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Pauline Frommer's Italy, Second Edition (Pauline Frommer Guides) PDF

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01_247600-ffirs.qxp 6/19/08 3:28 PM Page i pauline frommer’s ITALY spend less see more 2nd Edition by Keith Bain, Reid Bramblett, Pippa de Bruyn & Sylvie Hogg Series Editor: Pauline Frommer 03_247600-fflast.qxp 6/19/08 3:30 PM Page xii 01_247600-ffirs.qxp 6/19/08 3:28 PM Page i pauline frommer’s ITALY spend less see more 2nd Edition by Keith Bain, Reid Bramblett, Pippa de Bruyn & Sylvie Hogg Series Editor: Pauline Frommer 01_247600-ffirs.qxp 6/19/08 3:28 PM Page ii Published by: Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 Copyright © 2008 Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or trans- mitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, record- ing, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978/750-8400, fax 978/646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317/572-3447, fax 317/572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Wiley and the Wiley Publishing logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates. Frommer’s is a trademark or registered trademark of Arthur Frommer. Used under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. ISBN 978-0-470-24760-0 Editor: William Travis Production Editor: Suzanna R. Thompson Cartographer: Andrew Murphy Photo Editor: Richard Fox Interior Design: Lissa Auciello-Brogan Production by Wiley Indianapolis Composition Services Front and back cover photo © Mark Thomas/Axiom/Getty Images Cover photo of Pauline Frommer by Janette Beckmann For information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800/762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317/572-3993 or fax 317/572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic formats. Manufactured in the United States of America 5 4 3 2 1 02_247600-fftoc.qxp 6/19/08 3:29 PM Page iii SSSSSSSSSSSSSPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS Contents SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE™™™™™™™™™ A Note from Pauline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 The Best of Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Best of the Best. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Best Eats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Best Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Best Nonecclesiastical Architectural Sights . . . . . . . . . 5 The Best Museums. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The Best Travel Experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 The Best of the Other Italy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2 Rome: Where All Roads Lead . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Don’t Leave Rome Without... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 A Brief History of Rome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Lay of the Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Getting There & Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Accommodations, Both Standard & Not . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Dining for All Tastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Why You’re Here: The Top Sights & Attractions. . . . . . . . . 44 Touring Rome—Read This Section!!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 The Other Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Attention, Shoppers! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Nightlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Get Out of Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 3 Florence: Great City of the Renaissance . . . . . 94 Don’t Leave Florence Without... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 A Brief History of Florence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 iii 02_247600-fftoc.qxp 6/19/08 3:29 PM Page iv iv Contents Lay of the Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Accommodations, Both Standard & Not. . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Dining for All Tastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Why You’re Here: The Top Sights & Attractions. . . . . . . . 114 The Other Florence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Attention, Shoppers! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Nightlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 4 Tuscany. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Don’t Leave Tuscany Without... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Lucca. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Pisa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 San Gimignano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Chianti Country. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Siena. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Arezzo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 5 Umbria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Don’t Leave Umbria Without... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Perugia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Assisi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Orvieto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Todi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 Spoleto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 Gubbio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 6 Bologna & Emilia-Romagna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 Don’t Leave Bologna Without... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 A Brief History of Bologna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Lay of the Land. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 Accommodations, Both Standard & Not. . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 Dining for All Tastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Why You’re Here: The Top Sights & Attractions. . . . . . . . 246 The Other Bologna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 02_247600-fftoc.qxp 6/19/08 3:29 PM Page v Contents v Nightlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 Side Trips from Bologna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 7 Venice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Don’t Leave Venice Without... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 A Brief History of Venice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Lay of the Land. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Accommodations, Both Standard & Not. . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Dining for All Tastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Why You’re Here: The Top Sights & Attractions. . . . . . . . 303 The Other Venice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329 Attention, Shoppers! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 Nightlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338 Island Hopping to Murano, Burano & Torcello . . . . . . . . 342 8 Padua, Verona & the Dolomites. . . . . . . . . . . 345 Don’t Leave the Veneto & Dolomites Region Without... . . . 346 Padua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 Verona. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364 Cortina d’Ampezzo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 9 Milan & the Lake District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390 Don’t Leave Milan & the Lake District Without... . . . . . . 390 Milan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391 The Lake District. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416 10 Turin & the Alps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435 Don’t Leave Piemonte Without... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435 Turin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436 Courmayeur & Mont Blanc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451 11 The Cinque Terre, the Portofino Promontory & Genoa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456 Don’t Leave the Ligurian Coast Without... . . . . . . . . . . .457 The Cinque Terre National Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457 02_247600-fftoc.qxp 6/19/08 3:29 PM Page vi vi Contents The Portofino Promontory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476 Genoa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484 12 Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast . . . . . . . 497 Don’t Leave Naples Without... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498 A Brief History of Naples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499 Lay of the Land. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499 Getting Around. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 Accommodations, Both Standard & Not. . . . . . . . . . . . . 501 Dining for All Tastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506 Why You’re Here: The Top Sights & Attractions. . . . . . . . 510 The Other Naples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524 Attention, Shoppers! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527 Nightlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528 Day Trips from Naples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529 The Amalfi Coast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538 13 Lecce & the Bucolic Charms of Puglia . . . . . . 549 Don’t Leave Italy’s Heel Without... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550 A Brief History of Puglia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550 Lay of the Land. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552 Getting Around. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552 Lecce. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553 Alberobello & Trulli Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559 Matera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563 Lucera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567 The Gargano Promontory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570 14 Sicily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573 Don’t Leave Sicily Without... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574 A Brief History of Sicily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574 Lay of the Land. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576 Getting On & Off the Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577 Getting Around the Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579 02_247600-fftoc.qxp 6/19/08 3:29 PM Page vii Contents vii Palermo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580 Cefalù . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595 Aeolian Islands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596 Taormina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600 Catania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603 Mt. Etna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604 Siracusa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604 Ragusa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610 Central Sicily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611 Agrigento. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612 Western Sicily: Trapani Province. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615 Egadi Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616 15 The Essentials of Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617 When to Visit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617 Entry Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618 Getting the Best Airfare to Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620 Travel Insurance—Do You Need It? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624 Getting Around. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625 Saving Money on Accommodations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626 Money Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628 Health & Safety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628 Specialized Travel Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629 Recommended Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632 Italy on the Big Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633 16 Italy: A Closer Look. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 636 The Cuisine of Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 636 A Brief History of Italy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645

Description:
Spend less, see more. This is the philosophy behind Pauline Frommer’s guides. Written by travel expert Pauline Frommer (who is also the daughter of Arthur Frommer), and her team of hand-picked writers, these guides show how to truly experience a culture, meet locals, and save money along the way.
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