Will be going to Italy for my 2nd time in a few months and want to get new guidebooks as we cut our last ones up to carry as RS suggests the last time we went in 2015. Visiting Venice, Florence, & Rome. I was just on Amazon looking at his books. Does anyone recommend one over the other as far as Venice VS Venice Pocket GuideBook, Florence VS Florence Pocket GuideBook & Rome VS Rome Pocket GuideBook? I have been before (actually on a RS tour), but the friend I am going with has never been and I want to 'gift' her with a set of his books.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
12022 posts
Is This the Right Book for Me?
What's the difference between this Pocket guide and Rick's Florence & Tuscany guidebook?
Rick Steves Pocket Florence works best for people taking a short trip, or perhaps a return trip, to Florence. Like our other Pocket guides, Pocket Florence is smaller than the complete guidebook (and in full color), but still offers our best sightseeing advice, a handful of self-guided city walks and museum tours, and a foldout map.
For travelers who want to delve deep into Florence, or travel elsewhere in Tuscany, the full-size Rick Steves Florence & Tuscany guidebook is a better option. It offers complete chapters for plenty more Tuscan destinations, as well as more substantial (and more frequently updated) advice on Florence itself: practicalities, sightseeing, self-guided tours, hotels, restaurants, nightlife, shopping, kids' activities, and the city's history and culture.
The above from the RS site may help you decide.--- https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/pocket-florence
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32392 posts
china,
You might also consider gifting the full size RS Italy guidebook. That has lots of good information on locations all over Italy, including the places you mentioned. If your friend decides to make a return visit in future, that will be a valuable resource for planning future trips.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
I have to agree with Ken. Go with the Italy book, if you hand her 3 books, you might just overwhelm her.
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6713 posts
What I like about the "Pocket" books is how they fit in a pocket, and how lightweight they are. Not as comprehensive as the larger city books but a lot easier to haul around.
Here's a thought -- if you still have the various pieces of the 2015 book you cut up, bring the relevant ones with you as well as giving your friend the three "Pocket" guides. Yours may be outdated in places but still have more detail than the pocket ones, and the pocket ones should be more current. So as you plan your trip, compare the two and go with the more recent info if it's different. Best of both worlds.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32392 posts
The Pocket books are certainly convenient to carry, but they don't contain as much information as the full size guidebooks. I don't find it a problem to pack along a full size guidebook, as long as I'm only taking one. I don't carry the book with me while I'm out touring, but use if for reference to plan my touring before leaving the hotel.
If size and weight are an issue, many (all?) of the full size guidebooks are available as E-books. If travelling with an iPad or Kindle, that's an easy way to pack along multiple guidebooks.
Posted by
Idaho, USA
7943 posts
If your friend has never been to these cities, I would just give her the overall RS Italy Book. That will contain more for each of those cities than she will need for her first trip. Have a great time!
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
I agree not the Pocket guides. The Italy book is definitely less expensive than buying 1 individual guidebook each for Venice, Florence and Rome but, i’d get those. Each one will have way more info on each place than the Italy guidebook.