Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 38
 Packed with useful information for budget conscious travelers. November 2, 2009
Marcy Gomez (Kansas City, USA)
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
I'm a little confused with previous reviews of Rick Steves' Rome book. Are we reading the same book? Poor content? Really? I'm planning my first trip to Rome and, if anything, this book has been an indispensable planning tool for our big trip. I have been "traveling" with Rick for many years now. I update my "Europe Through the Back Door" books whenever I plan a trip to Europe, and my 3 versions of these books are all dog-eared, full of highlighted sections and are well worn. Rick's books have been my best friends during past trips to the UK, France and Germany, so his book on Rome was the first book I bought when we began just even considering a trip to the Eternal City. And one of the best things about Rick's country/city books is that he updates them every year, so you know that you have the most up-to-date information available on print. His website is also a fantastic travel resource.
Rick Steves' Rome is subdivided into several categories: Introduction (planning tip, what to know before you go), Orientation, Sights, Sleeping (accomodations), Eating (restaurant suggestions), Rome with Children, Shopping, Nightlife, Transportation Connections, Daytrips, Roman History, Appendix and the Index.
* The "Sights" section alone covers over 230 pages with fantastic and detailed information on Self-Guided Walks (Nightly Walk, Trastevere Walk, Jewish Ghetto Walk) and Self-Guided Tours (including the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, Capitoline Museum, Borghese Gallery, Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica to name a few). Each section of this self-guided tours and walks has practical information (hours, cost, how to get there, how to avoid long lines), background history, descriptions of the interior and exterior, maps, pictures and details on each "must see" (whether its a painting, sculpture, structure or item of architectural/historical interest). I've browsed through many travel books on Rome and Rick is one of the few (or the only one) who has given useful tips on the best tours to take, how to avoid long lines, what sights are not worth the trip, what sights are underrated, and how to travel well on a budget.
* "Sleeping" and "Eating" sections covers his recommendations for a wide range of budgets (although those who know Rick knows that he specializes in travel for cost-conscious travelers).
* "Shopping" covers tips on markets, ideas for souvenirs and general shopping tips. It is sparse, however, so if you plan to do some serious shopping, then I recommend that you supplement this book with a "Rome shopping guide" as well.
* "Daytrips" covers Ostia Antica, Tivoli, Naples and Pompeii (sights that are within a 2-hour train ride from Rome). If you are looking for sights around Tuscany/Umbria, then you will want to pick up Rick's "Florence" book for information on those areas.
I highly recommend this book to anyone (especially budget-conscious travelers) who is contemplating a trip to Rome. In my planning, I have also supplemented this book with the latest version of Rick's "Europe Through the Back Door" (fantastic practical planning guide) and "Europe 101: History and Art for the Traveler." If Rick's books have a shortcoming (and, yes, no travel book is perfect), it is the lack of glitzy color pictures that some travel books have. What he lacks in snazzy pictures, he makes up for in content. His self-guided tours and walks, and his tips and budget recommendations are always excellent. However, if you are a "visual" person like me (who must have my pictures) and particularly if you are going on your first trip to Rome, then I have found that Fodor's Rome (Full-Color Gold Guides) with its color pictures, visuals and maps is the perfect complement to Rick's books. I always find that investing in a guidebook or two, and a really good map are well worth it. As a seasoned European traveler, I know that Rick's Rome book, Fodor's Rome and MapEasy's Guidemap to Rome are all I need to help me make my trip a success.
Rick Steves March 10, 2009
Shawn Hughes (Boston, MA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
It was very helpful that I had this book while I was in Rome at the end of February this year. It was the first time I've been in Rome. I could be able to find any information that I need regarding a one week stay in Rome including sight seeing, sleeping, eating and even shopping.
I will buy Rick Steves's guide books whenever I decide to travel to any place in Europe in future.
Very happy I decided to purchase this before my Rome vacation July 14, 2009
David Bednarz (CT, USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Before I left for Rome, I was considering not getting a tour guide at all. I figured, with a place that has so many tourists it certainly must be easy to know where to go and find out the history of what you are looking at. However, that's not the case.
I decided at the last minute to order this book, and boy was I happy that I did so.
I spent five days in Rome (which is just about the perfect amount of time to see everything) and brought this book with me everywhere I went. Let me tell you, it was a necessity.
I was shocked that every single tourist attraction (the Colosseum, Pantheon, Forum, Vatican, etc.) did not offer any information at all about the history of what exactly it was that you were looking at. Some of these places let you rent an audio guide with headphones for a fee, however I find those annoying and they don't always tell you the whole story. If it were not for me purchasing this book, I wouldn't have learned half of the stuff that I did. Constantly throughout my whole vacation, I was shocked to see tourists walking around looking at these ancient ruins without any clue at all what exactly it was that they were looking at, because there are no types of historical information presented to you when you visit them (Literally! There's no signs that say what something is, no pamphlets that you can pick up, nothing!) Without this book, my vacation would have been totally different.
The self-guided tours in this book are fantastic. Rick Steves will have you walk into a museum, and literally step-by-step he points out where certain objects in the museum are and gives you plenty of background information, which is presented to you in a light-hearted, fun way. This was definitely most beneficial at the Forum and Palatine Hill, where you literally walk amongst hundreds of ancient ruins that have no signs or explanations telling you exactly what it is that you're looking at.
My favorite parts of the book were the self-guided Night Walk Tour, and also the self-guided tour of Trastevere. Those are definite musts to do on your trip; we had a lot of fun. He even points out great places to get gelato and cappuccino along the way! It felt almost like a scavenger hunt - it was both educational and fun.
The tone of the book is very conversational and quite often humorous. It is not a dull, boring history book at all. Rick Steves really brings excitement into the trip. He also presents everything in an even, unbiased way, not trying to re-write history (for example, many items used to build and decorate some churches and other buildings were often stolen from other people/places, etc). This was especially beneficial in a place such as the Vatican Museum, where if I had to guess a lot of that type of information was probably not presented to the people who rented the Vatican's self-created audio guide headphones.
I will definitely advise anyone visiting Rome that bringing this guide book with them is a must (and literally, carry it around with you everywhere, you won't regret it. It can fit in a jacket or a small bag. I carried it in my backpack, which I brought with me everywhere. Don't worry about feeling like a tourist when you take it out and read it while standing directly in front of the site that you are reading about - plenty of people were doing that, it is very beneficial. Of course, you don't want the fact that you are a tourist to stick out like a sore thumb due to pickpockets, so be somewhat careful). If you don't buy this particular guide book, then at least buy some other guide book to carry around. Without a guide book, your trip to Rome will be less interesting, again due to the lack of information that's presented to you at the actual sites.
This was the first Rick Steves book that I bought, and the next time I go anywhere else in Europe, I now plan on getting his other books too.
Rome-Everything you need to know May 2, 2009
Phillip M. Renfro
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
All the tourist sites described and graded with many tips for getting around easily in a city that is not easy to get around in. This is the only book you need. A bit skimpy on hotel details.
Great Rome Guide! March 27, 2009
Love to travel (Orange County, CA USA)
I have purchased the Rick Steve's Rome, Venice and Florence and all of the books are great reference guides for planning my trip to Italy. Thanks Rick!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 38
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