“City Guide Florence”
(Black Norton; $22.95)
This eighth edition highlights the great cultural sites of Florence, including art, architecture, museums, churches, festivals, history as well as hotels and cafes. If you have a strong interest in the works of the Italian Renaissance, Romanesque buildings, museums (such as the Uffizi, which contains the most important collection of paintings in Italy), palaces, sculpture, frescoes and cloisters, this is the book for you. Includes a glossary and an index to Italian artists. (ISBN 0-393-32202-5)
“Venice: The Heritage Guide”
(Touring Club of Italy; $16.95)
The city of the river, sea and lagoon looms large in many people’s collective imagination. Even if you have never been to Venice, you probably have formed some kind of image in your mind. The problem with these preconceived notions is that many people, perhaps too many, think of Venice as more of a museum piece than as a living city. This theme park Venice may attract countless visitors a year, but the Heritage Guide series is interested in more than just the obvious sites toward which tourists gravitate. All the famous sites are described at length: the Grand Canal, San Marco, Lido, Murano and many others. Includes a 25-page city atlas, 19 walking tours and five detailed tours of the area’s historic islands. (ISBN 88-365-1517-7)
“Italy TravelBook”
(AAA; $16.95)
For a general introduction to Italy, this travel guide concentrates on all the major cities as well as the towns and countryside. There are also special sections on regional foods, the Vatican, the Etruscans, the Mafia and even the flood of 1966, when the waters of the Arno River coursed through the streets of Florence, causing all kinds of havoc. Includes color photographs, maps and driving tours. (ISBN 1-56251-444-X)
“Tuscany”
(Knopf; $25)
For sheer beauty, few travel guides can match the colorful splendor of the Knopf Guides, which are always a delight to read and admire. So it is only right that one of their current titles is devoted to Tuscany, that perennial favorite of travel writers and, indeed, travelers most everywhere. The arts and traditions section is, in a word, sumptuous: the colorful pageantry of the Roman Catholic festivals, the traditional secular festivals of both urban and rural Tuscany, and the various food staples of the region, from the country dish of “ribollita” to breads and cheeses. There also are sections on Tuscany as seen by painters and Tuscany as seen by writers. Practical information appears in the back, including tips on getting there and getting around. (ISBN 0-375-70660-7)
“Hostels France & Italy”
(Globe Pequot; $14.95)
The second edition of this guide is as opinionated as ever, as authors Paul Karr and Martha Coombs and their assistants made their way through France and Italy during the spring, summer and fall of 2000, taking notes and asking questions. Many questions. What they discovered is contained in the pages of this book: Almost 300 hostels are described. The guide features at-a-glance ratings based on overall quality, hospitality, safety, cleanliness and setting. Convenient icons indicate such features as superior kitchen facilities, comfortable beds and wheelchair accessibility, among many others. The section on how to hostel is especially useful, telling how to reserve a bed and observe the etiquette do’s and don’ts. (ISBN 0-7627-0869-7)
“The Stone Boudoir: Travels Through the Hidden Villages of Sicily”
(Perseus Publishing; $25)
“I was on a mission: to find the smallest mountain towns in Sicily. Tiny jewels, remote and isolated, these are places tourists seldom see. But they are the island’s hidden treasure and the secret spring of Sicilian endurance.” So begins Theresa Maggio’s delightful “The Stone Boudoir.” Part travel, part memoir, “The Stone Boudoir” consists of a collection of stories that recall her journeys among the villages of the Madonie Mountains. She uses her grandparents’ ancestral village of Santa Margherita Belice as her home base, as her spiritual base, before moving on. Among the many pleasures that await the reader are her descriptions of Sicilian street food, lone shepherds who still play the Sicilian bagpipes, and religious festivals that form the heart and soul of the people. She also reflects on that most famous of Sicilian institutions, the Mafia, which has caused so much suffering and despair to so many. “The Stone Boudoir” is no ordinary travel book. Rather it is a luminous portrait of a time and a place, interspersed with a wonderful cast of characters. (ISBN 0-7382-0342-4)
Special interest guides
“Northern California History Weekends: 52 Adventures in History”
(Globe Pequot; $15.95)
For some people, a weekend getaway just isn’t the same without visiting or paying homage to a historic site. Lee Foster is apparently one of those people. In “Northern California Historic Weekends,” he suggests 52 historic excursions that can appeal to both serious and amateur historians. From San Francisco’s Chinatown and the birthplace of John Steinbeck to Napa Valley’s historic wineries and the place–a now abandoned remote cabin–where Robert Louis Stevenson spent his honeymoon, Foster tells the human stories behind the sites. Each of the eight sections discusses a different geographic region of the state. The author also includes travel tips: how to get to the site, the best times to visit, nearby accommodations and restaurants, and where to call for more information. (ISBN 0-7627-1076-4)
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Contact Resourceful Traveler in care of Toni Stroud at tstroud@tribune.com
