Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Rick Steves' Spain and Portugal 2002 by Rick Steves ISBN: 1-56691-358-6 Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing Pub. Date: 09 January, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.88 (8 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: Portugal and Spain are not the same
Comment: I consider travel guides on of the most useful books. When someone likes to travel like me, it is an opportunity to experience deeply local issues thatb other wise would tend to be hidden from the first time around tourist.
For this reason I totally disagree on the fact that the author tends to summarize Portugal and Spain, two of the oldest countries in Europe, therefore with totaly different aspects and much to say about, in one single book.
On the educational side, it is misleading for most people does not know where Portugal is and considers it part of Spain. I hope the author could appreciate the completly different realities when in Portugal and in Spain..
Rating: 3
Summary: Use it for sightseeing, not for eating
Comment: We took this book on a 2 week tour of Spain. While informative for the larger cities, we found Rick's book simply lacked a lot of information that, looking back, would have made our trip a hundred times better. Rick's hotel choices gave sparse details, and he failed to stress the necessity of air conditioning-- something we found well worth an extra $5. Do not go to Spain in the summer and get a hotel without a/c - even keeping the windows open was not an option for us with the city noise.
While we were usually happy with Rick's sightseeing choices, we found his restaurant decisions were poor. The places we tried that he recommended were pleasant but had no interest in tourists (even the back door kind). The places we found on our own - off-beat family-run types - were much better. There we had kitchen staff coming out to "practice their English" on us, we were given free samples of Spanish cuisine that we hadn't ordered, and basically felt like we were interacting more with the staff and therefore experiencing more. None of those places were in Rick's book.
If I were going to Spain again, I'd rip out the sightseeing parts and take them along with a different book for eating and sleeping. Just my 2 cents.
Rating: 5
Summary: Best book for seeing the best of the Iberian Penninsula
Comment: Here's my response to reviewers complaining about lack of detailed information ... well, DUH! It's the whole purpose of the book to be selective, instead of data-dumping 2000 pages of hotel listings for villages that 99% of the tourists never go to.
If you want that other kind of travel guidebook, or if you're traveling to the one-oxcart villages, then go buy one of those books. (We also bought a Lonely Planet book, esp. for the cultural and historical background info.) But you were fully informed and warned that this book is SELECTIVE.
From the back cover: "Most travel guidebooks try to impress you with massive amounts of data. My philosophy is...[to] present you with only the best" From the second paragraph of the introduction, page one: "This book breaks Spain and Portugal into their TOP big city, small town, and rural destinations. It then gives you all the information and opinions NECESSARY to wring the maximum value out of your limited time and money. If you plan A MONTH OR LESS in Iberia, this LEAN AND MEAN little book is all you need." [emphasis added by me]
Once again, you were fully informed that this book is selective, so why do you complain about that selectivity?
Personally, I found this book was absolutely indispensible in planning our trip to Spain. It solved our biggest problem with the trip: it was our first time there, we wanted to see the best that this amazing country has to offer, but we only had 2 weeks. We also did not want to buy a package tour for budget reasons and because you don't get to see as much of the "genuine" country.
Rick Steves' book saved the day. It helped us pick the top places to visit, and the top sights in each city. The recommended hotels were also real finds -- some of them were easily worth twice as much as they were charging, and the book lets you know which of the expensive hotels are really worth the splurge and which are just stuffy tourist traps. Phone numbers, email and web addresses, hours, and train/bus info was also very accurate (obviously some of the info is going to change, but it was maybe 95% correct), with new updates and helpful info available.
 |
Title: Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door 2004: The Travel Skills Handbook by Rick Steves, Avalon Travel Publishing ISBN: 1566915317 Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
 |
Title: Michelin Spain & Portugal Tourist and Motoring Atlas (Michelin Tourist and Motoring Atlas: Spain & Portugal, 10th Ed) by Michelin Travel Publications, Michelin ISBN: 2061002404 Publisher: Michelin Travel Publications Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
 |
Title: Rick Steves' Russia & the Baltics (Serial) by Rick Steves, Ian Watson ISBN: 1562613898 Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing Pub. Date: February, 1998 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
 |
Title: Rick Steves' Italy 2004 by Rick Steves ISBN: 1566915333 Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing Pub. Date: December, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
 |
Title: Rick Steves' Great Britain 2003 by Rick Steves ISBN: 1566914620 Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing Pub. Date: November, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
