Rating: 
Summary: Dissappointing
Review: After many years of using lonely planet guides, I was very dissappointed to find that this guide was one of the worst guide books i've ever used. We found that the authors consistently missed the mark when describing cities and sights (with some of the sights it was as if they had never bothered to actually go there). The restaurant and lodging recommendations were completely uninspired.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay for some things
Review: Does the job for some things. Weak on touristic interests. Strong on places to stay. Fair on places to eat or places to see.
Rating:
Summary: Okay for some things
Review: Does the job for some things. Weak on touristic interests. Strong on places to stay. Fair on places to eat or places to see.
Rating:
Summary: Incomplete and out of date
Review: I bought the Lonely Planet and found it didn't even have a single word about my favorite place in Italy, a small gem of a town with an incredible hostel and scenery (I can't tell the place because I don't want everyone to go there.) It also was very out of date, all of the prices were wrong and I found the reviews of places to be hard to distinguish. It says everything is great so you are left confused about where to spend you time. I ended up using Let's Go which i preferred 100%.
Rating:
Summary: Confusing and Useless
Review: I have typically had good luck with Lonely Planet guides during my travels in Europe, but this one was exceptionally useless. It was very not user-friendly. It used only the native Italian names and words to describe cities and landmarks which was confusing if you aren't fluent in Italian. Many of the hostels that were listed in the guidebook were non-existent or out of business. This book was simply not helpful. If you do choose to go to Italy, buy a different guidebook.
Rating: 
Summary: Bravo! Excellent tour guide and easy to use
Review: I just returned from a wonderful vacation trough Italy visiting Roma, Pisa, Firenze, Venezia, Siena, and Orvieto. The Lonely Planet Italy guide provided very useful information such as history, places to stay and eat, and other up to date pertinent information on each of these places (and more). The Lonely Planet Italy guide is medium sized and is not heavy. It fits easily on a hand bag. This book is easy to use and understand. It is organized by region, and then by town. Each regional map highlights the most important tourist attractions. The first two chapters: Facts about Italy and Facts for the Visitors; cover Italian culture, history, and local customs, and many valuable hints for the traveller. Reading this two chapters before leaving help us to prepare and plan our trip. This book enhanced our travel experience 100%!
Rating:
Summary: Lonely planet forever
Review: I studied for 3 months in Rome in 1999. The 3rd edition of the Italy guide was the defacto bible for travel from Sicilia to the Dolomites. Of course Venice, Florence, Pisa and Rome are covered, but how about Cortona, Siena, Poggibonisi, Assizi, Orvieto, Enna, Catania, Vulcanis, Bari, Lecce, Positano, Siracusa? How to get there, what to see, what to expect in these hill towns and costal villages? If I got there could I get back to Rome by Monday's morning classes? No other single travel book is filled with all the information found in the Italy guide. As an example, one weekend I told my roomates that I wanted to go to San Marino because according to the guide I could get my passport stamped with entry to a country within a country. Also it mentioned "spactacular views". Nothing prepared us for what we saw, a fortress castle hewn into the 2000+ ft cliffs and a city in the clouds overlooking a vast plain of farms and towns!
Rating:
Summary: Still the best
Review: I traveled in Italy from Feb 3 to April 5, 2001 and I took both this book, LP, and Let's Go Italy (LG). LG gets the nod for layout. It's very clear and user friendly. You can find what you are looking for quickly. LP's double column layout is densely packed with information but is often confusing. In LG, at the beginning of the treatment of a new place, they tell you how to get there and away to and from all of the likely places. They tell you how many trains and buses there are. This feature was very helpful in planning my itinerary. Just ask fellow travellers where they've been that was good and LG tells you how to get there. LP on the other hand buries transportation info at the back of each place and it is often skeletal or misleading. The writing style I found to be very uninspired, so much so that I suspect that the author didn't bother to go to many of the places. That would account for why their street directions are so poor, but I didn't think much of LG.s either. (I have to admit that I'm not as good as some at figuring out the streets of a new town.) Lp often ignores seasonal changes in timetables too. If your travelling in winter, you're out of luck. However, I got tired of the LG writing style. Whereas LP gives you the historical facts about a place, LG's Harvard University student writers would rather be cute than accurate. Also, LP simply covers more places than LG. Another plus for LP is that in the opening secton of the book they give extensive info about how the country works. Post offices, police attitudes, etc. LP tells you in chich places you should keep your credit cards, passport, etc. in your trousers while LG's introductory section is a little paranoid. For example, "Don't ever tell anyone you are travelling alone." Geez you guys, Italy is safer than Boston. While LG gives more youth hostel info, because it is more budget oriented than LP, LG's impressionable writers gush about every hotel they stayed in. Any room with a window has a spectacular view. One more thing - if you are traveling by car, you need LP. LG gives no street or parking info. In conclusion, LG is better for itinerary planning and is easier to read, while LP's 800+ pages simply give you more information, although it is harder to sift through. After about 6 weeks, I gave away LG and used LP. My pack was getting heavy.
Rating:
Summary: Don't travel in Italy without it
Review: I've traveled with the 3rd edition of this guide in 97 through Naples, Rome, Florence, Siena, Venice & Verona. The guide was a trustworthy companion, especially the "where to eat" section. In Italy, because of the huge number of tourists that travel to this country, many restaurants are tourist traps - expensive & mediocre. However, you can found authentic & cheap restaurants in this guide, as well as more up-market places. If you search where to eat, first find if there are restaurants recomnded by the LP in your vicinity. I even marked the locations of these restaurants on the city maps I had, so I won't need to carry the guide (which is quite big) whenever I go out at evening.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best Lonely Planet edition
Review: It was definately useful and gave the standard information any tour guide will give you. At times it gave cute anecdotal info that other tour books lacked. However, I found Frommers and Fodor's to be more informative. They gave better itineraries. Lonely Planet wasted too much space on Dining and Lodging. Their other editions are better when it comes to giving advice on which attractions to see. However, as always, their general advice on practices in the country, transportation, and stuff like that, was extremely helpful. I still recommend using Frommer's or Fodor's for a trip to Italy.
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