Access Florence Venice: Plus Tuscany and the Veneto (Access Florence Venice Milan)

This guide is a keeper, if only for the great maps! Arranged by neighborhood, I can see myself needing them when I'm in Italy. Also, I like the "day-trips" section for each city. Other city guides don't have this information, and it's really helpful for that day out. The guide is a bit long, so you have to make sure that your day trip bag is large enough for it.

What this guide does lack is depth - historical, artistic depth. If you are traveling in Venice or Florence, it is just essential that you know about what you're seeing. That's part of why we go to these amazing historic sites. I would suggest traveling with a Blue Guide for each city that you visit. They are a great packing size, and they offer so much more descriptive information. They don't offer too much practical information, so that's why I'll be taking the Access Guide with me too.


the only travel guide we actually pack   September 22, 2000
 13 out of 13 found this review helpful

This guide series is one of the easiest to use and especially if you have never travelled to the destination before. Broken both into regions or neighborhoods and color coded to distinguish restaurants, hotels, shopping and points of interest. This is very useful when one finds themselves hungry in an unfamilair part of town. The reviews are very good, with great recomendations. You will never want to use another travel guide after this series.


Great handy travel guide with terrific layout   January 30, 2000
 23 out of 23 found this review helpful

This is a great book if you only want to pack 1 travel guide on your vacation. All points of interest are listed in the same order you would find them as you walk through each neighborhood, and they're clearly labeled on the neighborhood maps. The writing is very engaging and candid, offering just enough art historical background to get a better understanding of points of interest, while restaurant and hotel reviews offer the "inside scoop." Contrary to the previous reviewer, I liked the "personal touch" of having residents list their favorite spots - who cares if they've been paid or not - their suggestions are still good. Color-coding also makes for very handy reference. I loved this book and highly recommend it.


There are better travel books on Florence & Venice   August 23, 1999
 14 out of 28 found this review helpful

This book confuses succinct, targeted travel information with "informationals" about those who may have paid to get in the book. It is not a well organized book.