Best of Italy Guidebook

In Rick Steves Best of Italy you'll find essential Rick-tested information on the following top destinations, plus condensed coverage of several "Best of the Rest" cities and regions:

• Venice and Nearby
  • Nearby: Padua and Verona
• Cinque Terre
  • Monterosso al Mare
  • Vernazza
  • Corniglia
  • Manarola
  • Riomaggiore
• Florence
• Hill Towns of Central Italy
  • Siena
  • Montepulciano
  • Montalcino
  • Assisi
  • Orvieto
  • Civita di Bagnoregio
• Rome
• Naples
• Amalfi Coast and Nearby
  • Pompeii
  • Sorrento
  • Capri
  • Positano, Amalfi Town, and Ravello
• Best of the Rest
  • Milan
  • Varenna on Lake Como
  • Pisa
• Extras
  • Self-guided walks and museum tours
  • Easy-to-follow color maps
  • Gorgeously illustrated destination overview
  • ​Trip planning: Pre-trip checklist, recommended two-week itinerary, festivals and holidays
  • City-specific advice on planning your time and avoiding lines
  • Transportation: Trains, buses, city transit, and driving
  • Italian history, culture, language, and cuisine
  • Handy Italian survival phrases
  • Advice on managing money, communicating, reserving rooms, handling emergencies, and other helpful hints

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-size 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.

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).

Latest updates: When we learn of critical changes to the information in our guidebooks on Italy, we post them. (Of course, it's still smart to reconfirm critical transportation and sightseeing details locally.) Armed with a Rick Steves guidebook and these late-breaking updates, you're set for a great trip!

Submit feedback: Once you've used this book in Europe, we'd love to hear your feedback — good or bad — about our advice on sights, hotels, restaurants, and travel tips. We're also interested in any tips or discoveries you made while in Europe. Your comments help us improve our guidebooks for future travelers.