Rick Steves' Spain 2006 [Paperback]

Rick Steves (Author)

Book Description

Series: Rick Steves | Publication Date: October 26, 2005

Who but Rick Steves can tell travelers the best way to see Barcelona, the Basque Region, Madrid, Segovia, Toledo, Salamanca, Andalucia, Sevilla, Arcos, Jerez, Granada, The Costa del Sol, Tarifa, Gibraltar, and Morocco? "With Rick Steves' Spain 2006", travelers can experience the best of everything Spain has to offer, including tapas-hopping and cathedral visits - economically and hassle-free. Completely revised and updated, "Rick Steves' Spain 2006" includes opinionated coverage of both famous and lesser-known sights; friendly places to eat and sleep; suggested day plans; walking tours and trip itineraries; clear instructions for smooth travel anywhere by car, train, or foot; and Rick's newest "back door" discoveries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 500 pages
• Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing (October 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566919428
• ISBN-13: 978-1566919425
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,267,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rick's advice and judgments are helpful, October 17, 2006

By 

Virginia (Springfield, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rick Steves' Spain 2006 (Paperback)

We have just returned from 2 1/2 weeks in Spain and Portugal, using the Rick Steves 2006 guides to those two countries. We also carried the Michelin Green Guide, and this was a good complementary pair. We appreciated the fact that Rick tells the reader: this museum is boring, another museum is underrated and worth visiting, the Costa del Sol is gridlock, etc. - in other words, he makes judgments and offers frank advice where other guidebooks are politely descriptive. Michelin has more detail and lists more places but makes fewer judgments.
We booked all our hotels based on Rick's recommendations (after checking them out on the web sites he lists). We found all of them to be very much as represented in the book. Also helpful: his suggestions for off-the-beaten-track restaurants, his walking tours and do-it-yourself museum guides, and concise practical info on how to reach train stations, connect to other towns, etc.
Occasionally we found some towns to be absent from the book. In these cases, we turned to Michelin. It seems clear that Steves has made a decision not to publish an encyclopedia of a given country but to focus selectively on the destinations that visitors are most likely to choose and to propose itineraries that work. True, it is odd that a city as large as Valencia is not included at all, but look at the map - it's not on the Barcelona/Madrid/Seville pathway.
Interestingly, we saw a number of people carrying the Steves guidebook in Spain. In a few cases, we struck up conversations because of it!
We would use the Rick Steves guides again and are impressed enough with his commitment to "the real Europe" that we are considering signing up for a Steves tour group of Europe in 2007.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I made a big mistake buying this book., May 15, 2006

By 

Ted Sabre (NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rick Steves' Spain 2006 (Paperback)

I bought this book because of its high Amazon rating. What a mistake!

I planned on visiting Barcelona, Valencia (Spain's third largest city), and Cadiz (the oldest city in Europe and place from which Columbus sailed). The book doesn't even mention Cadiz or Valencia!!

Go buy the Michelin Green Guide for Spain - far better - and covers Cadiz and Valencia in great detail - as well as the rest of Spain. A far better value.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I <3 Rick Steves, May 2, 2006

By 

Rachel A. Prusynski "la artista" (Boise, ID (currently Portland, OR for school)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rick Steves' Spain 2006 (Paperback)

I love Rick Steves' books. He makes planning a trip on your own entirely possible and gives all the important information you'll ever need. He has fun insights and finds the places not every tourist goes to. The best part is that he helps you orient yourself and get around, which is tough if you're on your own in a new place. The walking tours are great, and he makes it easy to do things your own way and save money in the process.