Portugal (Eyewitness Travel Guides) [Paperback]

Martin Symington (Author), Tomas Tranaeus (Author)

Book Description

Series: EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE | Publication Date: January 31, 2003

Eyewitness Travel Guides are the original illustrated travel guidebooks-and they're still the best. Since 1993, the Eyewitness brand has established itself as one of the industry leaders, with sales of more than 6.5 million copies in the U.S. alone. Featuring more than 70 worldwide destinations, new titles are being added to the best-selling Eyewitness Travel Guides series each year. In 2003, to mark the 10th anniversary of the publication of Eyewitness Travel Guides, DK is re-launching the entire series, fully updated, and with a brand-new look.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: DK Travel; Revised edition (January 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078949423X
• ISBN-13: 978-0789494238
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 4.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Travel > Europe > Portugal
  • #79 in Books > Travel > Europe > Spain

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars About Portugal, Not Eating and Sleeping There, September 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Portugal (Eyewitness Travel Guides) (Paperback)

Portugal by Eyewitness Travel Guides is a great travel guide, and it was a wonderful and invaluable tool during my last trip to Portugal. It is not a typical travel book in that it does not provide extensive reviews of hotels and restaurants, although it does highlight a few of each. Rather, it provides extensive information on the people, history and sights of Portugal. In addition, the information is splendidly presented with vivid photographs and succinct coverage of all the major cities and sights, and even some remote locations. After paging through this book one almost feels intimately knowledgeable with Portugal's history and culture.

If you are interested in finding a great place to stay or eat I would recommend looking elsewhere. However, if you are interested in learning about Portugal's culture, sights and history I would strongly recommend Portugal by Eyewitness Travel Guides.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended, September 14, 2004

By 

emcentar "emcentar" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Portugal (Eyewitness Travel Guides) (Paperback)

I just returned from a last minute business trip to Portugal, and bought this guide because it was the only English guide in that I could find in the Lisbon airport. It cost me an outrageous sum, 33 Euros, (the Amazon price is much cheaper!) but was worth every penny.

There is a large section on Lisbon, as well as several sections on different regions in Portugal, Maderia and the Azores. The pictures are excellent, the descriptions provide much historical context, and 'must-see' places have their own special spread, giving great tips as to how to spend your time. Directions to most sights are excellent (for instance, telling you exactly what tram to take to Belem and where best to catch it) and the guide provides many local tips on customs unfamiliar to Americans (for instance, that you will be charged for the bread and cheese that arrives at your restaurant table unasked for - in the U.S. any food that arrives without being ordered is generally assumed to be free). There's also a great little section introducing regional Portuguese cuisine.

I only had two disappointments - I would have liked more information on less expensive places to get good local cuisine in Lisbon - most of the restaurant recommendations were for fairly expensive resaurants - as well as some tips on interesting places to go out for drinks in Alto (a hip Lisbon neighborhood). Also - it helps to read the book very carefully - a quick skim can result in missing important information about the region (for instance, I neglected to find the information about the train to Sintra because it was located at the begining of the section on the general area, not in the Sintra section itself).

Portugal is a wonderful country and I am keeping this guide handy for planning my return trip - as a previous reviewer has noted, a week is not enough time to see as much as Portugal has to offer.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best guide available, September 22, 2003

By 

Tony Mule "TVM" (Hillsboro, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Portugal (Eyewitness Travel Guides) (Paperback)

I just returned from spending a week in Portugal, and recommend this book whole-heartedly. I noticed many other tourists carrying this book (written in different languages!). The graphics are a must if you want to decide which of the many, many sites you want to see within a limited amount of time. Recommendations on walking tours are very helpful, and the descriptions of the history behind each site add significantly to what you get out of each visit. If I were to ask for any improvements on this book, I would ask for two things: 1) include a short language CD of the basic phrases listed in the back of the book to aid understanding of the language (reading Portuguese on paper does NOT work, since it sounds so unbelievably different than it looks), and 2) include more detail regarding maps for the longer-distance routes (ie., for when someone wants to rent a car). The intra-city maps are right-on, but the long-distance routes need alot more detail. Portugal itself is a beautiful country (see my pics if you like: www.imageevent.com/tvmule/portugal), and I hope to return one day to see the rest of the country (one week is much too short!). PS - if you rent a car, be prepared to deal with ALOT of impatient drivers, as the locals like to drive fast and are always in a hurry :)