Fodors. For Choice Travel Experiences.Fodors helps you unleash the possibilities of travel by providing the insightful tools you need to experience the trips you want. Although youre at the helm, Fodors offers the assurance of our expertise, the guarantee of selectivity, and the choice details that truly define a destination. Its like having a friend in Italy!
•Your vacation never looked better. This Fodors full-color guide paints an unforgettable picture of Italy with vibrant maps, vividly illustrated features, and stunning color photos.
•Updated frequently, Fodors Essential Italy provides the most accurate and up-to-date information available in a guidebook.
•Fodors Essential Italy features options for a variety of budgets, interests, and tastes, so you make the choices to plan your trip of a lifetime.
•If its not worth your time, its not in this book. Fodors discriminating ratings, including our top tier Fodors Choice designations, ensure that youll know about the most interesting and enjoyable places in Italy.
•Experience Italy like a local! Fodors Essential Italy includes Rome, Florence, Venice, and much more!
•Fodors Essential Italy includes unique photo-features that impart the countrys culture, covering Ancient Rome, Venices Grand Canal, the Cinque Terre, and much more!
•Indispensable, customized trip planning tools include “Top Reasons to Go,” “Word of Mouth” advice from other travelers, and tips to help save money, bypass lines, and avoid common travel pitfalls.
•Full-color pullout map.
Detailed and timely information on accommodations, restaurants, and local attractions highlight these updated travel guides, which feature all-new covers, a two-color interior design, symbols to indicate budget options, must-see ratings, multi-day itineraries, Smart Travel Tips, helpful bulleted maps, tips on transportation, guidelines for shopping excursions, and other valuable features. Original.
NEW FAST TRACK TITLE The ideal guide for travelers to the three remarkable cities on Italy's "must see" list -- Rome, Florence, and Venice -- plus highlights of Tuscany, Umbria, the Veneto, and other spectacular locations in between.
Chapter 1: Experience Italy ............ 8Whats Where ............ 10
Italy Planner ............ 12
Italy Today ............ 14
Top Italy Attractions ............ 16
Top Experiences ............ 18
Quintessential Italy ............ 20
A Great Itinerary ............ 22
Beating the Euro ............ 27
FAQS . . . ............ 28
Chapter 2: Rome ............ 29
Welcome to Rome ............ 30
Rome Planner ............ 32
Getting Here & Around ............ 34
Eating & Drinking Well in Rome ............ 36
Navona & Campo: Baroque Rome ............ 50
Corso & Spagna: Piazza Venezia to the Spanish Steps ........ 55
Piazza della Repubblica to Quirinale ............ 60
Villa Borghese & Piazza del Popolo ............ 64
The Vatican: Rome of the Popes ............ 66
The Ghetto, Tiberina Island & Trastevere ............ 81
The Catacombs & Via Appia Antica ............ 86
Where to Eat ............ 88
Best Bets for Rome Dining ............ 92
Where to Stay ............ 102
Best Bets for Rome Lodging ............ 106
Nightlife & the Arts ............ 120
Shopping ............ 126
Chapter 3: Between Rome & Florence:
Umbria & Tuscany ............ 131
Welcome to Umbria & Tuscany ............ 132
Umbria & Tuscany Planner ............ 134
Orvieto ............ 136
Eating & Drinking Well in Umbria ............ 144
Spoleto ............ 146
Assisi ............ 153
Perugia ............ 164
Siena ............ 171
Eating & Drinking Well in Tuscany ............ 182
Arezzo & Cortona ............ 185
Hill Towns West of Siena ............ 189
Chianti ............ 197
Chapter 4: Florence ............ 211
Welcome to Florence ............ 212
Florence Planner ............ 214
Getting Here & Around ............ 216
Eating & Drinking Well in Florence ............ 218
The Duomo to the Ponte Vecchio ............ 220
San Lorenzo to the Accademia ............ 236
Santa Maria Novella to the Arno ............ 242
Santa Croce ............ 245
The Oltrarno ............ 255
Where to Eat ............ 261
Best Bets, Florence Dining ............ 263
Where to Stay ............ 271
Nightlife & the Arts ............ 279
Shopping ............ 281
Side Trips from Florence ............ 290
Lucca ............ 290
Pisa ............ 296
Chapter 5: Between Florence & Venice:
Emilia-Romagna & the Veneto ............ 311
Welcome to EmiliaRomagna & the Veneto ............ 312
EmiliaRomagna & the Veneto Planner ............ 314
Bologna ............ 316
Eating & Drinking Well in Emilia-Romagna ............ 322
Ravenna ............ 329
Ferrara ............ 335
Padua ............ 341
Eating & Drinking Well in Venetian Arc ............ 348
Vicenza ............ 351
Verona ............ 360
Milan ............ 368
Chapter 6: Venice ............ 397
Welcome to Venice ............ 398
Venice Planner ............ 400
Getting Here & Around ............ 402
Eating & Drinking Well in Venice ............ 404
Piazza San Marco ............ 406
Dorsoduro ............ 421
San Polo & Santa Croce ............ 426
Castello & Cannaregio ............ 431
San Giorgio Maggiore & the Giudecca ............ 439
Islands of the Lagoon ............ 440
Where to Eat ............ 443
Best Bets Venice Dining ............ 445
Where to Stay ............ 452
Nightlife & the Arts ............ 464
Shopping ............ 468
Vocabulary ............ 471
Italy Essentials ............ 476
Index ............ 503
About Our Writers ............ 512
Essential Italy In Focus
Ancient Rome: Glories of the Caesars ............ 40
Agony & Ecstasy: the Sistine Ceiling ............ 72
Assisis Basilica di San Francesco ............ 157
Sienas Piazza del Campo & the Palio ............ 176
Grape Escapes: The Pleasures of Tuscan Wine ............ 201
The Duomo ............ 230
Whos Who in Renaissance Art ............ 249
The Cinque Terre ............ 301
Palladio Country ............ 355
The Fashionistas Milan ............ 392
Cruising the Grand Canal ............ 407
Maps
Rome Metro & Suburban Railway ............ 39
Navona & Campo ............ 51
Corso & Spagna ............ 57
Repubblica & Quirinale ............ 62
Villa Borghese & Piazza del Popolo ............ 65
The Vatican ............ 67
Trastevere & the Ghetto ............ 83
The Catacombs & Via Appia Antica ............ 87
Where to Eat in Rome ............ 9495
Where to Stay in Rome ............ 108109
Orvieto ............ 138
Spoleto ............ 147
Asissi ............ 154
Perugia ............ 165
Siena ............ 173
Chianti & the Hill Towns West of Siena ............ 191
Duomo to the Ponte Vecchio ............ 221
Uffizi Floor Plan ............ 225
San Lorenzo to the Academia ............ 237
Santa Maria Novella to the Arno ............ 243
Santa Croce ............ 247
The Oltrarno ............ 256
Where to Eat & Stay ............ 264265
Florence to Pisa & Lucca ............ 291
Lucca ............ 292
Pisa ............ 298
Bologna ............ 318
Ravenna ............ 331
Padua ............ 343
Vicenza ............ 352
Verona ............ 362
Milan ............ 370
Piazza San Marco ............ 415
Dorsoduro ............ 423
San Polo & Santa Croce ............ 427
Cannaregio ............ 432
Castello ............ 434
Venetian Lagoon ............ 441
Where to Stay and Eat in Venice ............ 448449