Rome Travel Guides
First we had Frommer’s Italy 2007 because we had done well with Frommer’s in Paris, but we quickly realized it was too generic. We were planning to go to three specific places in Italy: Rome, Florence, and Siena and we weren’t planning any drives around the countryside. So then we got Rick Steves’ Florence and Tuscany which covered Florence and Siena and Rick Steves’ Rome.
We were really happy with the Rick Steves books. They go a step beyond Frommer’s by giving you tours of the individual sights for the more important museums, churches, and ruins. Considering how much we were trying to pack into such a short time, it was extremely helpful to know what the important pieces were at each sight. On top of that, his descriptions are humorous and illuminating. He tells you not just which items are important but why they’re important and how to appreciate them, including contextual historical information where needed. I don’t think we’ll travel without Rick again.
For maps we had the Knopf Mapguides for Rome and Florence. Each book has six fold-out maps showing a section of the city. The maps were accurate (no small task with Florence’s tiny, windy streets) and durable. My only complaint is that the overview map, which showed the six sections connected plus the pieces that were outside the six sections, was way too small to be useful. The books also show the major sights in each section of the map, which is good for basic orientation, but they’re no substitute for a real guidebook. The information given with respect to hours was frequently inaccurate.