Rick Steves' Rome

by Gene Openshaw and Rick Steves

Book Overview

Rick Steves' Rome 2009 allows any traveler to enjoy the sights and appreciate the lively culture of Italy's capital and the center of the ancient world, from the architectural wonder of the Colosseum... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1612380107
• ISBN13: 9781612380100
• Release Date: September 2011
• Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing
• Length: 500 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.5" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Very happy I decided to purchase this before my Rome vacation

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, ca

Rick Steves - The Easiest and Most Reliable Travel Books!!!!

Rick Steves - The Easiest and Most Reliable Travel Books!!!! It is so easy to use his books. Logically organized and not a lot of fluff but a whole lot of valuable and usable information!! Can never go wrong with these travel books. We won't travel without them anymore. ROME can easily be overwhelming! This books helps you choose what's important for you to visit and plan your time accordingly. You can even save money on guides in most locations since it offers GREAT walking and museum guides!! Wonderful recommendations for food and lodging too! Our first trip to Rome we didn't have this book. Since then we have purchased the most recent ones for each of our trips since. WHAT A DIFFENENCE having this book makes!!! Have fun in ROME and make good use of the book by studying it a little before you go so that you can use your valuable time effectively! ENJOY!

Only Guide You'll Need for Rome

We just got back from Rome and didn't even bother bringing back the other guides we had brought along - the Rick Steves guide was all we used while over there. From his advice to spend a little extra to stay in Campo de Fiori to the adventurous day trip to Naples/Pompeii, the detail that Steves provides is invaluable, especially for those who haven't traveled through Europe extensively. The informative tour of the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel saved us from renting audio guides and helped us spend time efficiently. Take his advice and book early for Galleria de Borghese. The guide provided great tips to follow and although repetitive, Steves does not understate important details such as those relating to personal safety. If you've never been to Rome, or are going back after a long period, I recommend this guide. It helped us to better appreciate the city and bring home amazing memories of a wonderful trip.

Rick Steves Rome Guidebook

We lucked onto this book in a "free" bookshelf at a hostel in Switzerland, and although I questoned my sanity as I carried it for 2 weeks before using it, in the we end found it extremely useful. The walking tours are very well done, and give you much of the detail of a guided tour without the need to do it on someone else's schedule. The tip for how to get into the Colosseum without waiting in the ticket line there would have more than paid for the book, even if we had paid for it twice! Highly recommended. We had a place to stay already lined up, so I can't comment on the lodging and eatery recommendations in the book-we didnt use them. Go to hostelz.com for places to stay!

THE Guide to Take

I planned a three week trip to Europe and could not have done it without Rick Steve's guide books. I completely, without any reservation, reccommend this book to anyone going to Rome. It helped me prioritize my time and orient myself to Rome. Along with Rome, I also bought Venice, London, and Paris. All were equally fantastic. The guide books were great in terms of which sights are a must and which are not, what restaurants were good, where to stay, local transportation, and little hints here and there. The two cities for which I did not have Rick's guide books weren't as successful.