Frommer's Northern Italy: With Venice, Milan & the Lakes

by John Moretti

Take a gondola ride on Venice's Grand Canal, where you'll find excellent views of St. Mark's Basilica. See chapter 5.

Genres: Travel, Collections, Nonfiction, Reference

468 pages, Paperback

First published June 14, 2002

Reviews

[caty]

This is a tour guide of Northern Italy, encompassing Venice and North on the east coast and Genoa and north on the west. It does not include Tuscany or the Bologna regions.

Which is a giant shame, first off, because I consider Bologna, Florence, and Tuscany to be in Northern Italy myself. Some of the information is a little scattered, such as the fact that major highways is tolled is mentioned in only one section of the book, which would be fine except it’s not even hinted at again. Last vacation we used the Lonely Planet series and decided to branch out and explore other options this time. Besides, there’s not a lot of standardization amongst the lonely planet books it seems. I’m not sure I like the format of this Frommer’s book, though. at the start of a section it gives a brief outlook of things to do. Then hotels. Then dining. Then after that finally it actually breaks down and shows you the places of interest/activities. I didn’t like that order. I thought it stupid, because until I know what there is to do in a place, enough that I know whether or not I want to do/see anything, I’m not remotely interested in what the hotels or dining is like. It does have a useful phrase section at the back and a couple of maps that may be useful for driving, but beyond that…. I can’t compare to the other guide books properly because I haven’t read others for Italy yet but it certainly doesn’t hold a light to the Lonely Planet for Provence.

[T60n3]

From maps that were not to scale, to advertising places on maps at streets that did not exist (good thing i visualize before hunting), to simply having not so great suggestions, this book was not very good. It wasn't completely useless, but almost. I cannot recommend it. Stick to Lonely Planet- they write solid guides that have yet to let me down.

[Bethany]

I'd give this one 3.5 stars--it was certainly complete, and I love the coloured pictures, but in many ways I just flat out wasn't the intended audience. I mean honestly, 350euro isn't a splurge for me, it's pretty much my whole spending budget for a week. Good information & coverage, but I'd absolutely use it in conjunction with another book to get a second opinion.

[Monica DiNatale]

I find Frommer's to be excellent guide books. I love the suggested itineraries for 1 day, 5 days, 7 days etc. Without a doubt, definitely look at the "starred" Frommer's picks. I use them for hotel recommendations and have never been steered wrong. If you are going to Cinque Terre check out Albergo Amici.

[Candice]

Great travel book, really specific with great ideas in it for day trips and great history. Pick it up if you're planning a trip to Italy.

[Mabeo]

We're going in November ...

[Kate]

Planning a trip . . .