I have Rick's latest Venice guidebook and am preparing for an upcoming trip. I have terrible eyesight and would like to print out his walking tour maps on regular paper so that it's bigger and easier to read. I can't find the maps on-line...does anyone know if they're hidden somewhere on his site? I'm guessing not because it would circumvent people from purchasing the book. I know I could always enlarge it on a copier but some of the maps cover 2 pages and it would be much easier just to print it from his site. Thanks for any assistance you can provide!
Posted by
Green Bay
20100 posts
You might get a large scale Venice map and and copy the route from the guide book onto the large scale map.
You can find these at Barnes & Noble, or on-line.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15584 posts
Rick has recorded several audio tours. You can download them for free to a smartphone or mp3 and print out the pdf maps as large as you like. He has audio tours for other cities in Europe, in Italy and other countries. I've enjoyed them. For tours that are only in the book, probably copying is your only option.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11322 posts
Hi Sheron. I always draw those routes with a brightly colored Sharpie on a big map. I use a different color for each walk and usually draw walks from a couple of different guides so I can see overlap. Good luck!
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32767 posts
All of the audio tours are listed at https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy and then click "Listen". If you then scroll down you will see the audio tours and which ones have downloadable maps.
Posted by
Plano, TX
133 posts
You can enlarge the maps on a photocopier. Office supply stores are not likely to do this for you because of copyright laws, however, most libraries have a machine that you feed coins and make your copies.
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7034 posts
I do what a couple of other posters do. Get a good large scale map of the city and highlight the walk in colored marker. I've done this for his Paris walking tour and Munich and Berlin in Germany.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
A walking map of Venice sounds a little absurd. Venice is full of unique and wonderful surprises around every corner (even corners that aren't included on your specific walking instructions). If you want to see a particular sight then by all means walk in that general direction...but you don't have to walk in the exact footsteps.
Get lost in Venice - that's the best part. And don't forget - it's an island and you can only go "so far".
BTW - anybody ever hear of a smartphone? I hear the navigation systems are phenomenal these days ;-)
Posted by
OP
Alta Loma, CA, USA
1446 posts
Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Great ideas!
Tim, this is my 3rd trip to Venice and I have always "winged it" in the past and wandered around in the back canals without a map or purpose but consequently I've missed seeing several sites that I would like to see. Therefore, this trip I would like to utilize Rick's walking tours to see a few things before abandoning the map and getting lost.
As for smart phone navigation apps, I tried several when we were last in Venice in 2013 and they did not satisfactorily work. I think the buildings blocked the satellite signal. I will try it again this year but I'd rather hold a paper map than my cell phone since I'll be using my DSLR and I don't want to risk dropping my expensive IPhone!
Posted by
98 posts
My smartphone didn't work very well in Venice either. I eventually learned to walk toward a church tower. Once there I could identify the square and then find my location on a map. :-)