2024 the best place to see review
Price: $22.95 - $21.69
(as of Dec 01, 2024 19:25:08 UTC - Details)
Escorted tours are highly regimented and expensive averaging $300-$500 per person per day excluding airfare. Bob Kaufman knows. For over 30 years he ran National Travel Vacations, Inc. a tour operator who offered escorted tours on contract to travel agents.
If you don’t want to be told that you must be on the bus at 8 AM, and that you have only one hour to shop in Venice, this book is for you. If you don’t want to feel stressed out driving in a strange country, where everyone drives exceptionally fast, this book is for you. If you like waking up when you want, eating when you want and spending as much time as you want on each sight, this book will show you how to do it.
Bob Kaufman’s “Italy The Best Places to See by Rail” is the essential book you need to plan an in-expensive rail tour of Italy travelling on the newest state-of-the–art ultra-modern high-speed trains.
The book is made for seniors and the younger generations, who are not comfortable or care not to take escorted tours or drive in a foreign country. For seniors, the book is easier to read because it is printed in a larger and bold type than normal travel books.
The author outlines five major itineraries which include: Rome, Florence, Venice, the Lakes District (Como, Maggiore and Lugano), and an over the Alps option on the world famous Bernina Express, the Amalfi Coast and Sicily.
Kaufman describes each itinerary and just how to plan it. Sicily is further broken down into day trips from Palermo and the Taormina areas. Day trips from Florence to Pisa, Lucca, Siena, San Gimignano and the Cinque Terre are described in detail.
The author has a full chapter devoted to hotels near the train stations so you don’t have to walk more than 10-15 minutes to your hotel. He even explains how to evaluate and choose each hotel along the way.
The book is easy to read (it’s Kaufman’s second book) and chuck full of information needed to plan your in-expensive rail trip including websites on how to obtain your rail and attraction tickets for the Coliseum and Sistine Chapel and more. This will save you hours of time and money on the internet.
Kaufman includes: tables, maps an index of section headings, places of interest, hotels and recommended restaurants from almost thirty trips to this beautiful country. His second book on travel, “SPAIN The Best Places to See by Rail is due out in 2020.”
Use this book for planning, and take it along with you and a good tour book of Italy and you will not be disappointed with your vacation. Do take a look at the reviews on the rear cover of this book.
Publisher : CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (May 10, 2018)
Language : English
Paperback : 300 pages
ISBN-10 : 1985276801
ISBN-13 : 978-1985276802
Item Weight : 14.2 ounces
Dimensions : 6 x 0.68 x 9 inches
Reviewer: Anne P. Isop
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Best book for train travel in Italy!
Review: This book is filled with great advice on using Italy's train system. We have several travel books related to Italy but found this one best for planning train travel.
Reviewer: S. Anderson
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Simplifies the Complicated
Review: This well-traveled author is like a kind friend who is helping you through a maze of transportation choices, attractions, where to stay, dining areas, history, etc., etc. Thus making a trip to Italy less stressful!The other tour books for Italy are good, but this is the one that takes away clutter, makes travel easier to understand, is fun and the book is easy to read!!Thanks, Mr. Kaufman from myself and seven other family members who have designedour own tour to Bologna, Rome and the icing on the cake, Florence, Italy, using your book.
Reviewer: Crazygal101
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great, up-to-date resource!
Review: I donât usually review products I buy on Amazon, just the ones that I find helpful. Bob Kaufmanâs guide book on traveling by train through Italy is one of those products. We are planning an Italy trip and bought the guide book. It has greatly helped us to narrow down our choices on where to visit and stay. Usually we use a booking app online to find a hotel, but even reading the reviews it is usually hit-or-miss. This guide book gives numerous choices in each city. It explains the train system and gives specific time & money saving tips. It has already saved us half on airfare. Iâm glad I bought it. Have a good trip!
Reviewer: M. Mesple
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: this book is a must for gaining insight to how the country functions and how to best prepare oneself for a delightful and stressless trip around ...
Review: After having lived in Spain and visited other parts of Europe for the past thirty-five years it was a pleasure to read Bob Kaufmanâs unique book on rail travel in Italy. It is very informative with advice on how to visit Italy without STRESS and relates pertinent information concerning hotels, food, tips and places to see. He compares different means of travelling in Italy and justifies the reason for doing so by rail.Many suggestions of his are not found in the usual guide books, such as: How restaurants in parts of Italy are closed during the months of August or how on one of their fast trains your seat may not be facing the direction of travel.Kaufmanâs book will be an asset when travelling to Italy. Even if you do not plan to be using the rail system , this book is a must for gaining insight to how the country functions and how to best prepare oneself for a delightful and stressless trip around Italy on itsâ superb rail system
Reviewer: Beth
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Must have travel book
Review: Great information for traveling and navigating Italy by railway!
Reviewer: Uhf
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Light on meat
Review: Having toured Italy by car, I wanted a less stressful alternative.  I excitedly reviewed the Table of Contents. It made me laugh."INTRODUCTIONCHAPTER 1CHAPTER 2CHAPTER 3CHAPTER 4CHAPTER 5CHAPTER 6CHAPTER 7CHAPTER 8CHAPTER 9CHAPTER 10CHAPTER 11CHAPTER 12CHAPTER 13APPENDIX""All rights reserved . . . ." "Information included . . . . believed to be correct." Yup, no numbers missing.Kaufman starts slowly for those who have absolutely no idea where to start. He is the experienced companion giving us options and directions.Ch 1: Why Italy. Short and interesting.Ch 2: How to go.Ch 3: Preparing.Ch 4: The first visit.Ch 5: Rome, Florence, Venice itinerary. Unlike the usual tour guides, that I find deadly boring and no longer buy, this is interesting, easy reading. I could find my own way but it is easier just to find needed info compiled in one place. Saved looking up every last detail on websites and maps while dragging luggage through crowds.Ch6: Milan & the Lakes District (Maggiore, Como, Lugano)Ch 7: Bernina Express over the Alps. Good info on connections.Ch 8: Naples, Sorrentine Peninsula, Capri, Pompeii. He tells it well. Where do I get tickets? How will I manage those hills with luggage?Ch 9: Sicily. Getting around but if you get this far, you probably don't need this chapter.Ch 10: Trips from Florence to Pisa, Lucca, San Gimignano, Siena, Cinque Terre.Ch 11: Hotels near stations. Everyone has their own way of finding lodging on another continent. More than once, I've been left without the room that was a confirmed booking. His suggestions were good. People at hotels and tourist information centers are always helpful.  Aside from the lists of his favorites, of no immediate interest to me, this was marginally interesting.Ch 12: Eurail Pass: Great info! Just paid for the book without spending hours doing the math.Ch 13: Essentials: electric, phone, cash, credit, insurance. Good info.He ends with an appendix that is of no use to me: table of train information that is quickly available up to the minute online, websites that are easily Googled, a table of stations (not sure how that helps), travel phrases in Italian better learned there, and 6 pages of sketches of his recommended routes. Overall, I'm glad I read it. The best part was Chapter 12 on rail passes.
Reviewer: Hermano Queiroz
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Excellent book! Easy to ready and full of tips and things that you can't find elsewhere.
Review: I have been traveling abroad for several years, and I want to go back and visit several cities via train. Therefore, this is the book that you need to buy if you are interested to visit Italy via Rail. It's fascinating, and the author keeps you wanting more and more in every chapter. Mr. Kaufman is clear and honest about his own point of view and experiences after been traveling to Italy for more than 30 times. I highly recommend this book, and surely it's worth to get an idea about the experiences of time length spent in locations, what to see, eat, and he is always keeping track of the things that you can't forget. Like buy your tickets beforehand, how long does it take to get to different locations, hotels based on your own budget, and so many other important things that we can't find on regular travel books.
Reviewer: Becky Leake
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Easy to read an informative.
Review: I like the fact that it tells you how to get to these places, and approximately how much itâll cost. And if you wanted to get a mote and spend the night, that was great too!
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Unfortunately this contained little new information for me and was exclusively for the American market of those who had not travelled Italy by train before.
Reviewer: Daniet
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Has helped me prepare for our trip to Italy next year as trains will be our main mode of transport. Has given me confidence to travel that way.
Reviewer: MR Michael A Mccaul
Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: To much reliance on assisted travel which is not necessary for everyday travellersSome suggestions do not work on most everyday trains