"Time Out" Rome

As Aurelio Zen's creator Michael Dibdin says in his introduction to Time Out Rome, the best way to know the city is to do nothing. He goes on to say he means don't fret with a schedule but simply absorb the history, the culture and the contemporary sense of its citizens. This guide follows with clever, sometimes curious, commentary from the short history of the city's ups and downs to vignettes of the oddities that make it endearing. It doesn't even pretend to offer a step-by- step guide of the "if its elevenses, it must be the Coliseum"-style guide book. Lists of historical and architectural sights are complete, nonetheless.

A few hours of chaos--nonsensical museum hours, relentless building works and changing venues--and it hits home. Fellini made documentaries, Dibdin reminds the traveller. The guide mimics its subject, jumping around when it feels the urge but giving solid information on the basics. There's a better than usual list of Italian phrases for food, money, accommodation and shopping. And a handy column under the heading "female self-defence." But, not to deny the chance at romance, it also includes the phrase "mi piacerebbe tanto fare un giro con Lei in Vespa"--"I'd love to go for a spin on your Vespa." Or, as this book suggests, be indulgent with Rome, it will love you for it. --Kathleen Buckley

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Generally very good - Rated
I'm quite a fan of the Time Out series when it comes to city guides. This guide to Rome was very good, we tried out some of the recommended restaruants and also found our hotel through this book, which was an excellent choice. The biggest complaint would probably be the maps.Sometimes it seemed to be a bit tricky to find what you were looking for.Also on a few occassions it appeared that eating places were not where the guide book said they would be or they were closed when the guide said they would be open for business.

Not the right guide if you want to see the historical sights! - Rated
This guide may well be good for restaurants/nightlife but the descriptions of Rome's many monuments are very thin and unhelpful. Look elsewhere if you're planning to go and see the sights.

Book is good for some stuff but not for others... - Rated
The Time Out Rome guide excels where a Time Out guide is expected to--accomodation, entertainment, food, drink, bars, clubs, etc. But it has serious shortcomings as a guide to the historical sites of Rome. As most historical sites and museums in Rome have poor to no labelling, you need a better guide for that part of your trip than this. Bring the Time Out book for the nights, but you'll want another Rome guide for the day.

Bella Roma!!! - Rated
A definite must for anyone thinking of visiting this awesome city! We took two guide books with us, one being the Rough Guide to Rome and other being this little gem! Whilst the Rough Guide was useful the Time Out was invaluable. The Time Out guide has a huge section on eating and drinking and thanks to this we ate at some of the best restaurants in Rome and drank at the coolest bars! (Whilst being on a budget!!) If you are going to Rome and you want to do more than just sightseeing buy this book and let it take you away from all those tourists to some of Romes best kept secrets!!

Interesting and useful read - Rated
We enjoyed reading the articles. The advice, at least on our extended weekend, was useful. Both the restaurants we took from the book were good. What more could you ask from a travel guide ?