Lonely Planet Venice

Average customer rating:

A+ Seller
Not as good as Eyewitness
INVALUABLE ... Lonely Planet kicks it up several notches!
For Venice - anything but Lonely Planet. Sorry.
Venice is a "must see" and this guide is a "must have".

Lonely Planet Venice
Damien Simonis
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 174059813X

Book Description

Jostling gondolas on the moonlit canal, spellbinding art in Byzantine basilicas, captivating islands adrift on the lagoon - your first glimpse of Venice will take your breath away. Unmask the city's secrets with this discerning guide. UNRAVEL THE MAZE - full-colour maps and detailed walking tours guide you through the labyrinth of alleyways and bridges FLOAT AWAY - discover hidden Venice with our insider tips for escaping the crowds STAY IN STYLE - from modest pensione to sophisticated mansions, our hand-picked accommodation listings won't let you down DINE LIKE A DOGE - opinionated restaurant reviews track down authentic Venetian cuisine as well as the city's best gelato INTO THE VENETO - go further with excursions to Verona, Padua, Vicenza, Treviso and b

Customer Reviews:

A+ Seller.......2005-10-26

Book was brand new. Can't wait to take it on vacation with me.

Not as good as Eyewitness.......2005-02-26

Although this guide book did have useful information and was small and easy to carry, I thought our Eyewitness Venice travel guide was much better. The Lonely Planet descriptions seemed to tell me about everything that was going badly in Venice and focused very little on the beautiful and positive side of the city. I would recommend checking out the Eyewitness book instead.

INVALUABLE ... Lonely Planet kicks it up several notches!.......2004-06-08

The 3 reviews earlier refers to the older version of this guide. Lonely Planet has recently started to revamp all their guides and I have the new Rome, Florence & Venice. They are absolutely flawless. I will focus on Venice here (Rome & Florence has the same format as well). You will have an Introduction to Venice, City Life, Art & Architecture, History, Food (as Italy was united in 1870, every region has their specialties) Shopping recommendations, extended accomodation listings from 5 star to budget. Excursions to Verona (home to the great Italian dry red Amarone), Padua etc., color map section, entertainment, directory of transportation and practicalities, walking tours in each sestieri etc. Everything is grouped in their respective sestieri (old municipal divisions) for ease.

As Venice is broken down into 6 sestieri (or old municipal divisions), you will have 6 recommended walking tours in each sestieri accompanied with maps. Walking tours range from 2.5km to 9 km (1 mile = 1.609km) ... absolutely awesome ... Special and/or useful interesting reads in color boxes ... Top 5 recommendations for small charming hotels, hotel gardens, luxury hotels, museums, galleries, books, cds, films, activities for children, meat restaurants, gelato shops, pastry shops, foreign eats (if you ever get tired of eating Italian), cafes, drinking establishments, shopping areas, craft shops & shops for Kids. Top 10 notable buildings. Top 5 quirky events. Commentaries on important sites, churches, artwork etc. Floorplan of Basilica di San Marco. Information on tickets, opening/closing times.

The directory is very useful with URLs, email and tel. nos. and recommended transportation tickets. Notes on special museum and church tickets. Recommended walking/vaporetto tours to take.

Highly recommended ... made planning sooo easy!

For Venice - anything but Lonely Planet. Sorry........2002-11-03

Some devoted followers of Lonely Planet will immediately click "NOT HELPFUL" to avenge this comment, I am sorry if this reviews disappoints you, but one has to be honest, right?

Yes, I admit I am not the greatest fan of Lonely Planet - although I recognize there are destinations where no-one does the trick better than this cheap-and-nasty house of publishing. In Africa, for example, Lonely Planet was the best guide available. But Venice, this magical and charming little patch of magic in the Adriatic? This guide is a joke, but I am not laughing.

The book is more concerned with righting the world than with doing its job. Do you want to read more of the same moans about evils of international tourism and how irresponsible travellers are ruining the world? If the answer is yes, go buy this book. It will certainly accomplish the mission of ruining all the enjoyment of travel to one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

However, if you need a travel guide, not a campaign newsletter, you will be better off with another book. A book which might tell you that all the tourist crowds in Venice occupy perhaps five percent of the city's territory, while the rest is the real Venice with people getting on with their lives, buying groceries in small shops and hanging their washing outside, Italian-style. Another book may show you how charming, how crazily enchanting and breathtakingly delicate this city is.

Maybe with another book you will realize that all the alarmist moans about Venice which will die in five/ten/fifteen years unless tourism is banned are just another shameless exagerrations, concocted by scaremongers and killjoys.

Writing is excessively dry and is difficult to follow or enjoy. I find it hard to believe that a reviewer was pleased with maps - they are just sad and amateurish, worse than anything that I have seen in my life, aside from Lonely Planet Iceland and Greenland, which is and probably will be the world champion of poor mapping.

This guide is not a match for Eyewitness or Fodor's, it does not even come close to being a good guidebook. Do yourself a favor - buy something else.

Venice is a "must see" and this guide is a "must have"........2001-04-11

Venice is slowly sinking (literally) and some say that it is because of the additional weight of tourist visiting the island (at peak tourist tides - high summer - 100,000+ tourists a day). Venice is comprised of one hundred islands, stapled together by 400 bridges, water taxis and gondola hawkers, making this one of the most captivating cities of the world, and one that especially needs and deserves its own guide.

Damions Simonis has produced the definitive guide on Venice. In his "Lonely Planet Venice" you have brilliant maps, a solid introduction section that covers Venice's history, government, economy, ecology, climate etc. An informative practical travel section and most important, a reliable and up to date listing of recommendations for lodging, restaurants, entertainment, places to see and things to do. These, along with the beginning of Internet references (though he fails to include hotel web sites and email addresses), make this a great guide on Venice.

Book Description

Graceful palaces and Gothic churches, High Renaissance art and high tides - the unique romance of Venice never fails to captivate the senses. Immerse yourself in its maze of alleyways and labyrinthine canals with Best of Venice, the book that puts the whole city in your pocket.

• DISCOVER VENICE - hand-picked highlights and the best museum and gallery listings help make the most of your time in the lagoon city

• DINE OUT - discerning reviews guide you to tasty local trattorias and refined canal-side restaurants

• FIND THE HAUNTS - enjoy a perfect Bellini before an evening out with the help of our first-rate entertainment recommendations

• STEER A COURSE - accessible fold-out maps and detailed walking tours make navigating Venice trouble free

Book Description

Lonely Planet's city maps present the travelers' city in one easy view

• Complete street and sight index makes navigating the city a breeze for walkers and drivers alike

• All new, improved mapping styles and fully updated

• Sturdy, laminated, easy-fold format

• Quick-find highlights and reviews of the top city sights

• Includes up-to-date transit maps and essential practical information

Book Description

Book Description

<ul>

Around Venice</li>

Central Venice</li>

Greater Venice</li>

Murano</li>

Lido di Venezia</li>

ACTV Vaporetti & Waterbus map</li>

Where to Eat, Sleep, Shop & Play in La Serenissima</li>

Write On, Rub Off Surface for Personal Itineraries</li>

Venice's Top 10 Things to See & Do</li>

Essential Information for Visitors</li>

Unique Lonely Planet Walking Tour</li>

Complete Index of all Streets & Sights</li></ul>

Customer Reviews:

Not Best Of Breed At All.......2005-01-06

I'm just back from three weeks in Venice. Because I'm obsessive, I ended up taking along four maps: Street Smart, Lonely Planet, National Geographic, and the Rough Guide map. I thought I'd share my experiences.

The Rough Guide map ended up being my favorite. It's different than the other maps: larger, easier to read, printed on waterproof "plastic paper". It's by far the best if you're in a twisty off-the-beaten-path place, if you're looking for a particular address, or if you're trying to read it at night. If you only want to take one map, I recommend the Rough Guide map.

The issue with the Rough Guide map is, it's larger than the others. Sometimes a smaller map is easier to carry around, and sometimes it's easier to see the "big picture" with a smaller map. I found myself carrying two maps all the time.

In the small map category, I found that the National Geographic "Destination Map" for Venice is much more useful than the Lonely Planet map. It is more accurate. It covers the whole city. It is easier to read. It has a better vaporetto map. If you want a smaller "hard-plastic" map, I suggest that you buy the National Geographic map instead of Lonely Planet.

Handy but Superficial.......2004-08-04

This map is attractive and compact, and is plasticized so it should endure a lot of rough treatment on a trip. It includes a diagram of the vaporetto (water bus) routes that would be more helpful if it were larger. The map covers the main tourist areas in reasonable detail, but it is of no use for one wishing to explore the less beaten paths. In short, it's pretty, but incomplete.

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