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Rating: 
Summary: The best guide I have ever bought!
Review: After tooking a 2-month off sabbatical at my job, I decided to spend some time driving all around Italy, and I can't thank this guide enough. It has all the information someone needs for traveling in Tuscany and Umbria, the two most fascinating regions in Italy (ok, the Amalfi Coast is great too). All cities are described in detail, from the historical background to what to see and what to do. This guide allowed me to do exactly what I wanted: to hit the road, stop by somewhere (Trasimeno Lake, the Orvieto hill, San Gimignano Film Festival) and just decide what the next stop would be. The author has a hilarious and superb style to describe anything, from the Cathedral in Orvieto to the paintings in Assisi and the pottery in Gubbio. Gold medal to the chapter about San Gimignano... After this, I have bought Rough Guides for all my trips.
Rating:
Summary: A different kind of guide
Review: I liked this guide immensely, compared to the standard guides we'd used in many trips to Italy since 1974. The editors are plainspeaking, knowledgeable, interesting, but more than that they lead you to unexpected treasures and little known places. Their coverage of food and board was very good but limited at times -- but no more so than any other, and the extent of their cultural and historical interest made up for that defect. And I liked the occasional irreverence.
Rating: 
Summary: Great detail, but lack of organization
Review: I must agree with the previous review. The information about the different sights is excellent--very detailed, yet not boring. Many of the descriptions made me chuckle. However, much of the organizational information was lacking. For example, there were numerous delicious-sounding restaurants and gelateria listed for Florence, but they were not marked on the map!
Rating:
Summary: Great detail, but lack of organization
Review: I must agree with the previous review. The information about the different sights is excellent--very detailed, yet not boring. Many of the descriptions made me chuckle. However, much of the organizational information was lacking. For example, there were numerous delicious-sounding restaurants and gelateria listed for Florence, but they were not marked on the map!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Tour Book
Review: My wife and I used this book extensively on a 10-day tour of Tuscany and Umbria. Excellent mix of history and restaurant and lodging recommendations. A few drawbacks to the book. The first is that many of the restaurants were not marked on the maps and the directions given were incomplete. Another drawback that I found is that the hotel recommendations were inconsistent from city to city - Pisa had only budget hotels listed while Assisi had hotels across the range. But these are minor criticisms, overall an excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: A Fabulous Guide
Review: Of all the guidebooks I've ever used, this one is the best. Extenstive information not only for the main tourist attractions in the area, but also good information for the smaller out of the way towns. This books is utterly thorough and accurate. The information on art and its historical background is significant and comprehensive. It's well organized and easy to use. And it pointed us to great restaurants. This guidebook literally contains two or three times as much information as the other ones. I couldn't be more enthusiastic. By the way, if you're going to rural Tuscany and Umbria, you'll have a fabulous trip and this book will make it even better.
Rating: 
Summary: Informative but unorganized
Review: This book was informative and contained background on the history and highlights of the areas of interest. However, its organization was scattered - it was difficult to find locations on the maps (references to some streets and locations were not labeled on the book's maps). This is a more useful read when planning a trip to or reading up on Tuscany. We just got back from a 10-day trip through Tuscany, and found it difficult to use on a daily and trip-basis.
Rating:
Summary: Rough Guide to Tuscany and Umbria
Review: We used the Rough Guide as our way to avoid the throngs that were carrying the other guidebooks, and the highlights of our trip resulted from following its suggestions. I was impressed by the detailed research on small out of the way places. If you want to intensify your travel experience in an area and explore the local treasures, carry the Rough Guide!
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