Reviews (3)

Details, Details...
This book details each and every inch of Rome and Tuscany.In addition to this, the book was easy to read and follow, complete with excellent hotel, eating and shopping suggestions. I would reccomend it to anyone traveling to Italy!

Awesome, especially restaurant picks
My husband and I took this book on our honeymoon to Rome and Florence. We especially enjoyed the restaurant recommendations..every place we tried was excellent. Some things were a bit exaggerated, for example, the book indicated that we needed to be dressed in evening wear at some places, but the other patrons were wearing jeans! Also, it said that English was not spoken at some of the restaurants, but we found that all menus had an English translations and servers were mostly able to communicate with us.
Essential during our trip to Umbria!
We had an armful of guides with us but this one surprised me by being the most useful during our drives through central Italy, especially in Umbria. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Italy    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Europe / Italy   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Special Interest - Adventure    3. Special Interest - General    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. Travel / Europe / Italy   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Italy    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Europe / Italy   

Reviews (1)

Beware the restaurant recommendations
While we found the guidebooks useful in some ways, the restaurant recommendations were extremely disappointing. We ate at two of the recommended restaurants (one recommended by the Frommer Tuscany guidebook, the other by the Frommer Rome guidebook) during a week long stay in Italy. They were the most average meals we had - certainly they were not worth the stars they were given by Frommer. The Rome guidebook also recommended a restaurant (Insalata Ricca) near Piazza Navona without mentioning it was part of a chain. We walked several blocks to this location with family who wanted a light meal before catching the train (we didn't eat there ourselves) and later discovered that there was another one right around the corner from our hotel. I do not plan on buying a Frommer's guidebook again, because I can't trust their recommendations. The facts and history are available in other guidebooks too.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Florence (Italy)    3. Guidebooks    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. Tuscany (Italy)    8. Umbria (Italy)    9. Italy    10. Travel & holiday guides    11. Travel / Europe / Italy   

Editorial Review

Tuscany and Umbria are famous for both their glorious scenery and their superlative cuisines--could there be a more perfect vacation than walking through the countryside, stopping to dine along the way? In Read more

Reviews (20)

New Updated Edition Available Now
The original edition of this book, written nearly ten years ago, needed
Don't forget Umbria!
We used this book for a trip to Umbria with our children ages 9 and 12 this September and thought it was great, both for the walking and the eating. We have been to Tuscany several times and wanted to branch out to Umbria on this last trip, and can only say we wish we had done so sooner. We stayed in the lovely town of Norcia, and did the "san Eutizio" walk: an amazing adventure with children! Norcia was an easy place to be with kids, the hotel recommended in the book was extremely friendly, the town had such a safe feeling and enough of interest (particularly the gelato bar) to the kids to keep them busy. The walk - one of the longer ones in the book - was an ambitious one for kids, but gave them an exceptional feeling of accomplishment at the end, and they loved the beautiful abbey at San Eutizio, especially enjoyable on our visit because as we ate dinner at the tiny restaurant next door (the only building in the immediate environs) there was a wedding going on, which spilled into the outdoors. While my husband and I lingered over our "vino," the kids went inside the abbey and mingled with the wedding party stragglers, a few of whom - along with our kids of course - crawled through an ancient tunnel behind the altar, an action that is supposed to cure all ills.
Finally a new edition of this classic!
I first discovered this book on a trip to Italy in 1999, and after my first walk I was hooked. The walk (Lamole Ring walk) took me to a place I never would have found on my own, and the experience of visiting this lovely off-the-beaten-track hamlet and its beautiful surrounding countryside on foot turned out to be the highlight of my vacation. The restaurant recommended (the only one in Lamole) was also one of the best I've ever eaten in, and was at the same time friendly and not terribly expensive.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Guidebooks    3. Italy    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. Tuscany    8. Tuscany (Italy)    9. Umbria    10. Walking    11. Restaurant & pub guides    12. Travel & holiday guides    13. Travel / Europe / Italy    14. Walking, hiking, trekking   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Maps    3. Maps & Road Atlases    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel / Europe / Italy   

Reviews (11)

Beautiful book!
This was such a fun book to read and the photography is absolutely beautiful!Italy is much more fun off the beaten path anyway...and I'm so glad to see more and more books that take the traveler to the unknown places!
Behind Italy's Curtain
A beautiful book that takes travelers to places in Italy that are not generally publicized.An excellent travel guide.

Seeing the romantic heart of this beautiful country.
An excellent guide that takes you off the beaten tourist trap path. This warm and wonderful book invites you to the most unforgettable private villas, castles, fortresses, and farmhouses-places most of which you can actually stay. This book also is a good introduction to each region's local food and wine, sites, festivals, and other points of interest. The book continues to a selection of unique estates memorable that are known for their meals, architecture, grounds, and history. Opening this book is like the owners of these preserved and fully functional estates opening up their ancestral homes many of whom actually do and this book shows you how.The book further lays a full featured and detailed appendix providing all the practical information you'll need for planning your visits, including complete contact information, prices, amenities, and dates of availability, plus helpful facts and advice on transportation, seasonal considerations, and making reservations. Ever think of traveling to Italy and seeing the romantic heart of this beautiful country. This is the book you will need. ... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Guidebooks    3. Hotels    4. HotelsInnsetc.    5. Italy    6. Travel    7. Travel - Foreign    8. Tuscany    9. Umbria    10. Travel & holiday guides    11. Travel / General   

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. De Blasi, Marlena    5. Description and travel    6. Europe - Italy    7. Homes and haunts    8. Italy    9. Orvieto    10. Orvieto (Italy)    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Social life and customs    13. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs    14. TRAVEL / Europe / Italy   

Reviews (1)

Great information!
This book listed many interesting places to stay. Several of them were also recommended by friends who have travelled to Italy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Hotel & holiday accommodation guides    6. Italy    7. Non-Classifiable    8. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Florence (Italy)    3. Guidebooks    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. Tuscany (Italy)    8. Umbria (Italy)    9. Italy    10. Travel & holiday guides    11. Travel / Europe / Italy   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Guidebooks    3. Reference - Guides (General)    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Tuscany (Italy)    7. Umbria (Italy)    8. Italy    9. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Italy    5. Travel & holiday guides    6. Travel / Europe / Italy   

Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. Europe - Italy    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel / Europe / Italy   

Reviews (1)

Great little guide
I didn't give this book enough respect when I first got it. I was more into the "deep" guidebooks I'd ordered, with depth of history and cultural context, food recommendations, architecture tips, etc.
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Subjects:  1. Automotive Transportation    2. Europe - Italy    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel Guides    6. Travel / Europe / Italy   

Reviews (1)

A creative and fascinating account
What a fabulous idea that Linda Francke had - combining an account of the life of the greatest Saint with a story of her own spiritual journey with a travel guide.A teacher in high school (a Jesuit) once told me that we don't all have to live like St. Francis, but we should all be willing to invite him into our busy live occasionally and allow him to ask us some tough questions.This book is a pleasant and thought-provoking way to do just that.
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Subjects:  1. 1182-1226    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Christianity - Catholicism    6. Description And Travel    7. Fathers Of The Church (Christianity)    8. Francis,    9. General    10. Mediterranean Region    11. Religious    12. Travel    13. of Assisi, Saint,    14. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Italy    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Europe / Italy   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Maps & Road Atlases    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Umbria    5. Umbria (Italy)   

Subjects:  1. Photo Essays    2. Photography    3. Scenic Photo Collections    4. Subjects & Themes - Travel - General    5. Travel - General    6. Italy    7. Photography / Travel    8. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Travel    2. Italy    3. Travel & holiday guides