Walking in Italy: Exploring Italy's Great Cities and Finest Landscapes on Foot

by Gillian Souter and John Souter

Book Overview

This book helps you plan your journey and enjoy the best of Italy. It offers alternative walking tours in Rome, Florence, and Venice, suggests routes around such gems as Sienna and Perugia, and leads you into Italy's most stunning landscapes and national parks.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1566564530
• ISBN13: 9781566564533
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Interlink Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Countryside walks without need of a car

As the editorial review says this book covers walks in both the countryside and in major tourist towns & cities. Introduction The short Introduction covers Grading of the walks ( the walk on the island of Capri refered to by the earlier reviewer Lisa is graded easy but lots of steps),Path waymarking, Where to go in the towns and countryside, When to go where- wildflowers and climate,How to travel, Where to stay, What to take, and Warnings and Tips. There are colour photos right through the book and colour hand drawn maps showing the route. Town walks There are several walks described in each of the "big three" major cities of Rome, Florence, and Venice,with walks also ( north to south) in Turin, Bergamo, Verona, Padua, Genoa, Ferrara, Bologna, Ravenna, Lucca, Pisa, Perugia,Naples,Palermo, Siracusa, Taormina and Cagliari.The town maps are generally adequate. The names of the buildings etc on the walks are bolded and numbered in the text and numbered on the maps which is good. Each map also has a short list of 3 or 4 "Dont Miss" buildings on the walk.There is even a list of opening hours of the main attractions on the walk( very necessary in Italy). I used the walks in 7 towns other than the "big 3" and found them very good. There is not a lot of detail about each building so if you want more you may want a "Rough Guide Italy" too. Tourist office's street and email addresses are given along with web sites. Countryside Walks The main value of the book for me though was the descriptions of walks in the countryside. Importantly each area has a SUGGESTED BASE and the walks are either circular from the base , or you can get to the begining and/or the end by public transport. This is a big point of difference of this book from other Italy walk books which often assume you have a car. Almost all the walks are day walks, not multiday strenuous Treks.The 11 country areas covered ( listed N to S with base) are: Gran Paradiso ( Valnontey), Lago di Como( Menaggio), Dolomiti(Cortina),Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore- but you can easily use another village on the coast), Tuscany ( San Gimignano), Chianti( Radda), Umbrian Hilltowns(Assisi), The Maiella (Campo de Giove), Amalfi Coast(Sorento),Temples of Sicilia, and Sardegnan Wilds(Dorgali). There are generally 3 walks described in each area with maps that show the route, a total of 32 walks. Most countryside walk chapters also give a short description of "Other walks in the Region" without maps.The walks are almost all 4 to 7 hours in length. There are no 1-2 hour walks. I have completed 15 of the mapped or other suggested countryside walks and so feel qualified to comment on the book. Names of "waypoints" along the trail are bolded and numbered in the text and numbered on the maps (as for the town walks).The points are generally churches, peaks of hills and sometimes track junctions. But they are a good method of knowing you are on the right trail. Each chapter lists the relevant topographic map(s)for the area