Rick Steves' Rome 2011

Unlike Rick Steve's Tuscany 2011 guide, which was very helpful during our visit there two weeks ago, the Rome book leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps Rome is just too vast for the approach taken by Rick Steve's guides. First, the maps included are really inadequate: as someone else has mentioned, a fold-out map of the streets of the entire city would be very helpful. (A 1909 Baedecker guide that I own has better, clearer maps that show everything of potential interest!) Second, there were very serious omissions. For example, the Palazzo Barberini (right off the Piazza Barberini on Via delle Quattro Fontane) is completely unmentioned, despite the fact that it houses a really major art museum with some of the world's great masterpieces (many magnificent late medieval and Renaissance paintings, Raphael's La Fornaria, one of Holbein's later portraits of England's Henry VIII, and Carabaggio's magnificent painting of Judith beheading Holofernes). It was only because our hotel was on...Read more

Given some of the reviews here I was concerned that this book wouldn't be very useful, but I was pleasantly surprised! I'd been to Rome before so this was my second trip, but this book pointed out plenty of new stuff for me to check out. The only thing it missed that was really cool was the Vatican Gardens tour - for $45 we got a private tour of the Vatican Gardens and admission to the Vatican Museums without having to wait in line.

The formatting for Kindle was as good as any other Rick Steves book - navigation, maps, and hyperlinks were all good. The tours of the Vatican Museums, St. Peter's, and some of the other churches really added a nice touch to my trip and, as Catholic, helped me appreciate some of the really incredible pieces of Christian history. I really liked that it suggested churches off the beaten path that were really beautiful and I wouldn't have known about otherwise.

Rome is my favorite European city and this book really helped me take my...Read more

The Rick Steves guide to Rome provides a wealth of helpful information. The book is well-organized and includes maps and a section on side trips.