Italy: Instructions for Use
by Nan McElroy
It’s the Italian Travel Consultant That Fits In Your Pocket
It can be intimidating, navigating an environment that’s just different enough from our own to be unnerving, especially when a glitch occurs in your well-designed travel plan. Italy is a country, not a theme park, so it won’t be meticulously signed and perfectly organized the way we’d prefer. And when you do need help, say, in the middle of the Florence train station, trying to choose the correct window to reserve your rail pass in time to make your train, your only assistance is either buried somewhere in a two-inch guidebook, back on our great web site, or at the information window, where there’s yet another line.
No problem — just reach for the Instructions.
Written by an American travel consultant who speaks the language, organizes travelers’ time in Italy, and lives Italian life two to four months per year, this illustrated guide is packed with the most current, pertinent, easy-to-locate advice available. Because it focuses solely on the practical information, the Instructions contains many extra, more specific details the other guides simply don’t have the room to include, and therefore makes them much more accessible.
No matter what your destinations or travel plans, you’ll find all the critical info you need, including:
in-depth considerations when planning your trip
advice on eating, drinking, ordering, tipping
driving tips, including color road sign illustrations
phoning instructions (local, international and cell calls)
keys to understanding the Italian train system
shopping, shipping, and the secrets to easily obtaining your VAT refund
vocabulary in context, Italian to English, and vice-versa
tourist information resources
In short, you’ll have the answers to your questions available as you travel, not back on a web site or the fat, heavy travel guide that you decided to leave at home. This elegant little guide is designed for easy reference; it’s portable, illustrated, color-coded, and includes an extensive appendix, index, and an English/Italian vocabulary in two forms: once in context within the chapter, and again in order by the English word, when you need help quick. There’s even a lesson in pronunciation.