Rick Steves Rome 2019
- Comprehensive coverage for spending a week or more exploring Rome
- Rick's strategic advice on how to get the most out of your time and money, with rankings of his must-see favorites
- Top sights and hidden gems, from the Colosseum and the Sistine Chapel to corner trattorias and the perfect scoop of gelato
- How to connect with local culture: Indulge in the Italian happy hour tradition of the aperitivo, savor a plate of cacio e pepe, or chat with fans about the latest soccer match
- Beat the crowds, skip the lines, and avoid tourist traps with Rick's candid, humorous insight
- The best places to eat, sleep, and experience la dolce far niente
- Self-guided walking tours of lively neighborhoods and sights like the Roman Forum, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Vatican Museums
- Detailed neighborhood maps and a fold-out city map for exploring on the go
- Useful resources including a packing list, Italian phrase book, a historical overview, and recommended reading
- Over 500 bible-thin pages include everything worth seeing without weighing you down
- Annually updated information on Central Rome, Vatican City, Trastevere, and more, plus day trips to Ostia Antica, Tivoli, Naples, and Pompeii
Reviews (92)
Spoiled by childish comments
We have been in Rome three times in the past (total of 6 weeks). We used mainly the Michelin Green Guide and recommendations of our Roman friends. Nevertheless, as we have been there for the last time in 2005, we decided to refresh or memories from a brand new 2019 guide. We have chosen Rick Steves Rome 2019. I’m about 75% through the guide and I find most of the information very helpful and correct even if I would add a bit more information about some unique spots; e.g., about the foam on coffee at the Sant' Eustachio Il Caffè. Another passage could use a bit of explaining: "You’ll pass (at #16, on the right) a low-key doorway protected by security. This is the headquarters of Italy’s Democratic Party. The street becomes Via di Propaganda. You’ll pass alongside the...” (Kindle Locations 2500-2502). Not many readers will remember that the Italian Democratic Party has very different roots than the American Democratic Party – it is the Italian Communist Party that changed their name to something rather misleading. The “Democrats” mismanaged the Italian economy so badly that the current government (and the mayor of Rome) is governed by parties that were just a few years ago left- and rightwing populist movements, on the fringe of Italian politics. As this is the first guide by Rick Steves that I purchased, I did not know that he has a very childish sense of humor in addition to out of place leftist biting remarks; e.g. “And the big beige building with columns and clock houses the right-wing Il Tempo newspaper. It’s appropriately situated in what was the headquarters of the fascist party of Mussolini.” (Kindle Locations 2447-2449). Sorry Mr. Steves, the fascists were just a nationalist version of communists and had nothing to do with the right wing. This comment about the Il Tempo shows the problem with making silly comments without first checking some sources. By the way, Il Tempo was founded after Liberation of Rome, so it has no connection to the fascists. What about this childish and silly comment that a good editor should delete: “Christians blamed the fall [of Rome] on moral decay. Pagans blamed it on Christians. Socialists blamed it on a shallow economy based on the spoils of war. (Republicans blamed it on Democrats.)” (Kindle Locations 3443-3444). Why not the other way around? The final quote shows that slandering those that Mr. Steves doesn't like takes precedence over facts: “In the 1500s, the best way to keep Protestants from stealing your church members was to reason with them. By the 1600s, it was easier to kill them, and so the Thirty Years’ War raged across Europe. The church became crusted over with the colorful, bombastic, jingoistic Baroque we see today.” (Kindle Locations 2770-2772) Hello! What about reading a bit about what precipitated the Thirty Years’ War? Anyone knows what ended the Peace of Augsburg? What about the Defenestration of Prague? Were there more Roman Catholics or more Protestants killed before the Peace of Westphalia ended the carnage in 1648? Who won the Thirty Years’ War?
Maximize Travel Time with Expert Advice
Using this book and the Rick Steves book on Florence and Tuscany, we were able to plan our trip to Italy without using a professional tour. We felt like we had everything we needed to make the appropriate reservations, travel safely, use multiple modes of transportation—Metro, Taxi, trains, and ferries—avoid long lines for attractions and museums, and see the most important and amazing things without ever tiring of the huge quantity of history and art that exists in italy. You absolutely must download the Rick Steves Audio Europe app too! You can click on Italy and then make sure to download his audio tours to your playlist for anything you plan to visit. Downloading it in advance will make sure you can access it once there since we found even our expensive cell coverage to be spotty and extremely slow. We compared the Rick Steves narrative to the official Uffizi Art museum audio tour which you have to pay for, and the Rick Steves version was more interesting and gave much more information about the context/climate of the period of paintings and better details and descriptions. My husband who I thought would be bored to tears in the art museum absolutely LOVED it, thanks to Rick’s audio narrative. Thank you, Rick Steves!
Indispensable
We just returned from 10 days in Rome. I kept this book with me all of the time. It was great for organizing self guided walks in the different areas of Rome. For example with took a bus to the Termini station and visited all of the sites the book described in that area one day. We were able to see all of the Michaelangelos, Berninis and Caravaggios scared around the city. Good descriptions of what to see at the more popular sites like the Vatican museums as well. We did have some guided tours and we noticed those tracked pretty closely with what was in the book.
Rick Steves never disappoints me.
This book bailed me out. We were in Venice during extreme flooding and headed to Rome. I paged through the book and found a hotel named Oceania which Rick said was a favorite of his. It was the highlight of our trip. I would never have found a hotel in the historic district with that much charm and delightfull owners without this book. It was a bargain as well.
Best guide book to Rome
Rick Steve's Guide book to Rome is perfect. I used it every day of my one week trip to Rome and it was so helpful. From suggestions on which sites to visit, how to avoid tourist scams, restaurant and hotel recommendations, and valuable historical information on the sites, I found the guide to be extremely useful. It helped me plan what sites we would see each day and plan accurately for how long it would take to visit each site. The information on the history of the sites and works of art gave context and meaning to what might have been otherwise overwhelming. There is so much to see in Rome, this guide really helped to make my trip run very smoothly. I highly recommend this book if you are planning a trip to Rome!
Excellent book to prepare for Rome travels and to use while traveling
This book was full of concrete information to read in advance -- like the fact that there is one price to eat at a table at a restaurant and another price to eat while standing at the bar -- so you know to specify your preference while in Rome. It also has detailed walking tours, divided by neighborhood of Rome. We completed several and found them easy to follow, informative, and highly enjoyable. Initially borrowed a copy from the library and could see we'd want our own to take with and be able to mark up. Will purchase a Rick Steves book for any other European travels before we go. Highly recommend.
Nobody does it like Rick Steves
Nobody does it like Rick Steves! I used a lot of books to plan my trip to Italy and Rick's consistently contain the most and most useful information. From train travel tips to restaurant suggestions to self-guided tours, this is the book to get. I love the little man that it came with and the level of helpful hints provided.
The best little Rome guide book!
I was going to be in Rome for exactly 7 days and one of the chapters was "What to do in Rome if you have 7 days!" So, my husband and I made a list of the suggestions and compared that list to ours. We ended up adding 3 sites we never considered before. We also reserved private tours of all the main sites, including the Colosseum and the Vatican. The licensed tour guides have to pass a series of tests in order to give accurate details of the history. The guide book was very useful in explaining the importance of the sites. We ended up taking the book with us most of the time. Very useful and I would recommend you buy this before you plan your trip to Rome.
Quite readable - not just a reference guide
I had never before read a Rick Steve’s travel book. This was humorous and very informative. In terms of readability it was the best travel book I have read. Not at all like Frommers or typical guide books. There was more substance. Rome has a lot of religious art and the fact that the author was well versed in religion was obvious. It was clear that was a passion of his. If I have a criticism it is that there was too much religious talk for my taste. I would have preferred more information on secular culture and current events.
When "new" actually means "used and returned"
This is not a negative review of the book content as written by Rick Steves, but rather of Amazon. When I opened the "new" book today, I started marking it up and highlighting interesting activities. Unfortunately, part way through reading it, I realized that someone else had the same idea. My NEW book had notes in the margins of the text. I can't return this because I've already added my own annotations, but I'm deeply disappointed to own someone's Roman sex bucket list. Imagine if I had given this "new" book as a gift!
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