Also, some of the information given was seemingly inaccurate and sent us on a few wild goose chases; for example a "vegetarian" restaurant a little way from the Spanish Steps was anything but, and we wasted ages trekking to look for a gate whose keyhole would supposedly give us an amazing view...if we found the right one it was a definite waste of time!

That's not to say the book doesn't have some useful tips on what to see, and it hasn't stopped me buying more in the same series - it's just that we encountered several flaws with this particular edition.

We mainly used this book to search out the must sees, and tended to stumble around the rest of the city ourselves. I think really it was a case of Rome being so amazing that we just kept finding things to see without needing a guide book. For a general overview this book is excellent, however we found it impossible to find many of the places mentioned on the maps and this is a major issue.


Not impressed   September 19, 2001
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Yes, the spiral binding is great, but opening hours of some sites are wrong. Directions to many interesting sites lack clarity. Explanations regarding sites are not comprehensive and not really that interesting (spend money on guided tours!). The map was quite useless. If you want to take walks around the city do buy a good and detailed city map with a street index.


Perfect Balance   August 12, 2001
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I totally agree with the other two reviewers. The fiancee and I have just returned from a 3 night break to Rome and found this just excellent. The street map at the back is excellent (much more attention to detail than a smaller pop-up map I also bought) and the itineraries are really useful for planning your days.

The guide's strength is its perfect balance of concise detail. Thoroughly recommended.


Excellent guide for the independent traveller   June 6, 2001
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

I found this book invaluable, with a coloured index guide, suggestions for itinaries, what to see and where to go in 1 day, for example, it was excellent. For the independent traveller a must, especially if you want to have a book that doesn't make you read too much to find out what you are looking for. This guide has lots of pictures/photos to give you an idea what you may want to see. In additon ti also gives you great information on how to get around by various means, basic cost of food, travel tickets, taxi's etc ( which I found was accurate). So, if you are thinking of travelling to Rome on your own initiative - this is the book for you.