Watcher

B Vaughan<[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>. ..
    > On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 17:34:30 +0100, "ThePrudentMariner"
    > <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > >For a guide book, my personal choice would be "The Rough Guide to Sicily".
    > >Less waffle, more useful facts and general info.This recommendation will
    > >probably generate much static from Foder fans et al.
    >

I have the DK Eyewitness Guide to Sicily. It has the strengths and
weaknesses of all Eyewitness Guides -- a beautiful keepsake of the
trip, strong on architecture and photo ops, weak on lodging and
restaurants, probably pretty useless for an auto trip.....

Dan Stephenson

In article <[email protected] >, Watcher
<[email protected]> wrote:

    > B Vaughan<[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:<[email protected]>. ..
    > > On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 17:34:30 +0100, "ThePrudentMariner"
    > > <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >
    > > >For a guide book, my personal choice would be "The Rough Guide to Sicily".
    > > >Less waffle, more useful facts and general info.This recommendation will
    > > >probably generate much static from Foder fans et al.
    > >
    >
    > I have the DK Eyewitness Guide to Sicily. It has the strengths and
    > weaknesses of all Eyewitness Guides -- a beautiful keepsake of the
    > trip, strong on architecture and photo ops, weak on lodging and
    > restaurants, probably pretty useless for an auto trip.....

I'm the OP. I wound up getting a DK Eyewitness, a Lonely Planet, and a
Michelin Green Guide. They're all small, I otherwise pack light, will
have a car, and benefit from the spectrum of perspectives. And I love
all the pre-trip planning. My approach is to totally digest these
books (got the same 3 for my trip to Scotland last Spring), using the
Lonely Planet as the one that gets 'marked up', and then marking up a
road atlas of the cool things I've learned in the guidebooks. That
way, I can enjoy the scenery of the drive and "know what I'm doing".

I didn't find either the Michelin or the Atlante Stradale d'Italia in
the Barnes & Nobles bookstore. I will have to find that one out, soon,
too. I'm more familiar with the layout of the former (having used the
Britain & Ireland atlas for my last three vacations), but the later is
more detailed. I will have to think about it.

So in summary, I wouldn't either depend solely on the DK Eyewitness
Guide, BUT, its incredible photos and map illustrations are GREAT to
deciding WHAT to see. And I don't use guidebooks for lodging anyway, I
plan to find lodging on a day-to-day basis. I figure October is out of
high season. And I'm a restaurant coward, so... I guess I'm good.

--
Dan Stephenson
Photos and movies from US Parks and all over Europe:
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda

B Vaughan

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 01:43:26 GMT, Dan Stephenson
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >So in summary, I wouldn't either depend solely on the DK Eyewitness
    >Guide, BUT, its incredible photos and map illustrations are GREAT to
    >deciding WHAT to see. And I don't use guidebooks for lodging anyway, I
    >plan to find lodging on a day-to-day basis. I figure October is out of
    >high season. And I'm a restaurant coward, so... I guess I'm good.

I keep an Eyewitness Guide to Italy just so I can show it to visiting
relatives so they can decide where they want me to take them. The one
time I took it along on a trip, I found it pretty useless in action.

I don't know about Sicily, but in many parts of Italy, October is high
season, while August is shoulder season.
-----------
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup