Blue Guide Rome

On his website, travel guru Rick Steves says that Blue Guides take "a dry and scholarly approach to the countries of Europe. They're ideal if you want to learn as much about history, art, architecture, and culture as you possibly can." This is basically true, though I much prefer a "dry and scholarly" tone to Rick's "nerdy and precious" style. He's great when it comes to practical tips, but he can't touch the historical, artistic and architectural content of the Blue Guides.

Blue Guides pack a tremendous amount of information into their pages, much more than any other guide I've used. They're wonderful for reading before and after your trip, but they're probably too dense to pack and take along for most people. Before leaving on my honeymoon to Italy, I photocopied the relevant pages of the Northern Italy book to avoid having to pack it because I knew I wouldn't be visiting most of the cities it covers. On that trip I field-tested three guides: Rick Steves,...Read more

The best guide available for those who plan to spend a longer time in Rome. It can also be used as a reference source by art historians, architects, and archeologists. Well-structured, well-written. It's printed on high quality paper, which makes it a little too heavy to carry, but this is how such books should be published -- you wouldn't like to part with your Blue Guide at the end of your trip.

I have used the Blue Guides all over Europe, frequently in the older French-language versions, and have found them exceptional. My Rome Blue Guide was the 1978 version and is still very functional. However with the amazing upgrades to all of Rome for the millenium I thought I'd try this 9th edition of the Blue Guide on my second trip in 2006. It is great: better graphics, better details, better suggestions for walks and how to access museums, palazzi, the Vatican, everything. For my 3rd trip in 2006 with a group of friends who'd never visited Rome before, I left behind my 1978 edition and just took this one.