New Lonely Planet Venice Guide
What to See, Where to Eat in One of Europe's Most Beautiful Cities
Is there room for yet another guidebook to Venice? Well, the new Venice Encounter guide doesn't take up a lot of room on the bookshelf, nor will it take up much room in anyone's luggage, pocket or purse. It's only a few inches high, light as a feather, but its 192 pages (plus a pull-out street map) contain most of the essential information any Venice visitor will need.
The Author
Venice is a city where visitors need an expert guide. Alison Bing has a bachelor's degree in art history, which is a good start for a city with many fine art collections and museums. Alison has also contributed to several other Lonely Planet guides, to Italy, to Milan, and to Tuscany and Umbria. She lives partly in San Francisco and partly in a hilltop town in Italy, on the borders of Lazio and Tuscany.
Venetian Voices
An enjoyable feature of Lonely Planet's Ecounter guides is the inclusion of brief interviews wth local people, for an insider view of the destination. Often they tell readers where to eat and where to drink, but in Venice there's also advice on what to drink. One of the interviewees is Giovanni d'Este, the Sommelier at the Osteria I Rusteghi, who runs through the best Venetian wines – and suggests what to avoid.
The Good News
Encounter guidebooks tend to have just as many listings as some bigger guides, but the write-ups are a little shorter to enable more to be packed in. To this reviewer it's a good compromise. It's always good to find lots of new bars and restaurants to try. That's part of the fun of a trip, and despite what people think, there are far far more good-value, good-quality eating and drinking places in Venice than there are tourist traps. Visitors just need to know where to find them, and the listings in this guidebook along with the cross-references to the maps will enable travelers to do that.
The Bad News
None of the titles in Lonely Planet's Encounter series contain detailed information on where to stay. There is a two-page Accommodation overview, including the author's pick of the best hotels (both budget and luxury) but only their names and website addresses are given. Instead readers are referred to the hotel section of the Lonely Planet website, www.lonelyplanet.com/hotels, where over 50 Venice hotels are listed and can be booked direct. No doubt the publishers earn a commission on the booking, but readers would probably be advised to try several online hotel booking services to be sure of getting the best price. This reviewer is dubious about guidebook publishers setting themselves up as hotel booking agencies too.
The other point to note is that for some reason the Venice title costs £1 or $1 more than similar titles in this same series, such as Athens or Amsterdam, which are exactly the same size and format. Well, Venice does have a reputation for being pricey.
The Bottom Line
Lonely Planet's Encounter guides are bright and enjoyable, compact and inexpensive, and include all the basic information any visitor needs. Most of them, including this one, are written in a lively and engaging style, by authors who know their destination.
Practical Information
Venice Encounter is published by Lonely Planet at £7.99 in the UK and $12.99 in the USA.
Venice Encounter Guidebook
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