DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Rome

Eyewitness Travel Guides

by DK Eyewitness Travel, Ros Belford (Editor), Roberta Mitchell (Editor)

Eyewitness Travel Rome will lead you straight to the best attractions this cultural city has to offer. With detailed listings of the best hotels, restaurants, bars and shops for all budgets in this fully updated and expanded guide, and insider tips on everything from soaking up the charms of the café scene to gaping at the ancient ruins that line the streets, there is in-depth coverage of all Rome's unforgettable sights from the Coliseum to Villa Borghese. Eyewitness Travel Rome includes unique cutaways, floor-plans and reconstructions of the city's stunning architecture, plus 3D aerial views of the best districts to explore on foot. And the new-look guide's indispensible map is so easy-to-use, keep it with the book or remove and use on its own.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Italy, Reference, History, Guidebook, Geography

448 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 1993

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

How not to miss a single important place in Rome!
A Very informative guide. Lots of essential information. Wonderful suggested walking routes with tips of where to eat drink and shop.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time I have had a successful vacation by using a DK Eyewitness Travel Guide. It got me around Estonia and now Rome. The book is a little bit heavy, they could consider using lighter materials for carrying around while traveling. Aside from that I have no complaints. It is beautiful with pictures and illustrations to help the reader decide what to prioritize on their journey. It is packed with information and organized in a logical way. The book is broken down into the main areas of Rome and each section is packed with information about monuments and what people would want to see. It covers less popular sites too which was immensely helpful to me as I wanted to see as many churches as possible. The inside cover has a table of contents for each section of Rome which helped when I needed to quick check where a church was. After discussing the areas of town there is a suggested itinerary for walks to help a tourist maximize their time. It also has a list of restaurants and hotels and practical information that can come in handy as well. It even has a brief history of Rome in the front to help you get your bearings as you dive into each district. I highly recommend this book and hope to find a DK Eyewitness for my next location.

[Katya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overall guide to Rome, although it nearly gave me an anxiety attack at the beginning as I initially realized how overwhelming Rome can be. This guide gives an overview of Rome's (many, many, many) attractions, sites, and sights, and divides the city into "bite-size" areas that make it seem manageable. If you want a general idea of Rome without diving too deeply into any landmarks, this is a worthy guide.

[Linniegayl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous book with area-specific guides and walks.

[Kristīne Līcis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ja ar atlaidēm ceļvedis nemaksātu nieka 5 eiro, diez vai pirktu, jo nu briesmīgi raibs un sadrumstalots teksts, kas tādēļ šķiet steidzīgs un trauksmains, lai gan trauksmes jau tāpat pietiek no domas, kā visus Romas dārgumus, kas OBLIGĀTI JĀREDZ, paspētu apskatīt viena mūža laikā. Bet nevar noliegt, ka informācijas daudz, tā pat strukturēta pa Romas rajoniem, tā ka ceļveža funkciju grāmata izpilda. Atliek tāds sīkums kā aizbraukt uz Caput Mundi un piedzīvot vēl kādu gabaliņu no Eiropas kultūras un reliģijas vēstures.

"Pilsētas daudzie kultūrslāņi glabā liecības par neskaitāmām celtnēm, kas tapušas divtūkstoš gadu laikā, tāpēc nav pārsteigums, ka tūristiem šīs vēstures šķiet mazliet par daudz."

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of the Eyewitness Travel Guides. The format is appealing -- a lavishly illustrated introductory section expounding on the history and key features of the city followed by color-coded sections, each devoted to a different area. The rear of the book is devoted to practicalities such as transportation, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment. Since it heavily relies on pictures rather than words, it's easy to pick up a guide, thumb through it, and let a striking photo serve as inspiration for where to go or what to do. The text on even the major sights is succinct, so if it's the full monty you're after, supplement this guide with something more substantial like a Blue Guide. However, if you want to get a quick sense of what a destination has to offer, an hour or so spent with one of these guides is probably one of the most effective ways to do background research.

One quibble is that since the Eyewitness Guides are printed on nice, heavy stock, they're not that light. Perhaps in the future another format - digital? - will get around this problem.

[Don Heiman · Rating 5 out of 5]

In year 2000, DK (Dorling Kindersley) released their 5th updated travel guide “Rome: The Eyewitness Way to See the World.” The 452 page guide has 750 full color photographs, unique “cutaway” floor plan drawings, street finder coded location reference maps, and a collection of pictures and notes about currency exchanges, parking locations, and recommendations about how to use Rome’s busses, walkways, trams, and taxis. Also the travel guide has sections about Roman historic architecture, shopping districts, restaurant locations, plazas, hotel features. churches , entertainment facilities, and historic museum sites. The guidebook presentations on Vatican artifacts, historic places, and amazing historic artifacts are very well done. Also the commentaries about each of the guidebook’s 750 pictures are very interesting and full of surprising disclosures. This is an amazing reference manual. (P)

[Sally Edsall · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Eyewitness series is always superb.

Apart from the superb cut-aways, sumptuous photography and enagaging text, what Eyewitness unfailingly delivers is USABLE, properly indexed street maps. Too many guidebooke provide sketchy maps where scale turns out to be a mere fantasy, missing minor streets.

Sometimes I find Eyewitness books a BIT too heavy for the baggage allowance, so I wish the maps were included in some sort of detachable form. They really are better than those in other guides, and as usable as a "freestanding" map book.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best travel book I have read on Rome. I used this book while touring Rome, but I recently sat down and read it again (cover to cover to reminisce and pick up on the history again). Great tidbits of history, great walkthroughs of the city, and great advice on where to eat and visit. I highly recommend this book to anyone going to Rome (and read it before you get there).

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I evidently forgot to review this travel guide after I used it in Rome. It did a good job of leading me through the city, and the full-color pictures and drawings were especially good (the biggest strength of the DK brand, in my opinion). I have since discovered Rick Steves' guides to Europe, however, and will always use them whenever they exist for a place I visit.

[Lafcadio · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is really no way to praise this travel guide properly. I suggest before traveling to any city with tourist intentions, pick up a copy of the eyewitness travel guide for that city, with page markers handy. You can't go wrong.

I heart Eyewitness Travel Guides.

[Sandy Korom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love DK Books, but this travel book was wonderful! It's like a fascinating history book with wonderful illustrations and maps with additional floorplans that show the location of especially important things you shouldn't miss. Fantastic resource! Now I'm starting on the one for Florence!!

[Donna Boultwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these eye witness books. They have so many fantastic tips and of things you would never find otherwise which makes your trip all the more memorable. With just enough history to dip in and out of.

[Antony P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best travel guides there are, though Lonely Planet gets an honorable mention. History, religion and culture, photos, maps, suggested trips and method of travel, tips, safety kit...very thorough and informative.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great. Not quite as good as being there, but useful to help the first time visitor being overwhelmed by options and history.

[Renn Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Eyewitness travel guides, they are the most user friendly and pack the most information for your own self guided tours.

[Robert Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good.

[Beth K · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite guidebook for layouts, area maps and visual guides for specific sites, museums and areas of interest in Rome.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful.

[Morris Yen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great travel guide for Rome, lots of sights included
Beautiful pictures and page design as well.

[Claire Zelmanski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the structure of this book! Helpful information without being an impossible to digest encyclopedia. Small enough to carry around.

[Adri Dosi · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3,5 Takhle, kniha je naditá spoustou informací a hodně o památkách, ale pokud hledáte nějakého praktického průvodce, od něhož se chcete odrazit, kam vyrazit a co chcete vidět. Co je kde v jaké čtvrti a nejen památky, tak je to podle mě méně přehledné. Má to trochu jiný systém prezentace, než jsem četla a vyhovuje mi to méně. Tolik ani vědět nepotřebuji, když si tam vlezu.. ano, když budu chodit jen okolo, chápu... jo není to nejhorší, jen mi ten předešlý způsob vyhovoval více a je to možná i mnou, že mám už určitou představu a už jen vyzobávám. Ale rozhodně do kufru a je pěkný i na poličce a prostě i po letech aktuální, památky nezmizí

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good maps and guides to museums, galleries etc. - we used it to guide us around Gallerie Borghese, the colosseum, Palatine and Forum, the Vatican and Bernini statues in Piazzas, and numerous churches, not forgetting restaurant recommendations and travel tips. Great - only criticisms are better indexing would help, and larger print (that's just me getting old). Then I left it in a cafe - ah well, it was the last day.

[Tri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not a perfect guidebook, and I definitely think the “Rome for Families” section needs a revamp, but it was quite good and I’ve wrote down many many places I still haven’t been!

[Julie Swane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this DK series. Easy to follow information, great maps and suggested walking routes. A wonderful help in planning out 3 days in this amazing city.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't been to Rome, nor do I intend to go, but this book made me feel that I now know something about the city.

[Al Kruzins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great summary
Maps
More use of Metro access references
Include if recommended local tour guides

[Kristin Eoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in preparation for a trip to Rome this year. This book is comprehensive and covers almost every aspect of Rome for travelers. I started off reading every page, but by page 120, I was getting so overwhelmed by all the exhaustive information about countless churches and monuments that I started skimming each page. One thing I particularly like about the book is its humorous descriptions of the sights, such as this gem about the Casa di Goethe: "Rome's noisy street life irritated him, especially during Carnival time, and he was a little perturbed by the number of murders in his neighborhood" (136).

This book provides a wonderful overview of Rome and all its fascinating tourist attractions and historical monuments. I love all the diagrams and pictures, along with the little descriptions of each place, sprinkled with as many fun facts as the writers could fit in. Like all DK books, this one has that clean look inside with colorful pictures on a white background. Unfortunately, many details about opening hours, phone numbers, etc. in my 1997 edition are sure to be 30 years out of date, but Rome is known as "the Eternal City," and I'm sure most of the information in this book is just as timeless. After all, not much about the Colosseum, St. Peter's Basilica, the Roman Forum and all the other ancient buildings in Rome has changed in the past few centuries, much less the past few decades. The Trevi Fountain now charges an admission fee, people are no longer allowed to sit on the Spanish Steps, and everyone has a cellphone now, but the Pantheon still awes visitors as it has for the past 2,000 years.

[Angel Serrano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guía turística para visitar Roma. Completamente enfocada en el centro de la ciudad, con la historia clásica y el Vaticano como puntos principales de atención. Mapas útiles y paseos detallados para facilitar el viaje.

[Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have the 2000 edition of this book which I took to Italy in 2001. These are fantastic travel guides. They are much more focused on the things you want to see rather than travel, hotels and restaurants. The maps are top-notch and there is page after page of color photographs. These guides are practically like a computerized or digitized version of everything you're going to see, how to get there and even how to find your way around once you do get to your destination. The guide to Rome is divided into various sections of the city, is really well-organized and makes practical sense. I particularly liked the practicality of information about being over-run by other tourists. Important to know when you have limited time. You don't want to waste it standing in long lines. These are especially wonderful in a city like Rome which is filled with so many sites. Highly recommended.