Blue Guide Sicily

by Ellen Grady

"Often plagiarized by other guide writers, Blue Guides have always been a gold standard for accuracy and depth."― Daily Telegraph Revised and extensively updated, Blue Guide Sicily offers an in-depth history of this historically rich destination. Ellen Grady offers a comprehensive overview of Sicily―from what to see and where to eat to detailed analyses of individual museum pieces. Color photographs, maps, floor plans, diagrams

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

512 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1975

About the author

Ellen Grady is an author and tour guide; she lives in Sicily on the slopes of Mount Etna.

Reviews

[Lyvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This guide is for the traveler seriously interested in art, archeology and history. It is an excellent companion for excavation sites and museums and gives the details that other guides don't. As an example, in the Archeological Museum at the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, the guide points out the most interesting and notable items, so you can easily find the highlights of the collection. Not a book for the tourist looking for a sun and surf vacation, the Blue Guides give historical background that put the sights you see in perspective and give you a better understanding of the forces that created contemporary Sicily. The book is over 600 pages long, so I decided to get the Kindle edition, and I didn't have extra weight to carry.

[Lyvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the traveller who wants to know EVERYTHING about Sicily

The Blue Guide tradition of giving full information is capably upheld in the volume about Sicly. This is perfect when you need to know all about an archeological site. I bought this book for a short trip to the island and I found it perfect for learning all the details I crave. I recommend the e- book edition on a Kindle or tablet to avoid lugging around a weighty tome.

[Laurel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guide for touring, not for planning

If you already know where you want to go on Sicily or are in the midst of a trip, this book will supply vast insights to any site and almost any town you pass through. However, for trip planning it is overwhelming in its detail. There is little discernment between great sites and everything else. There is little help in determining how to spend one’s time (i.e., how many nights in each location), nor how best to travel between sites. For example, there is a train from Palermo to Trapani but it can take 4 hours where as the bus is about two and a car only an hour! I like a guidebook to help with those decisions. There are few, if any, local guide or tour recommendations. Take the Blue Guide along but turn elsewhere for planning.

[Mark Spano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Use this one.

[Al Maki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primarily, and in detail, a guide to arts and architecture. I can’t comment on its accuracy until the viral outbreak is behind us.