Rating: 
Summary: accurate and fun
Review: Because of torrential rains I only had the chance to do one of the walks in this book on my visit to Italy this past October--from Ripa d'Orcia to Bagno Vignoni--but it was one of the highlights of my trip. I found the directions to be painstakingly accurate, which was surprising to me considering that this book was published 3-1/2 years ago. Walking from place to place and then eating delicious local cuisine is a wonderful way to explore Italy and I'd love to return and do other walks from this book.
Rating: 
Summary: DON'T USE THIS GUIDE!
Review: Don't rely on this guide unless it's the only one you can find. These folks didn't do their homework. The maps and directions are inadequate at best and just plain wrong at worst. This was the only guide I had for my walking adventures in Tuscany this spring. On one occasion, a landowner who was identified as being friendly to walkers was openly hostile when she saw me carrying a copy of this guide, cursed the authors, would not allow me to follow the trail across her villa, and forced me to turn back and abandon that day's itinerary.On another occasion, a restaurant was identified as serving a dish I was particularly anxious to sample, and had hiked some distance to a remote location in order to enjoy. When I inquired about it, the proprietor was puzzled, said that they had never had that item on their menu, and that furthermore it was a dish that was typical of an entirely different region. Hmmmm! There ARE other guides for walking in Tuscany. By all means, buy one of them. Walking in Tuscany is an other-worldly experience, and when combined with the incomparable cuisine, it's the best that life on earth can offer. But don't rely on this particular guide.
Rating: 
Summary: another comment on the estimated walking times
Review: Having read one of the reviews of this book, I'd like to offer an opposition opinion. I also took the walk from Montepulciano to Pienza, and found the times quoted in the book to be quite accurate. It was also incredibly beautiful (in early June there were huge fields of bright red poppies). I had no problem getting from Montepulciano to Pienza in time for lunch (with a stop for a mid-morning capuccino in Montechiello), lounged around for a couple of hours in Pienza and returned to Montepulciano by bus. In Pienza, I was told that the bus company was on strike and I admit to a moment of despair at the thought of starting to walk back at 4 PM -- but it turned out to be a different bus company that was on strike! I will be returning to Tuscany for more walking in May and may have more comments when I get back.
Rating:
Summary: Found the book useful and helpful, even with an 8-year old
Review: I am writing to say that we found the above book very useful and helpful. We were on holiday in Tuscany at the end of last month and used the book to make two successful walks, which we all enjoyed. The instructions were easy to follow, and our 8 year old son enjoyed the attraction of lunch half-way.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Guide!
Review: I bought this book and used it to plan out part of my honeymoon. It was the sort of thing I was looking for, and I've recommended it to several friends. We did some great walks from this book, and ate at some fantastic restaurants recommended in it. The walks we did were beautiful, and we really enjoyed picnicking along the way. We stayed at one of the agriturismos recommended in the book, in San Donato (near San Gimignano), and it was everything the authors described and more. The proprietor does not speak English, but between our stumbling Italian and the help of English-speaking Italian guests, we were able to work things out. Not only did he do our laundry for us, but he gave us a bottle of wine produced on his farm as a parting gift. A wonderful experience, which we would never have had without this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Guide!
Review: I bought this book and used it to plan out part of my honeymoon. It was the sort of thing I was looking for, and I've recommended it to several friends. We did some great walks from this book, and ate at some fantastic restaurants recommended in it. The walks we did were beautiful, and we really enjoyed picnicking along the way. We stayed at one of the agriturismos recommended in the book, in San Donato (near San Gimignano), and it was everything the authors described and more. The proprietor does not speak English, but between our stumbling Italian and the help of English-speaking Italian guests, we were able to work things out. Not only did he do our laundry for us, but he gave us a bottle of wine produced on his farm as a parting gift. A wonderful experience, which we would never have had without this book.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely useful and very well researched
Review: I bought this book before a recent trip to Italy. We stayed in a town described in the book and did one of the walks. Wonderful scenery and we thoroughly enjoyed the walk, and the excellent lunch at the restaurant recommended. We thought the book extremely useful and very well researched, and hope to use it to plan more walks next year. - Duncan Naylor and John Cowell
Rating: 
Summary: Great title, lousy content
Review: I bought this book expecting it to be our guide for wonderful culinary and walking adventures in Tuscany. The descriptions are incomplete,(e.g. there is directions on how to go in one direction but not how to return). The only good thing about this book was the adventures that evolved while we were lost looking for the trails described. Italy appears to have a well mapped national trail system, however due to our lack of Italian and the inability to decipher when the National Park offices were open, we were unable to acquire the maps and corresponding documentation. I would suggest that this information be included rather than the chaotic and hit or miss selections included in the book. The book was pretty worthless. I abandoned it in my villa, not worth carrying home.
Rating:
Summary: Still good after all these years!
Review: I did the Fiesole walk when I visited Florence in May of 2003, and even though it has been a few years since the book was written, it was still very accurate and easy to follow. Of course, this was not one of the more ambitious walks, and we didn't use any of the B&B or restaurant recommendations, but for the walk itself it was a great guide. The only problem I had with the book was that my particular copy (bought used on amazon.com) was missing a few key pages!! The seller reimbursed my purchase price, so I can't really complain, but I think the binding glue was weak, so I would recommend checking your copy to make sure all the pages are there before you set off on a walking tour of Italy.
Rating:
Summary: Still good after all these years!
Review: I did the Fiesole walk when I visited Florence in May of 2003, and even though it has been a few years since the book was written, it was still very accurate and easy to follow. Of course, this was not one of the more ambitious walks, and we didn't use any of the B&B or restaurant recommendations, but for the walk itself it was a great guide. The only problem I had with the book was that my particular copy (bought used on amazon.com) was missing a few key pages!! The seller reimbursed my purchase price, so I can't really complain, but I think the binding glue was weak, so I would recommend checking your copy to make sure all the pages are there before you set off on a walking tour of Italy.
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