Guidebooks Essential To Having Pleasant Trip

Whether you do it months in advance, on the plane or as you step out of your hotel, consulting a quality guidebook can make your foreign travel a much easier and more pleasant experience.

This seems like common sense. But you’d be surprised how many tourists ignore it.

To rate a few of the more popular Florence/Italy guides, I consulted two experienced travelers - John Maurice and Mary Pat Treuthart (who happens to be my wife).

Both have spent extended periods in Italy, especially Florence.

Florences guidebooks:

**** “Citypack: Florence” (Fodor’s, 96 pages, $11)

Unavailable before 1997, this handy little softcover booklet is the single best guide on the market, according to our judges.

“This is not a detailed guide,” says Treuthart, “but if you’re making a short trip, it’s very handy. And I agree with all the choices.”

Maurice proclaims it “superficial but satisfying.”

It boasts maps (“a necessity,” both our judges say), historical notes, museum hours (this being Italy, all of which are probably wrong) and a list of the city’s “top 25 sights.”

*** 1/2 “Knopf Guides: Florence” (Knopf, 392 pages, $25)

A little larger that the “Citypack,” and quite a bit more expensive, this softcover guidebook is worth the expense. It’s a virtual education all by itself.

The production quality is excellent (ever notice how some guidebooks tend to break at the spine?), the maps, historical notes, illustrations and various listings make this guide an essential carry for any level of Italian visitor.

Maurice particularly likes reading it on the trip over. “A long flight to Italy is made shorter if you read one of these,” he says.

*** 1/2 “Eyewitness Travel Guides: Florence & Tuscany” (Dorling Kindersley, 312 pages, $22.95)

Slightly more cumbersome to carry than the Knopf guide, but slightly less pricey, this softcover guide is every bit as useful. And it has the added benefit of covering the rest of Tuscany.

General Italy guidebooks:

*** “Cheap Sleeps in Italy” (Chronicle Books, 284 pages, $10.95)

Here’s a good guide for travelers who want a variety of lodging choices, and who want to make their reservations in advance.

“If you need a private bath,” says Maurice, “this is a good place to start.”

The term “cheap” in this guidebook’s title is a misnomer, as it handles both unstarred and three-star accommodations (which could cost you as much as $200 a night).

*** “Frommer’s Frugal Traveler’s Guides: Italy From $50 a Day” (Macmillan, 550 pages, $18.95)

Treuthart chose this as her favorite all-around guidebook. Among its many qualities, the book ranks accommodations. “And,” Treuthart says, “I have found their advice to be sound.”

** “Rick Steves’ Italy” (John Muir, 218 pages, $13.95)

Neither Maurice nor Treuthart is a Rick Steves fan. But you can’t go anywhere, from Paris to the Baltic countries and Russia, without seeing scores of tourists - “Stevies,” Maurice calls them - carrying the little blue-covered books.

For a traveler who prefers to avoid staying in Florence because traffic is so dense, Steves is fine.

“But to tell people not to stay in Florence - to stay in Siena instead and make Florence a day trip,” says Treuthart, “well, he’s got to be kidding.”

“You can’t do Florence in a day trip,” echoes Maurice.