National Geographic Traveler: Rome

by Sari Gilbert, Michael Brouse

All the travel experts agree—consumers want more and different experiences from travel than they did in the past. They want to deeply understand their destination before they go, feel a meaningful connection to the place while there, and return home feeling enriched and ready to share their experiences with others. With these trends in mind, and the results of extensive, proprietary market research, National Geographic Traveler has been enhanced with engaging new features and a contemporary redesign.

Each guide begins with an introduction that enables the traveler to sample a bit of the culture, history, and attractions before they go and plan the trip based on their own interests and length of stay. Travelers can immerse themselves in active, in-country "Experiences" and "Off-the-Beaten-Path Excursions" they won't find anywhere else, like visiting a family in a South African township or learning to cook Maori cuisine with a renowned New Zealand chef. Other new features, such as "Insider Tips" from National Geographic photographers, writers, and experts, as well as "Not-To-Be-Missed" lists ensure that each person's visit will be one-of-a-kind and memorable.

To make the most of these and all the other great new features, the guides' design has been simplified, opened up, and enhanced with easy-to-read tinted sections. Gorgeous color photographs, high-quality maps, and the popular walking and driving tours are still highlights of our crisp, new look. To complete the update, our new covers boast a striking, single image of the destination, along with the clear National Geographic branding that signifies quality, trust, and all the best in travel.

With more than a century of travel expertise, new content, and a new look, National Geographic Traveler is the right guide at the right time—poised to meet the changing needs of today's traveler better than ever and better than anyone.

Rome is captivating. Sidebars cover topics ranging from emperors and archaeological digs to culinary classes and street cafés.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

I've always been an avid reader: my third grade teacher, Miss Audain, was very impressed when I sailed through Felix Salten's 300 page "Bambi" (yes it's a real book!) perhapos leading to my New York school's decision to have me skip the fourth grade. And there's a fifth-grade class photo in which I am sitting at my desk wearing some sort of shawl and with an open book in front of me. I clearly remember wanting to come across as an "intellectual".
My love of reading might also explain why I stayed in school so long, although by the time I was studying for my MA, and later for a Ph.D, I was concentrating on political and historical books, as my chosen subject then was International Relations with an emphasis on Europe and, more particularly, on Italy. Yes, I fell in love with Italy at a tender age - even before college I was reading novels that were set in Italy or other parts of the Mediterranean - and so it may not be a surprise that I ended up in Rome where I have been living since the 1970s. Europe and and has been living in Rome since the 1970s when moved there to complete her graduate studies and then found work there as a reporter and foreign correspondent for a variety of prestigious US and Italian newspapers and magazines.
Except for fashion shows and soccer games, I covered just about every kind of news story there was to cover in Italy: elections, government crises, Mafia trials, terrorism, papal assassination attempts, immigration, political corruption, earthquakes, food, tourism, business and banking. In my first book, a memoir called "My Home Sweet Rome: Living (and Loving) in the Eternal City" , provides a comprehensive – and entertaining – look at the ins and outs of life in Italy a delightful, complicated and sometimes frustrating country. "Deadline Rome: The Vatican Kylix", my first novel, makes ample use of my experiences and observations during my long journalistic career. I hope you enjoy it and if you do, please write a review.

Reviews

[Barahir Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Страхотни грешки и като фактология и като снимки! Но като цяло са уловили духа.

[Lenabean77 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the way this travel guide was laid out. It was my first Nat Geo travel guide. The brief history in each section was also interesting.

[Bob H · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who has planned for years to visit Rome, has learned the language, and looked at numerous travel guides, I must say that this is perhaps the best one I’ve seen so far. It’s succinct, portable, laid out in a logical and user-friendly way, and practical. Most of the book is devoted to the city’s neighborhoods, chapter by chapter (with color-coded tabs) with an eye to walkability. Amongst these pages are separate essays on amenities and background (blue pages) and suggested walking tours (green pages).

The book is well and attractively illustrated, with full-color photos, sketches and plans of major buildings, and – invaluably – plenty of street maps, easy to read and reasonably detailed. The rear cover includes a full schematic of Rome’s tram, subway and suburban rail systems.

The book mainly focuses on the city but has a couple chapters on excursions outside the walls: the larger city and attractions in the nearby region (the Alban Hills, Tivoli, Ostia). And it has a full and up-to-date appendix on the city’s hotels, restaurants, shopping, public transportation, as well as tips on visa requirements, practical attire and seasonal climates. The book isn’t as comprehensive as, say, the Companion Guide to Rome but it’s a good overall guide, practical, and, if you pack it with you, portable, thanks to its size and layout.

Highly recommend to anybody even thinking of a trip to Rome. Indispensable if you’re planning a trip – and to have in hand when you’re there.

[Adi (Reading in the Windowseat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just LOVE National Geographic - for me, they set the standard for presenting non-fiction: be it on paper or on video, the information is always attractive, catchy and interesting to discover.

As always, this read beautifully. I'm giving it four stars for the simple reason that I read Paris and London from the same Guide series, and they were both more exhaustive and better written. In the Rome Guide I found several small mistakes and repetitions which bugged me, but they were very small - I probably noticed only because recently I took a class in stylistic mistakes and editing at university.

I'm definetely taking this on my trip - the maps and chapterisations are invaluable, as I know from experience, and I'm going to stick to this series; when it comes to travel guides, there are no better.

[Xfi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Las guías de Nacional Geographic son, para bien o para mal en función de lo que busques, diferentes al resto. No se limitan a soltar tópicos y proponer rutas y visitas y decir continuamente lo impresionante que es el sitio que vas a visitar.
Añaden cierto contexto histórico, cuentan anécdotas y te previenen sobre algunos aspectos.
Si lo que buscas es una guía sencilla con informaciones prácticas esta se te hará demasiado grande y con mucha literatura. Si por el contrario quieres darte un barniz de cultura e información del sitio al que vas y no ver las cosas porque sí esta es tu guía.
En este caso la información de Roma es completa, actual y en lo que respecta a las obras de arte, te dice donde debes mirar. Cosa que no es tan obvia siempre....(en las iglesias de Roma es mejor siempre mirar hacia arriba..es donde están los mejores tesoros)

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with a lots of wonderful information. Used it a lot to plan my trip there.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suggests many websites to review areas of interest in depth