Lonely Planet Tuscany and Umbria

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 444 pages
• Published by: Lonely Planet
• Edition: 5th Edition February 1, 2008
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1741043131
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1741043136
• Book Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 11.2 ounces

Product Review
"Best for curious and independent-minded travelers"
-- Wall Street Journal

Best for curious and independent-minded travelers' --Wall Street Journal


Product Description
Discover Tuscany & Umbria

Find heaven on earth in the buone frescoes of Giotto, Cimabue, Pinturicchio and Lorenzetti

Trade those Manolos and museums for barns and bunnies in our special rundown of rural residences

Break bread with celebrity restaurateur Fabio Picchi at members club Teatro del Sale

Trek, sail or ride around shimmering Lake Trasimeno and enjoy that dolce far niente

In This Guide:

Language, cookery, wine-tasting and jewellery courses - you name it, our authors have checked it out

Book in and bed down at the best-value accommodation in the region

Don't just take our word for it; see what travelers are saying at lonelyplanet.com


Reader Reviews
This review is from: Lonely Planet Tuscany & Umbria (Paperback) My partner and I used this guide for our trip to Tuscany (Toscana) in June 2006, and we found it very serviceable. The places we visited were Siena, Florence (Firenze), Assisi, Perugia, Orvieto, and Volterra, among others. Lonely Planet's guide gave us all the options available for getting to and from each city and town in the region. Whether by train, car, bicycle, or foot, it provides enough information to help you get there and back without too much trouble. This is in contrast to the Let's Go guidebooks which provide more information about staying in the towns themselves than about how to get there. This guide helped us with taking the train from Rome (Roma), and renting a car in Siena and making daytrips to Assisi, Perugia, and Orvieto. The information on hotels is sufficient but I'd recommend doing a little research online about places to stay BEFORE you leave. LP guides give you a sampling of hotels and inns and a little blurb about each, but don't expect too much information on them. The quoted price ranges can be a little off, but LP assumes one is travelling during the peak season (July-August). The information on restaurants is okay, and LP provides a decent listing of places to eat in whatever town you may be. It was either hit or miss for us. A few of the places LP recommended turned out to be duds but a few were spot on. One of the hits was a little taverna in Assisi that served linguini with black truffle sauce--yum! As far as sites and attractions go, don't expect a wealth of information. LP gives a brief history/description for all the major sites but a lot of minor ones are either only touched upon or passed over altogether. One would be better off using the Michelin Green Guides for more detailed information about specific sites and attractions, as those provide a plethora of names, dates, and events that make them more akin to history books than travel guides. The maps in the book are really good; they are accurate and easy to read. For all the major cities and towns covered in the guide, LP plots out the locations of all the hotels, restaurants, and attractions they mention. In this regard they are exactly like Let's Go (and all other guides, I imagine). In my opinion this Lonely Planet guide is not the definitive book on Tuscany, but when used with other guides it can be an invaluable resource for your trip to this wonderful region of Italy. Pack it with you when you go--and don't forget the sunscreen!