Rick Steves Italy

by Rick Steves

Overview

From the Mediterranean to the Alps, from fine art to fresh pasta, experience it all with Rick Steves! Inside Rick Steves Italy you'll find:

• Fully updated, comprehensive coverage for planning a multi-week trip to Italy
• Rick's strategic advice on how to get the most out of your time and money, with rankings of his must-see favorites
• Top sights and hidden gems, from the Colosseum and Michelangelo's David to corner trattorias and that perfect scoop of gelato
• How to connect with local culture: Walk in Caesar's footsteps through the ruins of the Forum, discover the relaxed rhythms of sunny Cinque Terre, or chat with fans about the latest soccer match (calcio, to locals)
• Beat the crowds, skip the lines, and avoid tourist traps with Rick's candid, humorous insight
• The best places to eat, sleep, and experience la dolce vita
• Self-guided walking tours of lively neighborhoods and museums
• Vital trip-planning tools, like how to link destinations, build your itinerary, and get from place to place
• Detailed maps, including a fold-out map for exploring on the go
• Over 1,000 bible-thin pages include everything worth seeing without weighing you down
• Coverage of Venice, the Dolomites, Lake Country, Milan, the Cinque Terre, the Italian Riviera, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Siena, Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, and much more

Make the most of every day and every dollar with Rick Steves Italy.

Planning a one- to two-week trip? Check out Rick Steves Best of Italy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781641716451
Publisher:	Avalon Publishing
Publication date:	06/03/2025
Series:	Rick Steves Travel Guide Series
Edition description:	28th ed.
Pages:	1232
Product dimensions:	4.50(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Since 1973, Rick Steves has spent about 100 days a year exploring Europe. His mission: to empower Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening. A New York Times-bestselling author, Rick produces a guidebook series, a public television series, and a public radio show, and he organizes small-group tours that take over 30,000 travelers to Europe annually. He does all of this with the help of more than 100 well-traveled staff members at Rick Steves’ Europe in Edmonds, WA (near Seattle). When not on the road, Rick is active in his church and with advocacy groups focused on economic and social justice, drug policy reform, and ending hunger. What’s the ideal vacation for a professional traveler? For Rick, it’s to play his piano, relax at his family cabin in the Cascade Mountains, and spend time with family and friends at home in Edmonds. Find out more about Rick at RickSteves.com and on Facebook.

Connect with Rick:
facebook.com/RickSteves
X: @RickSteves
Instagram: ricksteveseurope

Table of Contents

Italy 5

Italy's Top Destinations 11

Planning Your Trip 19

Travel Smart 27

Venice 29

Near Venice 124

Padua 125

Vicenza 155

Verona 158

The Dolomites 183

Bolzano 185

Castelrotto 201

Alpe di Siusi 214

The Lakes 230

Lake Como 230

Lake Maggiore 263

Milan 271

The Cinque Terre 335

Monterosso al Mare 356

Vernazza 373

Corniglia 393

Manaroia 398

Riomaggiore 406

Riviera Towns 417

Levanto 419

Sestri Levante 429

Santa Margherita Ligure 433

Portofino 444

Porto Venere 451

La Spezia 454

Florence 459

Pisa & Lucca 547

Siena 593

Volterra & San Gimignano 635

The Heart of Tuscany 670

Montepulciano 676

Pienza 692

Montalcino 700

Heart of Tuscany, Drive 710

Assisi 718

Orvieto & Civita 759

Rome 803

Naples 949

Pompeii & Nearby 1013

Sorrento & Capri 1040

Amalfi Coast & Paestum 1078

Positano 1089

Amalfi Town 1099

Ravello 1107

Paestum 1111

Italian History 1125

Practicalities 1141

Appendix 1205

Index 1221

Map Index 1248

Editorial Reviews

"The country's foremost expert in European travel for Americans."—Forbes

"Steves is an absolute master at unlocking the hidden gems of the world's greatest cities, towns, and monuments."—USA Today

“Every country-specific travel guidebook from the Rick Steves publishing empire can be counted upon for clear organization, specificity and timeliness."—Society of American Travel Writers

"Pick the best accommodations and restaurants from Rick Steves…and a traveler searching for good values will seldom go wrong or be blindsided."—NBC News

"…his books deserve to be in the pop-history canon. Steves possesses a surprisingly strong authorial voice, one that permeates through the expected contrivances of a typical guidebook."

—Slate

"His guidebooks are approachable, silly, and even subtly provocative in their insistence that Americans show respect for the people and places they are visiting and not the other way around."—The New Yorker

"Travel, to Steves, is not some frivolous luxury—it is an engine for improving humankind, for connecting people and removing their prejudices, for knocking distant cultures together to make unlikely sparks of joy and insight. Given that millions of people have encountered the work of Steves over the last 40 years, on TV or online or in his guidebooks, and that they have carried those lessons to untold other millions of people, it is fair to say that his life’s work has had a real effect on the collective life of our planet."—The New York Times Magazine

"[Rick Steves] laces his guides with short and vivid histories and a scholar's appreciation for Renaissance art yet knows the best place to start an early tapas crawl in Madrid if you have kids. His clear, hand-drawn maps are Pentagon-worthy; his hints about how to go directly to the best stuff at the Uffizi, avoid the crowds at Versailles and save money everywhere are guilt-free."—TIME Magazine

"Steves is a walking, talking European encyclopedia who yearns to inspire Americans to venture 'beyond Orlando.'"—Forbes

“…he’s become the unofficial guide for entire generations of North American travelers, beloved for his earnest attitude and dad jeans."—Outside Magazine

"His books offer the equivalent of a bus tour without the bus, with boiled-down itineraries and step-by-step instructions on where to go and how to get there, but adding a dash of humor and an element of choice that his travelers find empowering."—The New York Times

"His penchant for creating meaningful experiences for travelers to Europe is as passionate as his inclination for making ethical choices his guiding light."—Forbes

"[Rick Steves'] neighborhood walks are always fun and informative. His museum guides, complete with commentary about historic sculpture and storied artworks are wonderful and add another dimension to sometimes stodgy, hard-to-comprehend museums."—NBC News

From the Publisher