I have the Rick Steves 2007 Florence and Tuscany Guidebook and I have the Italy 2008 Italy guide book.Is there so many updates to these books in the 2009 that I need to purchase another one. We have used the older versions like the bible when traveling in 2007.
Appreciate your comments
Pat
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1317 posts
The biggest changes year to year tend to be the prices, restaurants, hotels, and occasionally the site hours. What I did last year with my Rome 2007 book was get the 2008 version from the library and skim the sections most likely to have changed, and wrote notes in the margins. If you plan to use the book on the ground to book hotels, you might want the latest version, but otherwise the basic info tends to be the same.
However, if your book was more than 3 years old, I'd say get a new one.
Posted by
Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
207 posts
We used Rick Steves 2007 Florence and Tuscany Guidebook for our trip in December and had no problem. I did go to trip advisor and this helpline before booking my hotel to make sure it was still getting good reviews.
Posted by
Portlandia
3313 posts
I think it's a false economy to travel with an old guidebook. Too much changes from year to year and it only takes one unexpected closing to make you ask yourself whether the $15 you saved was worth it.
That's actually one of the biggest problems I have with Lonely Planet. They only update every few years and get stale quickly.