I have Rick's Italy 2016 edition. Compania is as far south as the book goes. I will be driving and staying in Basilicata, Puglia, Abruzzo and Le Marche, but Rick has little or no coverage of these provinces. I just looked at the 2020 edition has it the same contents coverage and is not going to help. Is there a good source of information like Rick's books on north and central Italy for the southern provinces?
Posted by
11205 posts
Lonely Planet and Thomas Cook have guidebooks covering this wonderful area of Italy.
Rick Steve’s’ books are not intended to be comprehensive guides.
Posted by
4455 posts
Blue Guides are always good.
I used Lonely Planet and the internet for Puglia/Basilicata.
In Marche, these books were helpful:
The Marches: A Complete Guide to the Landscape and National Parks, and One Hundred Towns Including Urbino (Heritage Guides) Heritage Guides by Touring Club Italiano
Umbria & the Marche Landscapes Series Landscapes by Sunflower Books
Bradt has an Abruzzo guide, and I've been impressed with their books for other areas.
Posted by
Boise, ID, USA
2191 posts
I've used the ones mentioned and enjoy Rough Guides as well.
Posted by
Colorado Mountains, USA
7432 posts
Rick’s added territory once in a while; he didn’t have Sicily when we went there and also drove some of the southernmost Italian mainland. Lonely Planet was our guidebook, and was outstanding for lodging recommendations, as well as good for sights. We got lots of excellent restaurant recommendations from our lodging, once we checked in.
Posted by
Noblesville, Indiana, USA
1373 posts
The Rick Steves guidebooks are great but it's a shame they don't provide broader coverage in countries like Italy or Greece. You would think they have the resources to expand by a chapter or two with each new edition.
Posted by
Washington DC
27207 posts
Someone has mentioned here that the publisher has said not one page can be added to the Italy book.
I used Lonely Planet in Sicily back in 2015 and found some inaccuracies/missing information in the logistical details, so I'd caution folks not to expect the same level of nitty-gritty accuracy Rick's books provide. I'm currently working with a Rough Guide to Estonia/Latvia/Lithuania, and it's pretty shocking how much internal inconsistency I've found in the bus-schedule information scattered throughout the book. One place it will say 6 times a day, 3-1/4 hours; somewhere else it will be 8 times a day, 4 hours. It makes me wonder what else was sloppily edited. There was definitely a mapping inaccuracy in the Lonely Planet book that cost me a good bit of time one day in Sicily. (I now know to double check with the map on my phone.)
Both Lonely Plane and Rough do cover a lot more cities/towns in each country (as does the DK Eyewitness series), and I find that information helpful.