Rick Steves' Spain and Portugal 2002

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.


Best book for seeing the best of the Iberian Penninsula   October 16, 2002
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

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.


terrible mistake   August 28, 2002
I brought only this book (previous edition) when visiting Spain two years ago, and greatly regretted my choice. The problem is that the book covers the "big places", but has very little in the way of smaller towns, or less visited areas. So, you can go to Barcelona, but find almost nothing on the large number of small villages and towns near there.

Spend a few dollars more and get a "full" tourbook and use this as a back-up if you like his style, but don't use it alone.


A Must Have Guide   April 6, 2002
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

This book is well organized and was very helpful in planning my trip to Spain. This guide book helped me prioritize my trip. I actually stayed at one of the recommended hotels,which I booked myself,with the help of books reservation worksheet. It worked out great, the hotel was cheap but room was fantastic-I could not believe it!!!It is a great guide.