Best of Europe: Italy

Great video, a bit old but great quality and tips

I have to admit, I didn't know who Rudy Maxa was before I bought this video. My wife and I are heading out on a Mediterranean cruise soon, and I was looking for videos the help prep us and inspire us. This video hits Florence, Rome, Naples/Amalfi & Venice...and we're visiting all those places, so for the low price, I couldn't see a downside. Each episode is about 27 minutes, and therefore, there is little depth. But for quality of content, it's about the same as an episode of Rick Steves' show or Samantha Brown. I believe it falls somewhere between the two. Brown, to me, is a bit shrill and she tries too hard to be "cutesy." Steves just has better written narration, IMO. Maxa is an engaging enough guide, I suppose...just a little low energy. The quality overall, is excellent, at least on the blu-ray. You really get a good sense of the area. The best episode is the one set in Venice. I got several excellent ideas and jotted down a number of places to visit. Rome feels the most insubstantial...he tries to cover too many places and once. But honestly, that's actually a fairly minor quibble. This video provides nearly two hours of excellent "tour prep" in a solid, workmanlike fashion. If you're planning a trip, then this becomes a 5-star must-buy.

The images are stunning. It is in 1080i but still looks fantastic. Very informative. Rudy Maxa is interesting to listen to and he gives good tips for travelling in the areas he documents. I felt I had to review this blu-ray when I saw one of three reviews from someone who apparantly did not update their firmware and had problems watching the disk and rated this one star. There are other titles in this series including France and Italy which are also filmed beautifully and are interesting. Also video is 16:9 and not 1:33. Beautiful widescreen.

This is an excellent DVD. Casual, non-pretencious and warm and welcoming. The Blu-Ray quality is quite good! Yet keep in mind that the video was often shot as long as 5-6 years ago. You'll see footage with tourists still using pre-Euro money. It was apparently a TV series so the DVD is divided into 4 segments. The Amalfi Coast/Naples segment is the weakest with the Rome segment the best and most accurate. Venice is also excellent. Great DVD. Better than most.

This DVD gives a good overview of the main cities and attractions in Italy for first-time travelers. I am disappointed that the DVD is so old that the former lira money is still shown in transactions instead of the Eurodollar.

This is a great disc to own, It has amazing picture & sound quality. Something we all expect from Blu Ray discs. Rudy Maxa is a great Host & gives us several tips which include even where to buy bus tickets, what to look for at a bus stop etc. there are maps of the location..all this & more, which should be helpfull to all foregin travellers who can sometimes get confused in places like these. The photography & music are first grade & this is the next best thing to being there. now for the drawbacks : There is just not enough of Italy shown, considering the storage capacity of Blu Ray discs a lot more could have been included. plus some extra features like interactive maps, best & worst seasons to visit, List of festivals & local Holidays, Important Italian phrases or words & their english translation etc should also have been included.

Dear Amazon friends, Rudy really encourages us to travel to Europe and his enthusiasm in infectious. My students and I are delighted with his travel videos. John Barnes, Bangkok, Thailand

High quality video. I've been to Italy and this video does a good job of it. It was very nice to reminisce of the parts that I was familiar with. Good job "Best of Europe!"

quite good

Purchased this DVD (Blu-Ray on Italy as we are planning a trip to Italy and England, Rome & London to be precise...Thei disc was a catalogue of things to see....Was a great price and wonderful quick and speedy service...Would not hesitate in buying from this Market Place Seller again...Thanks for the great product and service...

Excellent DVD!!!