Best of Italy Guidebook

What's the difference between this Best of Italy guidebook and Rick's complete Italy guidebook?

Rick Steves Italy, the complete guide, offers more coverage of more destinations in a mostly black-and-white format.

The shorter Best of Italy guidebook focuses on Italy's top destinations and sights, is in full color, and is updated a little less frequently than the complete guide.

Both books are packed with hand-picked recommendations and Rick's travel advice and tips for saving time, money, and hassle.

Should I get the Rome, Venice, and/or Florence & Tuscany guidebooks (or any of the Pocket guides)​ in addition to the Best of Italy guidebook?

If you're spending only a few days in Rome, Venice, Florence, and/or the Tuscan countryside, Rick Steves Best of Italy is all you're likely to need.

If, however, you're spending four days or more in the same city, the extra information in a single-city/region guidebook can be worthwhile. Compared to the corresponding chapters of the Rick Steves Best of Italy guidebook, our full-length guidebooks for Rome, Venice, and Florence & Tuscany offer much more in-depth sightseeing information, several additional self-guided city walks and museum/sight tours, more detail on day-trip options, and more specifics on shopping and nightlife, plus suggestions for kids. These city/regional guides also include a few more hotels and restaurants than the corresponding chapters of Rick Steves Best of Italy, and generally a more nitty-gritty approach to practical advice. (If you'll be lingering in all three of those cities, our three-in-one Rome, Florence & Venice book is worth considering for similar reasons; it covers those cities in more detail than Best of Italy, though not quite as thoroughly as each of the standalone titles do.)

It would make less sense to supplement Best of Italy with one of the smaller Pocket guides for Rome, Venice, or Florence. Each does have a few walks and museum tours that aren't included in the related chapters of the Best of Italy guidebook, but otherwise the city-centered Pocket guides offer far more limited coverage of each city's sights, hotels, and restaurants. (Our Pocket guide for the Cinque Terre, however, does include extra information beyond what's in Best of Italy — primarily, coverage of several seaside towns near the Cinque Terre.)

Should I get the Sicily guidebook in addition to the Best of Italy guidebook?

Yes! If your Italy trip includes Sicily, you'll also want to bring Rick Steves Sicily, as this Best of Italy guidebook has no information on Sicily.

Should I get any of the Snapshot guides in addition to the Best of Italy guidebook?

If you really want to dive into one of the regions covered by a Snapshot guide for Italy, the extra information in those books can make sense (especially for Milan and Lake Como, as they're covered only briefly in the Best of Italy guidebook).