Rick Steves' 1994 2 to 22 Days in Spain and Portugal: The Itinerary Planner (Rick Steves' Spain & Portugal) [Paperback]

Rick Steves (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: John Muir Pubns (January 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562611399
• ISBN-13: 978-1562611392
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,325,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rick Steves advocates smart, affordable, perspective-broadening travel. As host and writer of the popular public television series Rick Steves' Europe, and best-selling author of 40 European travel books, he encourages Americans to travel as "temporary locals." He helps American travelers connect much more intimately and authentically with Europe -- and Europeans -- for a fraction of what mainstream tourists pay.

Over the past 20 years, Rick has hosted over 100 travel shows for public television, and numerous pledge specials (raising millions of dollars for local stations). His Rick Steves' Europe TV series is carried by over 300 stations, reaching 95 percent of U.S. markets. Rick has also created two award-winning specials for public television: Rick Steves' European Christmas and the ground-breaking Rick Steves' Iran. Rick writes and co-produces his television programs through his company, Back Door Productions.

Rick Steves also hosts a weekly public radio program, Travel with Rick Steves. With a broader approach to travel everywhere, in each hour-long program Rick interviews guest travel expert, followed by listener call-ins. Travel with Rick Steves airs across the country and has spawned a popular podcast. Rick has also created a series of audio walking tour podcasts for museums and neighborhoods in Paris, Rome, Florence and Venice (with more tours, including London, coming in 2010).

Rick self-published the first edition of his travel skills book, Europe Through the Back Door (now updated annually), in 1980. He has also written more than 40 other country, city and regional guidebooks, phrase books, and "snapshot" guides. For several years, Rick Steves' Italy has been the bestselling international guidebook sold in the U.S. In 2009, Rick tackled a new genre of travel writing with Travel as a Political Act, reflecting on how a life of travel has broadened his own perspectives, and travel can be a significant force for peace and understanding in the world. Rick's books are published by Avalon Travel, a member of the Perseus Books Group.

In addition to his guidebooks, TV and radio work, Rick is a syndicated newspaper columnist with the Tribune Media Services. He appears frequently on television, radio, and online as the leading authority on European travel.

Rick took his first trip to Europe in 1969, visiting piano factories with his father, a piano importer. By the time he reached 18, Rick jokes, "I realized I didn't need my parents to travel!" He began traveling on his own, funding his trips by teaching piano lessons. In 1976, he started Europe Through the Back Door (ETBD), a business which has grown from a one-man operation to a company with a well-traveled staff of 70 full-time employees. ETBD offers free travel information through its travel center, website (www.ricksteves.com), European Railpass Guide, and free travel newsletters. ETBD also runs a successful European tour program with more than 300 departures -- attracting around 10,000 travelers -- annually.

Rick is outspoken on the need for Americans to fit better into our planet by broadening their perspectives through travel. He is also committed to his own neighborhood. He's an active member of the Lutheran church (and has hosted the ELCA's national video productions). He's a board member of NORML (working to reform marijuana laws in the USA). And Rick has provided his local YWCA with a 24-unit apartment building with which to house homeless mothers.

Rick Steves spends about a third of every year in Europe, researching guidebooks, filming TV shows, and making new discoveries for travelers. He lives and works in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington, where his office window overlooks his old junior high school.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars CASTLES, CAVES, AND WINDMILLS, December 7, 2000

By 

Loren D. Morrison "amateur_reviewer" (Los Angeles County, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rick Steves' 1994 2 to 22 Days in Spain and Portugal: The Itinerary Planner (Rick Steves' Spain & Portugal) (Paperback)

When I travel, I like to explore, and Rick Steve's older guidebooks, such as this one, always suited my purposes. He used to place a lot of emphasis on less commercial, more out of the way places. By this, I don't mean that he ignored the more popular commercial sites. He just gave us a lot of options.

In La Mancha, he directed us up a dirt road above the town of Almonacid de Toledo, where, on a Sunday morning, we had the deserted ruins of a castle to ourselves. No ticket booths, no souvenir stands, no guides, no one else, just my wife and me. Just the two of us with the morning sun, the dew still on the grass, and the ruins to explore to our hearts' content.

Later the same morning, on a windy hill, high above another La Mancha town, Consuegra, waiting for us were seven giant windmills -- the largest I've ever seen. It was easy to see how they inspired Cervantes to write his famous windmill tilting scene. We kept waiting for Don Quixote and Sancho Panza to appear, but they must have been taking Sunday off.

Another place that we never would have found without Rick's help was the Caves at Pileta. Pileta is not an easy place to find, and is not mentioned in most other guide books. "22 Days" is the exception. The caves are at the end of a dead end road about 30 or 40 miles north of Ronda. When you reach the end of the road, the hard part of the trip is still ahead. Into the side of a steep, rocky cliff, several hundred stone steps have been carved. You must climb these to reach the caves. "22 Days" had warned us about the difficulty of the climb, so it didn't take us by surprise. The caves are very rustic. They are owned by the grandson of the farmer who discovered them and it is he who leads four or five tours a day into the depths of the mountain. No commercial tour this. The tours are restricted to about twelve people. To start, three Coleman type lanterns are pumped up and lit. The guide carries one, someone in the middle carries one, and the last person in line carries one. They are the only light anywhere in the caves. A crude path has been cut into the ground, and in several places you find yourself walking in shallow water. After about a half mile walk, you are treated to several areas of paleolithic era cave paintings, and you come across a few piles of bones and pottery shards. We are told that the bones are both human and animal, and that some of them are over five thousand years old.

I think that the real appeal of Rick Steve's older books was in helping the more adventurous tourist find places like these. It was also our experience that at least some of the inexpensive lodgings that he recommended were real finds. I think particularly of one in Granada just a few hundred yards below the entrance to the Alhambra. It was very inexpensive, clean, and was owned by the second or third generation of the same family. The woman who, with the help of her son, owned and operated it, (Matilda was her name) was both personable and helpful. When I was leaving Granada and heading south, she told me about a secondary road through the mountains that turned out to be one of the scenic highlights of our trip.

Other than some of his recommendations on where to eat, which were hit and miss, Steves' recommendations and descriptions were right on the money. For all the wonderful things we saw only because of his write ups, I can forgive him a poor meal or two.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A clear, uncluttered travel plan for Iberia, December 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Rick Steves' 1994 2 to 22 Days in Spain and Portugal: The Itinerary Planner (Rick Steves' Spain & Portugal) (Paperback)

When I was plannning a month-long bicycle tour of Iberia, I immersed myself in travel guides until my eyes began to glaze over. Lots of depth, lots of conflicting opinions about what was worthwhile, overrated, etc. Then I came upon Rick Steve's 22-day guide - a slim, resourceful guide that made a superb framework for a travel plan. Rick is highly opinionated, but he prefaces his critiques with enough personality that I found it easy to read between the lines and form my own opinions. His broad descriptions of major cities - lisbon, madrid, toledo, sevilla - are punctuated with precise detail on lodgings and restaurants. I found his phone numbers and descriptions of cheap housing to be dead on-the-money. When you roll into a large city late at night without reservations, believe me, having a number to call is a welcome asset. The book was small enough to fit in my hip pocket and I used it every day. I found it a perfect balance of structure and open invitation to explore. I recommend it without hesitation! The fact that it's perpetually out-of-print should be a further hint as to it's usefulness