Lonely Planet Madrid (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) [Paperback]

Damien Simonis (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lonely Planet Travel Guides | Publication Date: November 2000

Contains inside information on Madrid's top sites and many less-well known gems; the lowdown on where madrilenos party 'til dawn; advice on the city's best accommodation and restaurants to suit all budgets; and details of day trips to the medieval hill city of Toledo, historic Segovia and the magnificent expanse of the Sierras.

Editorial Reviews

Review

As usual the guidebook standard is set by Lonely Planet

-- Outside (USA)

From the Publisher

Lonely Planet’s new "Madrid" is loaded with historical and political facts, practical predeparture information, a handy reference of important phrases, and up to date hotel and restaurant recommendations. Whether you are visiting for a weekend or staying for a semester abroad, Lonely Planet’s "Madrid" is a faithful compañero.

• 20-page full-color map section
• accommodation options from bargain hostales to luxurious hotels
• places to eat from tapas bars to the finest restaurants
• the lowdown on where to shop till you drop
• day trips to Toledo, Córdoba, Segovia and the Sierras

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1864501235
• ISBN-13: 978-1864501230
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,776,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Madrid Guidebooks Compared, December 27, 2001

By 

Samuel J. Schleman (Malvern, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Madrid (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) (Paperback)

I am an experienced traveler (30+ countries) who is nearing retirement and plan to travel extensively, who has recently become obsessed about finding "good" guidebooks. So this review is a comparison of the books I looked at for Madrid.

I started with the Insight Guide. I was seeking to get background, history, etc. The Insight Guides seem to vary enormously from one to the next in both quality and orientation. I think they are good for an entire country if you are trying to decide where in the country or what parts you want to see. I thought the guide for Madrid was useless. It provided very little information about the city or the culture. It seemed to be best if you were planning on moving to Madrid and wanted to find out the differences between the various suburban areas. I suggest you forget this one.

I looked at the Mini-Rough Guide. I didn't like the format and it was too terse for my taste. In my opinion, Rough Guide still needs to produce a guide for Madrid that is a regular, not a mini Rough Guide. The LP Guide to Madrid seemed pretty mediocre. The stiff covers also made it awkward to use or hold open to a particular page. The information and descriptions were inadequate compared to some other guides. The Eyewitness Guide to Madrid is, I think, the best overall guide to Madrid. (Generally I prefer Eyewitness guides for City's much more than as a guide for an entire country.) The maps are good, the pictures of the food and other items are very helpful. The hotels and restaurant sections were pretty good, but not great. If you are looking for hostels, you will need the LP guide. Eyewitness does not give great historical depth, but it gives you some, probably enough for most tourists. Guide Books are not the best source for detailed historical and cultural information anyway. The Time Out guide was almost like a tourist's yellow pages, primarily a listing of hotels, restaurants, sites, services, etc. It had the best listing of restaurants and hotels and covered all price ranges. It wasn't as good as Eyewitness is describing the things to see and do.

I ended up getting the Eyewitness Guide to use while sightseeing, supplemented by the Time Out guide for picking hotels, restaurants and being able to look up things. Another reviewer recommended this same combination in order to visit Tapas bars. I'm not that much into Tapas, but I still think these two are the best combo.

Incidentally, the Spain Rough and LP guides Madrid sections do not cover Madrid as well as the Madrid-only guides. You are looking at a 60-page section, compared to the Madrid-only guides of around 300 pages length.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars new guide is better, December 9, 2004

By 

Crissy Stalin "Crissy" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Madrid (Lonely Planet Madrid) (Paperback)

Looking at the dates, it seems like the reader reviews for this book are all for the old guide. The new version just came out, and I think it looks and reads a lot better, so maybe it's time to put up some new reader reviews.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleased so far, January 22, 2007

By 

J. Meyer (Richmond VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Madrid (City Guide) (Paperback)

I bought this book recently (the new edition). I have read through it in planning my upcoming trip. Although I have yet to test the accuracy of the information in person, the book strikes me as practical. First, the book is paperback and fairly slender-- so not too bulky or heavy to actually carry around while you're traveling. The second thing that struck me is that it provides maps, including a metro line map. Although the maps may not be the most user friendly with their small print, they'll do fine for the trip planning stage of the trip (I usually get a good city map for navigation once I arrive to my destination city). The sections seem thorough, with an entire chapter on the history of the city. I was pleased with the day trip chapter as well, which lists many options for day trips, how you can get there, what you can do there, and how long it takes to travel there.
As far as the accuracy issue, I have yet to find a guidebook that is completely accurate. That being the case, I view them as one source of information among many and do not rely exclusively on a single guidebook.