Rick Steves' Spain & Portugal 2000

Rating:
Summary: Rick Steves' Spain & Portugal 2000
Review: Passport, tickets, hiking shoes and Rick Steve's book-these are the things I never forget to pack for my vacation in Europe. Rick Steves' Spain & Portugal 2000 again makes it on my list of top travel books. Like all his books, they are more like travel diaries. We used his book extensively during our visit to Barcelona, Granada, Seville, Madrid and Lisbon. The hotels we stayed at were all based on the recommendations listed in the book and we were not disappointed! Generally we had the best luck with his recommended eateries, except some in Lisbon. It appears that these establishments already have been on the recommended list for many years have gotten complacent compared to other places we went to in Spain. The hand-drawn maps and description of various tourist sites came in quite handy. Drawing our attention to places that did not speak English helped and the short phrase guide at the end of the book was a good compliment. It is a great book if you want to go to the "most visited" places in Spain and Portugal. It does not have much information about places outside the touristic areas. The information on Spain was much more up to date compared to Portugal and overall it is a well-researched and clearly written book.

Rating:
Summary: Rick Steves' Spain & Portugal 2000
Review: Passport, tickets, hiking shoes and Rick Steve's book-these are the things I never forget to pack for my vacation in Europe. Rick Steves' Spain & Portugal 2000 again makes it on my list of top travel books. Like all his books, they are more like travel diaries. We used his book extensively during our visit to Barcelona, Granada, Seville, Madrid and Lisbon. The hotels we stayed at were all based on the recommendations listed in the book and we were not disappointed! Generally we had the best luck with his recommended eateries, except some in Lisbon. It appears that these establishments already have been on the recommended list for many years have gotten complacent compared to other places we went to in Spain. The hand-drawn maps and description of various tourist sites came in quite handy. Drawing our attention to places that did not speak English helped and the short phrase guide at the end of the book was a good compliment. It is a great book if you want to go to the "most visited" places in Spain and Portugal. It does not have much information about places outside the touristic areas. The information on Spain was much more up to date compared to Portugal and overall it is a well-researched and clearly written book.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Have
Review: Rick Steves assumes his readers are intelligent and able to make decisions, but need some help with the details. I used the 1998 version of this guide for a trip to Madrid and Barcelona. The information about the pensions was perfect. We found a clean, reasonable place to stay in Madrid with no trouble whatsoever, a real godsend when you're jet-lagged and hauling luggage. The books's worth the price for that kind of information alone.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Have
Review: Rick Steves assumes his readers are intelligent and able to make decisions, but need some help with the details. I used the 1998 version of this guide for a trip to Madrid and Barcelona. The information about the pensions was perfect. We found a clean, reasonable place to stay in Madrid with no trouble whatsoever, a real godsend when you're jet-lagged and hauling luggage. The books's worth the price for that kind of information alone.