Excellent coverage of Piedmont, but more importantly, Val Chisone and Germansca, our home base.

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Product Description

Explores one of nature's most perfect suntraps, with its Neopolitan climate, diverse landscape and dazzling coastlines - gets to grips with glamorous Portofino - seeks out the noble palaces, art-filled churches and medieval quarter of Genoa, home of pesto and Italy's busiest port - visits the museum of the Antarctic and the biggest aquarium in Europe - stays at the most charming hotels and dines at the most stylish restaurants and bars - tours the elegant city of Turin and the Alpine landscapes of the Valle d'Aosta. 'Italians are famously anarchic behind a wheel. The only way to beat locals is to join them by adopting an assertive and constantly alert driving style. All drivers from boy racers to elderly nuns seem to tempt providence by overtaking at the most dangerous bend...'

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #528146 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 360 pages

Review
"'Instructive and entertaining' - Italy Heaven"

BBC Radio 4
'Overall the top marks go to Cadogan'

The Sunday Times
'Humorous, informed... irresistible'

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Customer Reviews

best of a small bunch
There seems to be only 2 or 3 books around which cover this region of Italy in any detail. This one is clearly written with the most passion and genuine local knowledge.

The historical background to the region is very detailed and, for a travel guide, not too dry. The suggestions the writers make e.g. places to eat, historical buildings, markets, I have always found to be accurate and trustworthy. The book is laid out intuitively too, starting in the west and working east through the region making places easy to locate.

I think the key to really enjoying this region is exploring. This guide makes good suggestions but I've usually found there's quite a lot more to discover than this book lets on. Perhaps that's a good thing.

One complaint about this book (and other guides to this region do a far worse job of this...) would be related to the quality and usefulness of the maps.

Many places simply aren't deemed worthy of a town centre map, a shame, especially with bigger places, such as San Remo. The maps that are supplied, Genoa for example, are detailed but practically unusable because there's no grid or key. The guide may mention a fine restaurant on a certain street but how are you going to find that street? (And Italy has lots of small, hard to find streets!)