Upon his return, Niccolò recounted his travels in the Libro d'oltramare (Book of Outremer). Rich in detail, it describes the sights, the distances on the roads, the tolls paid, and the indulgences associated with various shrines. His descriptions of buildings and cities are unusually detailed, and the picture he paints of Jerusalem was based on four months residence there. His entire pilgrimage was extraordinarily long by the standards of the time. This is probably attributable to his desire to see sites that lacked the facilities for receiving pilgrims, for visiting far-off sites in Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, and his financial difficulties (his first stay in Cyprus necessitated by the need to raise cash). Organised trips departed regularly from Venice, bringing pilgrims to Jerusalem and its suburbs (like Mount Tabor), but Niccolò eschewed typical tourism.