'I find that the Rick Steves books are useful in telling me which restaurants to avoid. When Steves lists a restaurant, it gets inundated with people who know very little about the country or its cuisine. The staff get dispirited, and the quality goes down as they try to deal with the many guests who they know will never return.' What a pessimistic view!While I tend to ignore guidebook recommendations of hotels & restaurants. And just look at reviews and for ideas online and by word of mouth of others or stumbling across them myself (restaurants - not hotels). I found that when looking at & Florence restaurant recommendations in rick steves' books. They are often the highest rated restaurants online amongst - shocker - many local italian people as well online.

• Rick Steves Florence Italy
• Rick Steves Florence And Tuscany

The same for where many of his picks for restaurants get high ratings in french by french people on french restaurant rating websites like la fourchette. When you see reviews for restaurants posted online on chowhound or on google or even on trip advisor (not as much with the local reviews more tourists leaving reviews here) and they are for restaurants rick steves also recommends and the reviews are written in italian by people from italy - that would tell me it can't be all american tourists going there and leaving the reviews. Edited: 09 May 2011, 23:50. Pericoloso - His books are generally very good for their depth and basic introductions to various cities. Especially when you use them along side his walking tours.I think a lot of people resent him for what he does and the success he has. They blame him for making local places popular with tourists.

Florence Florence, the home of the Renaissance and birthplace of our modern world, has the best Renaissance art in Europe. In a single day, you could look Michelangelo's David in the eyes, fall under the seductive sway of Botticelli's Birth of Venus, and climb the modern world's first dome, which still dominates the skyline. Hotel Loggiato dei Serviti: Rick Steve's recommended - See 1,366 traveler reviews, 542 candid photos, and great deals for Hotel Loggiato dei Serviti at TripAdvisor. All reviews former monastery piazza ss around the corner quiet piazza the main hotel historic hotel rick steves family suite michelangelo's david old world four poster bed great. Rick Steves: Tuscany for beginners. After the hustle and bustle of urban Italy, it can be a joy to downshift to a more peaceful pace. With a surprising diversity of scenic lanes, abbeys and wineries, the Tuscan countryside is a fine place to abandon your itinerary and just slow down.

They blame him for small towns that get recommended and suddenly rushed with tourists (cinque terre).As for taste - well the main sights florence has to offer (the big museums honestly most of us would love to see while we are there) they are what they are. And I think he does a good job in his florence book with maps, guides, and info about them. So far - very accurate. You just have to cater your interests to what there is to do. RS has nothing to do with what florence has to offer. He's just writing about it.He is doing what he does for tourists. Not locals and not designated experts on trip advisor who don't need or want or use his help.For those who are looking for a guide and ideas of things to do, for recommendations (of all sorts), and for simplicity he can be helpful with his books and walking tours.

Those who don't appreciate what he does and don't need his help (even those who have never once opened a rick steves book) are often the first to criticize him.If you want/need his recommendations or just want to see what he recommends for the fun of it - then by all means search out this info and do so if you can get something out of it.It's not for everyone. And I wish people would recongize that his books can be useful for some and not for others and leave it at that before going after him because he is successful and doing what many of us would love to be able to do!:-)Good luck finding the info you seek! You can always try amazon.com with reasonable oversees shipping costs. Edited: 10 May 2011, 00:02. VTJedi - Wow! Are you Rick Steve's mother?

(Just kidding!)I won't go into all the reasons why I believe RS is a blight, especially to. I've done that often and willingly on this forum because I just really don't like his way of belittling and demeaning what is a magnificent, stately city. Those little jokes that he can't resist are not only stale, they're just plain silly. His audio guides are unbearable. And I wish he would hire a fact checker. Too many bloopers.

Rick Steves Florence Italy

Get your history straight, Rick!That said, with all the resources available to travelers, I just can't see why anyone would recommend his products. At least not in Florence.

I haven't read his other guides, but I've read his 'Florence and ' book cover to cover. It's like an accident on the highway - gruesome but you just can't resist looking. Rick Steves recommended the hotel we stayed at called Il Villino which we loved and the terrific Duomo Museum which rarely seems to get mentioned and we probably would have missed had we not read about it in his book. We spent 8 wonderful nights in loving every minute of our stay and many of his recommendations were extremely helpful.People can dump on him and his books as much as they like but we found them very helpful. It would be nice that half of the people that do criticize would at least take the time to actually open one of his books before doing so and not jumping on the anti Rick Steves bandwagon so quickly.

Been a lot of places in 11 years of travels.Always read the Steves take first on where we are planning our travels, and it's generally great introductory info, especially for Americans who have not traveled, don't have access to travel agents (or can't afford them), don't have lots of disposable income, and don't have hugh amounts of vacation times such as in some other countries.I don't see that as wrong.If he ruins things as badly as everyone says, then perhaps we should all stay home? (And that's a moot point because the US- are now in the $1100-$1200 range for coach anyway)It's currently sort of vogue to Rick-bash on TA forums, which in some ways is sad.The guy has a job, the guy does his job.

Rick Steves Florence And Tuscany

I'd simply say, if you don't care for what he says, don't buy the books.tptrAnd no, I'm not his mother or father either.