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Rating: 
Summary: A mixed bag... wait for the new edition?
Review: Just got back from a trip to Venice, and between us and our travelling companions we must have had 6 different books. This Rough Guide ended up being the book I carried with me when touring historical sites, as it had the most detailed descriptions and the best background information. The section at the end on Venice's history was fascinating. But the book is definitely getting dated -- many prices are still listed in Lire, and many of the hours of the various sights around town were incorrect. We also found the restaurant reviews a bit off from reality. Rick Steves' book was a much better reference for these things, particularly on restaurants which were all wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: A mixed bag... wait for the new edition?
Review: Just got back from a trip to Venice, and between us and our travelling companions we must have had 6 different books. This Rough Guide ended up being the book I carried with me when touring historical sites, as it had the most detailed descriptions and the best background information. The section at the end on Venice's history was fascinating. But the book is definitely getting dated -- many prices are still listed in Lire, and many of the hours of the various sights around town were incorrect. We also found the restaurant reviews a bit off from reality. Rick Steves' book was a much better reference for these things, particularly on restaurants which were all wonderful.
Rating: 
Summary: La Serenissima
Review: Over the past few weeks I think I have read all the guide books on Venice there are on the market (a very crowded market), and this one leads the pack.It is not for the person looking for pretty pictures, that is true. But it is the most comprehensive, most insightful, and ultimately most helpful. The Time Out Guide is also very good, especially its listings section, some interesting background, terrific colour maps (complete with street index), and nice pics and Lonely Planet looks more than adequate, but it is Rough Guide I am most impressed with. That is because of the depth of information on many places. There are really clear black & white maps of the layouts of things like the Basilica and Doge's Palace, and sestiere maps. I decided this is the guide I want to read at night or in a quiet corner when actually visiting places.
Rating: 
Summary: Really 4.5
Review: Rough Guide definitely gets 5 stars for thoroughness. From cover to cover there is more information about Venice than I would have thought possible, or maybe even desirable! Especially when it comes to information on neighborhoods, museums, scuole and the like, this is the best book of it's kind. I kept it in hand walking through the Accademia; I think they actually gave background information on every single painting in the place. The sections on the Doge's Palace and the Basilica are just staggering. Every tiny little campo, every plaque, every statue is covered with a thoroughness bordering on [tedium]. Unfortunately, this is also the Rough Guide's biggest drawback. The guide covers everything from the sublime to the mundane, and sorting through it all (and with no pictures!!?!?!) sometimes takes some effort. With a prose style more reminiscent of Henry James than Rolling Stone, I thought it seemed tedious at times. Having said all that, the restaurant recommendations were dead-on, and they were forward-looking enough to attempt lira to Euro price estimations. Recommended, but you may want to pick up something more entertaining for the flight over.
Rating:
Summary: Really 4.5
Review: Rough Guide definitely gets 5 stars for thoroughness. From cover to cover there is more information about Venice than I would have thought possible, or maybe even desirable! Especially when it comes to information on neighborhoods, museums, scuole and the like, this is the best book of it's kind. I kept it in hand walking through the Accademia; I think they actually gave background information on every single painting in the place. The sections on the Doge's Palace and the Basilica are just staggering. Every tiny little campo, every plaque, every statue is covered with a thoroughness bordering on [tedium]. Unfortunately, this is also the Rough Guide's biggest drawback. The guide covers everything from the sublime to the mundane, and sorting through it all (and with no pictures!!?!?!) sometimes takes some effort. With a prose style more reminiscent of Henry James than Rolling Stone, I thought it seemed tedious at times. Having said all that, the restaurant recommendations were dead-on, and they were forward-looking enough to attempt lira to Euro price estimations. Recommended, but you may want to pick up something more entertaining for the flight over.
Rating:
Summary: Superb! ...Move over, Lonely Planet!
Review: Wow! Just got back from Venice, where we used this guide to find our pensione, restaurants (NO tourist ones), gelato, churches, the best tartuffi (truffles) in the world, and of course museums, attractions, and scuolas. We never found anything to disagree with on their reviews, although they called our pensione "cheerless" despite the sunny south exposures that were a delight. Best of all, the maps are cross-referenced to the text, so when reader looks up a restaurant review, the map location is noted and easily found (other guide books are infuriatingly lax in this simple and useful method). Absolutely perfect!
Rating:
Summary: Superb! ...Move over, Lonely Planet!
Review: Wow! Just got back from Venice, where we used this guide to find our pensione, restaurants (NO tourist ones), gelato, churches, the best tartuffi (truffles) in the world, and of course museums, attractions, and scuolas. We never found anything to disagree with on their reviews, although they called our pensione "cheerless" despite the sunny south exposures that were a delight. Best of all, the maps are cross-referenced to the text, so when reader looks up a restaurant review, the map location is noted and easily found (other guide books are infuriatingly lax in this simple and useful method). Absolutely perfect!
Rating:
Summary: Perfect? No, it is not. And it can bore you to death.
Review: Yes, Rough Guide is comprehensive, it lists minor details and it is very strong on practicalities. However, leaf through hundreds and hundreds of its pages and you may be excused for thinking you are reading a telephone directory. The book laboriously lists everything that there is to be listed, but it does that in a dull tone that lacks focus, inspiration and personal touch. I have seen tax planning guides that were more thrilling to read. The information is all there, but you don't want to go through it. There is nothing to focus attention and nothing to thrill you - just a steady stream of facts and information. Sometimes, it seems they were trying put in as much as possible and to go for the highest possible number of pages. Thick book equals good book at Rough Guide publishing, but this approach does not serve all destinations equally well: what is OK for Africa is not necessarily true for most sophisticated and refined cities in Europe. Maybe if I was about to settle in Venice for a few months, I would get a Rough Guide to keep myself on top of all practical info, but for a briefer trip you need more inspiration and more color. Travel writing is not the same thing as directory compilation, and this sheer sparkle of writing talent is something that is so distinctly missing. Buying a Rough Guide or a Lonely Planet guide is very much an ideological decision: many readers do it because they feel that they subscribe to the same ideas about the world that form editorial policy of these two publishing houses. However, if one is able to quite simply look for best guidebook which would make a trip enjoyable, Rough Guide Venice would hardly be one of them.
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