Michelin Guide Italia 2010: Hotels & Restaurants (Michelin Guide/Michelin) (Italian Edition)

Yes, you have to be able to read Italian. Otherwise, nothing quite replaces the Michelin. Is it perfect? no. Does it leave out some good choices? yes. But no other source is as thorough, especially for towns off the beaten track. And for hotels and restaurants, when I've gone to one recommended, it's recommendation was merited.

I have been a big fan of Michelin red guides for many years, but this 2010 Italia edition was very disappointing during a recent three-week trip to Northern Italy. A number of its one star restaurant recommendations turned out to be expensive and very forgettable. For example, the Michelin one star in Milan, Ristorante Joia, where dinner for two with a bottle of wine came to 130 Euros, was nouvelle cuisine with a vengence, most of which my wife and I found very strange and hardly edible. There were others as well. The hotel listings also seemed woefully out of date. For example, we stayed for four nights in Milan at the Sheraton Diana Majestic, a classic and well-located hotel which was very reasonably priced -- there was no listing of it in the red guide. On the contrary, in Parma we stayed for one night at the Hotel Verdi, which was over-priced and far less enjoyable -- it was listed in the red guide. I actually threw my copy of the red guide in the waste basket in Milan, in...Read more

Excellent up date of an invaluable guide to restaurants and accommodation. Also has a brief but useful overview of the key points of interest to see in the cities and villages. But you have to be able to understand Italian!