Product Description

The green heart of Italy has hills aplenty and medieval towns atop many of them. From Ancient Rome to the Renaissance, from Raphael to Ravanelli, the wealth of historical and artistic treasures in towns such as Assisi and Orvieto is extraordinary, while towns like Perugia and Urbino have lively universities to add young spice to the cultural mix. Stunning landscapes and enormous panoramic vistas are around every corner and the Apennines, snow-capped in winter before being enrobed in spring flowers, make ideal walking country. Or you could fling yourself off the top with help from a paraglider, or rush down whitewater rapids in a raft. Alternatively, you could laze on a sandy Mediterranean beach with great local wine and delicious pasta, flavoured with the mysterious truffles that grow here. Including sections on what the locals say to help you find those lesser-known gems, a month-by-month guide to pros and cons of visiting at certain times of the year, tips on the perfect places to picnic and pick-up your goodies, plus a series of great driving routes and city walks.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #395019 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
A stunning new collection of guidebooks from Footprint, this series of eight volumes tackle the key regions and cities of Italy with passion, insight and style. Set out in well-organised sections, these guides include a raft of helpful information, and especially benefit from the inclusion of stand alone Popout maps of each of the areas covered. --Italia! Magazine

Customer Reviews

Hilltop heaven
I bought Umbria & the Marche because it was the smallest guide book, easy to fit in my pocket, and the cover was an attractive blue. I had no idea that Julius Honnor's text and photographs would be so excellent. He covers the basic information needed in a guide book but gives so much more. He makes the area come alive with advice on food, outdoor activities, tips and where to look for the unexpected.
Next time I go I'm heading to the Furlo Gorge to stand on the nose of Mussolini broken by a partisan bomb.

Poor
I bought this for a recent holiday in Marche. This guide is very poor for the area. It has an interesting introduction to the area, then about 75% of the remaining book is about Umbria, with Marche being restricted to a few pages.

The opening times for the Urbs Salvia roman site was incorrect - in the winter the site is only open on Saturdays and holidays, not every day as the guide suggests.

The other problem with the guide is although it has pretty, full colour pictures, you really get no sense of what the place is like, or whether you would actually want to visit it.

There are too few maps of towns. The map of the area is not detailed enough to be of any sort of when driving or even working out routes.

Big pockets
Italophile must have enormous pockets. This is a really nice book, full of good colour photos and well-researched content, but it's not what I'd call a pocket guide.