Blue Guide Northern Italy

I miss these books most when I am in a country for which they are out of print (recently Spain) as other guidebooks provide little information on these topics. However, I also buy a standard guidebook for general (hotel, etc.) information as the Blue Guides are useless for that. If you are not that interested in more details on these topics (there is no reason you should or shouldn't be), then you'd probably be wasting your money buying this book. In that case I would give this book one star.I think the previous review expresses the same point but in a different way. Perhaps it is partly in reaction to this type of review that recently there seems to have been a dumbing-down of the books, which is a shame. Now that is a snotty comment.

This lists interesting sites in many towns and cities. This has more detail than is needed for the rushed tourist with only a couple of days to do the "highlights" of Italy, but is great for the more serious visitor with more time. Info on both the famous sites and many possibilities for going off the beaten path.

The book is for the art and architecture historian/student. Not meant for the casual traveler to Europe. This book is an authorative on the subjects it involves. The perfect book to have when you want to know what the archtecture in the region is about and wish not to carry a huge "textbook". Not some lame book that tells you of hotels and restaurants to visit with lots of pretty pictures.