One Hundred & One Beautiful Small Towns in Italy (Rizzoli Classics) Hardcover – April 29, 2014

The text is to the point, bringing uniqueness of each place, its rich history, traditions and fairs. Not every town will appeal to everyone. Where one sees nothing, the other sees a treasure.Nevertheless, the amount of the given information is appropriate for this kind of book. This is not a research book with all the details. For me the true gem of this book, are the foods and fairs listed at a lot of those places.For example, Aosta almost at the crossroads with France and Switzerland often is being discovered by accident. I happened to be there this past summer and one raises a question why it’s not so touristy with such historical heritage. I found the answer in this book – this remote Alpine town is not easy to find. In the ancient times it was strategically located to watch for the enemy coming from the Alps. Today such strategic location proves to be hard to find. I didn’t know that Aosta had Sant’Orso Fair until I read it in this book. However, the book states that originally it was during the last two days of January and nowadays it’s on August 15. The official website of Aosta states that it is still during the last two days of January.For most of the places, the pictures show the true spirit of the city. For example Alba, the city of truffles, shows it clearly with its market selling truffles. However, for example, the picture of a street in Merano doesn’t show the true spirit of the town and I know it, because I’ve been there myself. The town is known for its healing resorts and vineyards rolling down right into the town.I was very surprised to see Verona in this book, which is not a small town. Bolzano is not a small town neither, but has so much more charm being nestled in the Alps with vineyards extending to the town. This town gained popularity, when the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology was created to host the Iceman found in the Alps.Overall, I truly enjoyed this book. I would highly recommend it or buy it again as a gift.

"101 Beautiful Small Towns of Italy" is not a guide book in the strict sense of the word. It is a wonderful coffee table book you should always keep there in order to browse through and get pleasure from the beautiful photos of all those beautiful towns. It is divided according to historical regions of Northern, Central and Southern Italy, as well as the islands. It gives you a host of the facts about the history and culture of the towns. And their histories are so entertwined, you get the history of Italy in miniature.But the book also gives such extensive information about what to see in these towns and around them, what and where to eat, where and what to shop for,as well as a lot of advice about places to stay, that you really can use it as a guide book.Highly recommended for everybody who enjoys travelling and beautiful photography.

ONE HUNDRED AND ONE BEAUTIFUL SMALL TOWNS OF ITALY is a lavishly illustrated insider's look at the Italy as known to Italians. Writer Paolo Lazzarin took on this project of focusing on the secret treasures within Italy and wrote it for Italians. Now Rizzoli has released it internationally and all of us who love this most romantic of countries are the richer for this guidebook.Lazzarin has divided his book into the multiple regions of Italy from the north to the south and shows us all the hidden small towns that are in the regions of the famous cities such as Venice, Milan, Florence, Siena, and Rome. He is careful to acknowledge the influence of these cities we all know, but at the same time he graces each of the 101 towns with descriptions of the land the architecture, the artisans, the foods, and the special places that provide a strong magnet to the reader.Many of the towns names are familiar, but only because the names appear on cheeses, wines, olive oil, and trinkets! Yet in this book the towns of Spoleto, San Gimignano, Arezzo, Gallipoli, Portofino, Gubbio, Ischia, Modena, Aosta and all the others come to life in warm prose and breathtaking photography.This special book is illuminating as a resource guide for the next voyage to Italia; it also is one of the more beautiful gift books for treasured friends and loved ones on the market today! Grady Harp, November 2004.

Beautiful book with great photos and good discriptions.Lots to learn about these towns in detail. Helps you visit thesetowns in your own time and comfort of your home.Learn about places you would love to see in time.Italy is beautiful and full of history and this is theway to see it before a trip. I recommend this book to anyone wholoves Italy.