My Favorite Rome Guide Book

Well, my favorite guidebook for Rome is one that you can't really use as a guidebook. No logistics, no opening hours, no costs, etc. It's kind of like the Green Michelin guides, except more literary.

If you are like me, and not only use guidebooks when you travel, but like to read them for entertainment at home, you will love Georgina Masson's The Companion Guide to Rome. I did a blog post about it.

http://www.plane2port.com/rome-guide-want-write/

Nice promo for your blog.

 

You might see this "Notice" at the top of each thread here:

 

** Please post your recommendations ONLY in response to request...do not start a new thread. Thanks!

Ouch! CruiserBruce! I've no need or desire to promo my blog. It's a personal blog and I just enjoy sharing my thoughts here. It's my little retirement project.

I see now the notice not to recommend anything unless in response to a request. In all my years here I had never noticed it. I will henceforth follow the rules.

I don't think that rule applies to recommendations for guide books, as the heading in which it appears says "Reviews/Recommendations of Tour Operators/Guides/Attractions". (And to me, "Guides" means an actual person, not a book in this case....)

At any rate, I cannot see it as a bad thing to recommend a book!

The Companion Guides are great for people (like me) who love having a lot of information. They are to the Rick Steves guides as the New Yorker is to USA Today. Not everyone's cup of tea, though.

I have for years complained that newer guidebooks have less and less actual textual information and more and more pictures, diagrams, maps, etc. I miss all the dense description that this type of guide provides. (I also collect the small official guidebooks that used to be published for Italian archaeological sites back in the 1950s and 1960s as they have far more detail about the sites than newer books include.)

I don't think that rule applies to recommendations for guide books, as the heading in which it appears says "Reviews/Recommendations of Tour Operators/Guides/Attractions". (And to me, "Guides" means an actual person, not a book in this case....)

 

At any rate, I cannot see it as a bad thing to recommend a book!

 

The Companion Guides are great for people (like me) who love having a lot of information. They are to the Rick Steves guides as the New Yorker is to USA Today. Not everyone's cup of tea, though.

 

I have for years complained that newer guidebooks have less and less actual textual information and more and more pictures, diagrams, maps, etc. I miss all the dense description that this type of guide provides. (I also collect the small official guidebooks that used to be published for Italian archaeological sites back in the 1950s and 1960s as they have far more detail about the sites than newer books include.)

Thanks for the support. I think one reason you don't see these kind of detailed guidebooks is that there is not a big market for them. A book like the one I mentioned is written as a labor of love, not for mass consumption. It won't be listed as the #1 seller on Amazon for Rome guidebooks.

Another reason is that many people are moving away from printed guides to wikis that they can access from their smartphones. I appreciate the space saving factor of only using electronic media, but I am of an age that I prefer to use a book. Also, I have trouble reading my IPhone screen in the sun!

Another reason is that many people are moving away from printed guides to wikis that they can access from their smartphones. I appreciate the space saving factor of only using electronic media, but I am of an age that I prefer to use a book. Also, I have trouble reading my IPhone screen in the sun!

I use my Kindle for most of my reading when traveling, but after several years of attempts, I find it just isn't as useful to me for things like guide books. Reading a guide book (at least for me) involves a lot of back-and-forth page turning, skipping forward and back as I go, and looking up things in other parts of the book. While this can be done electronically, I still find it a little clunkier than I'd like. (I can do it faster with a book.)

Those little guides I mentioned are great because they are very small, easily tucked into a small bag or a pocket. The Companion Guides are a different story -- as you say, very good for reading at home.

In reality, I think most people just don't want depth of information in today's world. They want to know a little about a lot of things. And people travel differently also, spending two days here and two days there instead of spending a week or two in one location.

Ah well, to each his or her own.

Since we are talking guide books, I still prefer my Oxford Archaeological Guide to Rome over just about any other guide book (other than the single site guides already mentioned), but it covers strictly ancient Rome.

Is this the guide book you're talking about?

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/202591.Rome

Yes but there's a revised edition published in 2010:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A7LN36K/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Ok thanks. Ordering now.