2012 will be our first time to Italy... any books/website to visit for info

I know you'll have a wonderful trip. First, buy the Rick Steves books: Europe through the Back Door and the latest Italy book, and read them all the way through. Then, as you narrow your itinerary down, you can get others. His guidebooks give you all the practical information you could possibly needhours, prices, what's worth doing and what's not, where to stay, etc. He covers most of Italy, but not all. Then get a good map so you can mark where you're going. And don't try to do all of Italy in one tripyou'll be coming back. We found Karen Brown's guides to B&Bs and inns very good when we went to southern Italy and Sicily (after we eliminated the stupendously expensive ones!). And with a car be prepared to get lost. It happens. Sometimes you find nice places that way, but it is disorienting at the time.

Try slow trav - lots of interesting info & postings for Italy.

Definitely start with the RS Italy 2011 or 2012 book. It's especially helpful for first time travelers, though I've used it on all three of our trips. See also Roninrome.com for one of the most helpful websites out there on the practical things you need to know about traveling not just in Rome, but in all Italy. http://www.roninrome.com/ Another series of books that I've really enjoyed is the Eyewitness Travel guide books. They've got them for Italy, Rome, Venice, Florence. They're really strong on the visuals but don't get updated all that often, so you'll want to confirm things such as museum hours, bus lines, etc.

There is a great series of travel books by a man named Rick Steves. I'd suggest starting with his Italy guide book.

Also look on Graffiti Wall section of this website, gives lots of useful information, where to eat B&B suggestions, travel websites etc and also highly recommend what other posters said is to get RS books and also rent his videos from library.

All (most?) of RS's tv shows are on Hulu viewable for free. Also, YouTube has many segments from many of his shows.

The problem with starting with the Graffiti wall is that it's like trying to sip from a firehose. Better to go there (and here frankly) when you have more specific questions. Happy travels.

Great advice from all. I too love RS, and love this Helpline community, but there are other interesting sources of inspiration. Slow Travel mentioned is one. Also see http://www.revealedrome.com and http://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/. There are a million blogs and sources of entertainment and amusement about Italy. One will lead to others..... Half the fun is planning! Have a ball!

Depending on how spontaneous you are and what time of year you are traveling you might very well be able to give yourself a rough outline and possibly a few reservations in any cities you might like to visit, and then simply see what Italy has to offer you. I travel this way most of the time, and although I have been to all the 'must see' cities, they are not what calls me back to Italy. It is the little town I have found on my own that no one else has heard of, the vineyard that appears over the next hill, the little local restaurant where no one speaks English (and I speak no Italian) but somehow we manage to communicate. I try to plan as little as possible and those are my most wonderful memories. I have a car 90% of the time, so I can have lots of freedom.

I find the Eyewitness guides good for initial ideas for trip planning, as they have lots of pictures. I don't take them ON trips, as they're pretty heavy.

I really like the DK Eye Witness guides, which focus mainly on sightseeing, while most other guides include large sections for food and lodgings as well. For the major cities/areas, there are large DK guide books but they also have a series of very portable "Top 10" guides, with just the highlights. They have recently started a new series of guides especially for auto trips called "Back Roads" and there is one for Tuscany. Friends of mine used it a couple of months ago, after having been to Italy many times, and were very enthusiastic about it. Practical advice: Booking flights locks you into a framework. It's much better to figure out your itinerary first. Flying open-jaw is often the best way to go. A lot of Italy is not car-friendly, there are no-drive zones in the old, scenic areas of many small towns as well as the major cities. Italy has one of the best train systems anywhere and often the travel time by train is much shorter than the driving time - not to mention less stressful. If you want to see any of the the "biggies" you might do better booking hotels 3 months in advance and going without a car for that part of your trip. Sicily is a great place to visit by car.

Jean-Paul, depending on your frame of mind, Lonely Planet guides give a lot of information. The RS books are very well done, but they focus on what RS likes. This makes it a great travel companion, but some other information (the Ron in Rome site is great) will help you, too. Chani's post about Sicily is right on the mark, and I've visited there both with and without a car.