Knopf Guide: Venice

The Knopf Guide Venice provides a colorful picture-packed in-depth guide to Venice and the surrounding attractions of the Venice Lagoon. Like all the Knopf guides there is an extensive introduction giving the historical background to Venice. The individual tourist attractions are described in great detail with copious illustration. I wish more photographs were used rather than drawings. This minor fault is common to all the Knopf guides. There are good sections describing Murano, Burano, Lido and San Michele (the Cemetery Island) as well as the obligatory tourist attractions. A visit to Venice is a jarring experience; Venice being like no other place on earth. The real 18th century (and older) architecture seems almost fake, you have to pinch yourself to be reminded that it's not a new Disney ride: "Pirates of the Adriatic." The Knopf guide prepares you for all this if you have the foresight to read it in advance, before taking your trip. There is too much to take in during the typical brief tourist visit. There's great advice about what to try to see with itineraries for a 1-day, 3-day and weeklong visit. A great piece of advice is to get a feel for Venice by staking out a seat in the rear open area of a waterbus. If you buy an inexpensive multi-day pass, this gives you a cheap but comprehensive tour of the city and let's you get off and on repeatedly wherever you like. Venice hotel rooms are small and expensive. You will pay more for a small walk-in-closet-sized room than for a comfortable room with sitting area in Room or Milan. Despite this, I think it is necessary to stay overnight rather than make daytrips from outlying suburban hotels in order to get the true flavor of the city. Walking through Venice at night makes you feel like a character in Othello; you won't get that if you have to leave at the end of the day. The Knopf guide does include some hotel recommendations but it's very limited. A better bet for choosing a hotel would be the Michelin Red Guide Italy. The Red Guide just gives listings with abbreviations describing the accommodations. The Knopf guide can give you an idea about the neighborhood your hotel is in before making a specific choice from the Michelin Red Guide.

This is the perfect companion for walking around Venice. You can open it discreetly to read the clear color maps or look up a restaurant, and then you can slip it back into your pocket. It's not in-depth enough to serve as your only source of information about this city, but that's not its purpose anyway. Leave the heavy, history-oriented guides in the hotel and take this one with you.

folks, this is the best idea for a tourbook/map that i have stumbled across yet. i'm not prone to raving, but this will garner praise from me until the cows come home (bearing foot & mouth) no doubt.so, why is this so great? first of all, it's simple and well designed. the city is broken down into sections. you turn to those pages and there is a brief description of places to eat, shop, etc. the pages then open up into a map of the section with a description of major sites in the area.brilliant! no fumbling around a big map trying to find your street. no squinting to figure out where you are. it's easy to find landmarks, metro stops, etc.the card stock is nice and heavy and has lasted well even in my back pocket. the descriptions have been helpful without being too lengthy. and at this price, it's quite competitive with other maps while providing much more.

I just got my own Knopf Guide for Venice. No more having to renew at the library. While the Eyewitness guides are great for zeroing in on a desired sight, the Knopf series has much more detail about the place in question. I like to buy and read the Knopf guide about 6 months before I leave for my trip so I have plenty of daydream fodder, and then take the Eyewitness for when I actually get there. The Knopf will take you to places that the regular tourists don't know about. Once you get there, if you've read the book, you'll know much more about these places than even some of the natives! My favorite things: The historical photos in the front, the drawings and photos of art (I especially enjoy these after I come home and am feeling nostalgic), and the hotel and restaurant listings in the back.