Negative Positive
Title: Buy the book, and just go.
Review: I only ever *enjoyed* guides by Cadogan, and now Rick Steves.Italy 2004 (buy the 2005) was indispensable for my 'parachute' 3-day visits of Florence and Venice this summer. With just a little reading you can arrive totally prepared, immediately have a ton of fun, and dig deep into the local culture while avoiding the tourist scrum.Just a thought: try not to be too slavish to the Rick Steves method of everything, take chances. And be discreet. It's a pain to see everyone pulling the RS books out in every recommended restaurant, etc. Read before you go, or be discreet, and preserve the ambiance of old Italy. It's not that hard to remember how to order food is it?Downside, I only felt a few things could NOT have been updated for '04, based on some drastic increases in price, and 2 or 3 recommendations going completely down hill, compared to the description. No big deal, Italy is a crazy but fun place.4.5 stars.
Is the review positive or negative? 