- A typical one-volume guide to Europe has around 100 pages on Italy. A decent guide to Italy covers the same territory in about 800-900 pages. For someone who is going to spend a week in Italy, 100 pages or so is about enough to cover the very basics, and point the way to some of the highlights of Rome, Florence, and Venice. For someone planning on spending a month, wandering from Milan to Palermo and on to Sardinia, 800-900 pages would be a wise investment.

- The book you choose will be a very important part of your trip, and you will use it just about every day. Check a few out of the library, or at least take an hour or two in a bookstore to compare the various options. There are marked differences among the guides available.

- Always use the most up-to-date version of the guidebook you prefer. Trying to save a few dollars by using an old version is a very poor idea.

- All of the books described below, whether I care for them or not, represent a huge amount of work and information gathering. Before going, no matter what book you buy, sit down and read all the opening pages and the section on the first country you will visit. You will find an astounding amount of useful information that you might never have suspected was in there. As always, I learned that the hard way. If you have a question, try your guidebook and see if it is answered somewhere.