available time) so you can plan your day accordingly.
Click the picture above to purchase on Amazon!
Highlights of each Region
The Lonely Planet Travel Guide contains a “Regions at a Glance” section.
This shows geographically where each region is found in Italy and all about the food and drinks in each location.
It also shares activities, shopping, gardens, and villages to visit.
After you read about the regions, you will know for sure if you want to look good, you will go to Lombardy (Milan) to shop or if you want to get a tan on one of the nicest beaches on the planet, you will head over to Sardinia or Sicily with your beach hat in hand.
Click the picture above to purchase on Amazon!
Eat & Drink like a Local
If you want the meal of a lifetime, this travel guide will send you to the right restaurant.
With tips on specialties by region, you are sure to have the best food at each destination.
Eating a cupcake in Sicily is a crime when the specialty sweet is a cannolo.
Also, be sure to read the table manners so you won’t stick out as a tourist too much! Italians are very precise about their food and all things related.
Click the picture above to purchase on Amazon!
Rick Steves Italy
I have always been a huge Rick Steves fan. In fact, I purchased pocket travel guides, a travel backpack, and other merchandise from him in the past. I’m sorry to say, I was sorely disappointed in this travel guide.
Sorry, Mr. Steves! While he always makes it enjoyable to read, the book was mostly all black and white, the print was small, and not a lot grabbed my attention. There wasn’t anything any more special than any of the other guides, in my opinion.
Don’t get me wrong, of course, there is tons of useful information in this travel guide on Italy, it just didn’t really stand out to me.
The one thing I really like about this guide is that Rick Steve’s does offer information specifically about Verona.
Verona is the romantic city that I recommend visiting on Valentine’s Day. Read more about Verona for Valentine’s in my recent article.
Even though I wasn’t impressed by the Italy travel guide, he does a fantastic job with his travel pocket guides.
I love that these are small enough to carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack while out for the day.
Another big reason why I love his pocket guides is that he includes very readable maps with self-guided walking tours.
I love to plan out my footsteps for the day and the more walking I can do, the better. Stopping and reading a small section in his pocket guide at each sight, provides me with more enjoyment than being on a long boring tour.
I highly recommend Rick Steve’s Pocket Guides and have attached the ones available for Italy below. Click on the pictures to check them out!
Click the picture above to purchase on Amazon!
There are so many great resources to plan your trip to Italy.
I hope by sharing the pros and cons of these travel guides, Marco and I helped make your planning easier! 🙂
If you are planning on adding Milan or Venice to your trip, check out my articles: USA goes to Milan and Vacation to Venice.
Happy Planning!
XOXOXO
The people that write this stuff are amazing:) brilliant!