Fodor’s Italy 2009 (Full-Color Gold Guides) by Fodor’s Review
Product Details
- Paperback: 960 pages
- Publisher: Fodor’s; Revised edition (October 7, 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1400019508
- ISBN-13: 978-1400019502
- Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.8 inches
Fodor’s Italy 2009 (Full-Color Gold Guides) by Fodor’s Review
A heavy block-of-a-book on the outside, Fodor’s Italy 2009 (from the Full-Color Gold series) is packed with informative, well-organized and pleasingly presented material inside.
The entirety of Italy is an ambitious scope and Fodor’s tackles it, with depth and breadth, according to geography: Rome; then northern Italy (e.g. Venice, Milan, et al); central Italy (Florence, Tuscany, and others); and southern Italy (Naples, Sicily, etc.). Each area gets some history, local culture, color photographs, and transportation info; but the emphasis is on vetted recommendations for sites/attractions, restaurants, lodging, entertainment and shopping. In urban areas, accompanying maps and charts convert the text into at-a-glance summaries.
I especially like the suggestions for walking and driving tours, and the “Need a Break?” recommendations for places to pause for a glass of wine, sandwich, pastry or gelato. The only odd and iffy aspect is the inclusion of “Word of Mouth” quotes from Fodor’s online community of travelers — mostly vacuous comments attributed only by screename — that might fit on a casual website but strike a discord with this text’s otherwise polished tone. Overall, the book’s scope (and 960-page weight!) suit it best to armchair travel or as a starting point and planning tool — indeed, I went from casual familiarity to an enthusiastic interest in visiting Italy as I read through this terrific guidebook.
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