Customer Reviews

The Rough Guide to Portugal 11 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

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This review compares the Rough Guides Portugal (9th ed.) with Lonely Planet Portugal (2nd ed.).

We just returned from 2.5 weeks in Portugal. This was our first trip to Portugal and we took and used extensively the Portugal books from Lonely Planet and Rough Guide. We didn't visit the Algarve or Alentejo, concentrating on Lisbon and north.

Both books were good, but overall we preferred the Rough Guide book. It was better organized and more up to date. It's writing was more incisive, lively, and witty.

Here are some details as I saw them:

LP maps often covered a wider area and had more detail than the RG maps, but they were in smaller type and often difficult to read. On more than one occassion a cab driver pulled out his spectacles to read the LP map.

Rough Guide had more up to date phone numbers. LP did not have the up to date area codes (the leading 0 has been changed to a 2). In addition, for many properties in the north they had a 5 digit phone number, when now they are all six. More disturbingly, they have no update on their website for either the corrected area code or phone numbers. In fact, there was no Portugal update to the guide at all. (I'm not talking of the 'unverified travelers' reports.)

LP provided more detailed information about the nitty-gritty details of traveling, e.g., money, trains, internet access, etc.

RG presented the towns around Aveiro better. It was through it that we learned of Sao Jacinto, Torreira, and so on. These were not indexed in LP. We didn't discover that LP had some information on them until much later because it was more hidden in the Aveiro section. Since we had already decided to not stay in Aveiro we didn't think to look there. Although they were also in the Aveiro section of RG, they had their own headings and were also indexed.

Similarly, RG highlighted Belmonte in the mountains. This town was interesting in itself and also in that it now holds one of Portugal's largest remaining Jewish communities and its new synogogue. Jews had previously worshipped secretly in a town house until 1974, now replaced by the new building. (I'm writing this using a mouse pad I purchased at the Belmonte castle for $1.50 with images of columns from the Mosteiro da Batalha!)

I also preferred RG's treatment of Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela and of Parque Natural de Montesinho.

We used several recommendations for restaurants and accommodations from the books. Their batting averages were about the same: good but not great. One African dance club listed in both books was now a female stip place, as my wife discovered when seeing if the cab had taken us to the right address. (I was waiting in the cab.) I felt they were generally too generous in their evaluation of hotels and restaurants.

Both books had several failings common to them and to other guide books that we've used.

Nearly all the accommodations and restaurants are in tourist areas. We were fortunate to stay in Lisbon in a residential district. It was comforting to leave in the morning and not be surrounded by hordes of fellow tourists. Similarly, we were the only obvious tourists in the local restaurants, some of which were excellent. Nor were we out in the sticks where a car was required. We were right off the #28 tram line, recommended as the best tram to ride simply for riding it in both books.

Several other times during the trip we stayed and ate outside the centro area. In some cases a car would have been needed, but we were only several km out of center. In any case, I think both books should offer more 'out of centro' possibilities, especially when transportation is available.

LP is out front in saying that its reviewers do not stay at all the hotels or eat at all the restaurants they list. I would like it if the reviews would be initialized with the reviewers initials for the ones that they personally tried. This would also allow us to see and evaluate each reviewer's tastes and standards as our trip progressed, not to mention to see which places they really tried. One LP writer (not an author of this book) in discussing restaurants wrote: "As one of those LP writers I can tell you that it is not physically possible to eat even a 'little bit of a meal' in each of those restaurants :-) What we all tend to do is eat at a broad cross-section within the norms of natural eating times and visit the other restaurants and talk to the owner or even the diners if it can be done discretely. In the same vein we don't sleep at every hotel!"

Talk to the owners! Now there's something for an unbiased, disinterested evaluation!

Both books are oriented to train travelers, but they should have some more info on driving too, which is not expensive. For example, neither had a mileage chart between major cities and, more importantly, neither had a chart of expected driving times. Using the 'N' roads which look like major highways can take quite a bit of time because they are mostly two lane roads, often twisty and hilly, and can have a lot of SLOW truck traffic. You'd probably be better off driving on the back roads, both for time and scenery, and for that small village, local feel. But you'd never know it from these books. This complaint isn't restricted to just LP and RG, of course.

In addition, both books were quite short on history, culture and demographics. How religious are the Portuguese? (We were asked on several occassions whether we were 'religioso'.) What is the median and mean income of each of the areas (even of Portugal as a whole) and how does this compare to the rest of western Europe. What are contemporary middle-class Portuguese characteristics?

It wouldn't have taken more than an additional 10 or 15 pages for such information, and it would have made our trip more meaningful.

In sum, again, both guides were good with room for improvement, with our preferring the Rough Guide overall.

I have been to Portugal countless times and just like the country itself, the Rough Guide to Portugal never ceases to amaze me. This book is the perfect guide - light enough to carry around in a purse and yet absolutely comprehensive. All regions of Portugal are covered, even small villages are described if they have something of interest. And the way places are described is what makes this book so good - the writing is so witty, so apt, that I find myself rereading sections just for the chuckle. The guide includes tons of maps, precise directions, prices for museums, transportation, hotels, restaurants. The directions are oriented towards non drivers - that is, if you are relying on public transportation or your own two feet to get you around Portugal, then this book is excellent. The recommendations are always right on target and I have always found the information to be accurate. There are no color photographs in my edition which doesn't detract at all from the book. However, the new edition does have some nice pictures.

So, my advice to you dear reader is: Visit Portugal - and take your Rough Guide with you!

This is edition number 12 in the Rough Guide to Portugal series. Believe me, Rough Guide has this country down to the square inch.

First, the country. Portugal was the most powerful country in the world in the 15th century, only to be eclipsed by Spain in the 16th, but that's not the point. The point is that after about a century of tremendous opulence, Portugal's fortune began to sink with its weak, superstitious monarchy. The Lisbon earthquake in the 18th century was the nail in the coffin, and by the 19th century, Portugal had become a European fringe state - a long forgotten backwater. So much the better for its truly remarkable preservation! Since Portugal essentially stopped in the 18th century, what you see today is essentially what was in place at that time. It's an absolute time warp. So many of Portugal's cities and towns are preserved in such pristine condition, it's impossible to list them all. UNESCO has recognized this fact by naming over 10 sites within the country to the ultimately prestigious World Heritage List. Want to see Renaissance Europe? Forget about expensive and absolutely overrun Italy. Portugal is the place. It has everything, culturally and geographically.

Now, the book. The typical Rough Guide format works well with Portugal. Rough Guides concentrate resources around historical and cultural contexts, arranged geographically by region and city. Listings are selective, not comprehensive. Rough Guide authors seek out the hotels and restaurants that they believe offer something unique to the location. In this way, this edition really shines. Few glossy photographs are here, but there are words aplenty. It's like carrying the national history museum in your hand.

Maps are simple and accurate. Contexts are concise enough to be practical, but comprehensive enough to be interesting. The literature section is especially good.

Rough Guides never let me down. This one from Portugal is very detailed, has many accomodation reviews, good for sightseeing scheduling, and alternative sites for tourism. The only thing I miss is a way to help me to organize trips between the different cities (from "somewhere" to "other where" is best by plane or by train, and so on).

Although I usually stick with Lonely Planet when backpacking Europe, Amazon.com reviews of Lonely Planet Portugal were mixed and I found Rick Steves' Portugal to have quite incomplete coverage of the whole country (just look at the table of contents for proof), so I decided to try Rough Guides. Unfortunately, this was a mistake. Note that unlike the other reviewer, I am not comparing Rough Guide to Lonely Planet; I have not had a chance to use Lonely Planet Portugal.

On the positive side, unlike Rick Steves', the book is quite comprehensive and covers many different cities across Portugal, including my favorite hilltop town of Marvao. The maps are generally good and accurate as to where streets, accommodations, restaurants, tourist information, and bars are located. I also really enjoy the "40 things not to miss" in the front of the book, complete with pictures. Good history section on Portugal as well.

However, my negative experiences with this book on the road outweigh these positives. Here are some examples:

I was in Evora with an hour to go before my bus left and while on the town, I needed to know (1) where I could exchange my traveler's cheques without paying an arm and a leg and if I couldn't do this, (2) does my pensao take credit cards? This book was not able to provide either information! There was zero exchange or bank information either written on Evora or on the map, and no credit card information provided for any of the accommodations. I would point out that Evora is one of the more frequented cities in Portugal, and certainly the hub of the Alentejo region. I walked back to my pensao without exchanging, only to find they did not accept credit cards. I made my bus but had to do a lot more walking.

I also arrived in Fatima in the evening and the book provided no map of the town. While it is not a gigantic town, Fatima is a very important site for Catholics and also receives tens of thousands of visitors in both May and October. I feel a map is essential. Tourist office was closed. We spent an extra half hour trying to find a recommended hotel and had to ask directions several times.

I also didn't care for the organization of the Lisbon section and found it very frustrating. Here's why: Accommodation options for all sections of town are listed first. Then, for each section of the town, the guide provides the map of the section with accommodations and restaurants on the map, then goes into the sights for that section. Finally, restaurant options for all sections of town are listed last. I constantly had to flip back and forth 20-30 pages to find the map of the right section of town (see where it is), and then find the listing for the restaurant or accommodation (see if I want to eat or stay there). Better organization is clearly needed, and the restaurants and accommodations for a single section needed to be in the same section where the map is given.

The other thing I was not happy with is putting "travel details" such as travel times between city A and city B at the very end of a section of the country. Lonely Planet usually includes this in the "Getting to and from" for each city, and it is clearly better.

One more road tested problem: Portuguese-English translations are in the back of the book but I couldn't find how to say "coffee with milk" when I really needed to in a café. I later discover the translation is in the "guide to coffee" section in a different part of the book. Not helpful, needs to be in both. Same problem with ordering red wine, white wine, beer, in a restaurant.

I can't speak whether these organization problems are consistent across Rough Guides, but they were very troublesome during my time in Portugal. It just seems like they didn't actually test it out themselves on the road. I would recommend another option over this book, or at least have another book as your primary guide and this as secondary for additional restaurant or accommodation options.

I would also always recommend that you see if a DK Eyewitness Guide is available, as is the case for Portugal. I love DK Eyewitness Guides for the pictures, history, information about sights, and also the restaurant and accommodation options when you want to splurge a little more.

Now a couple of other quick tips if you are considering a trip to Portugal: the pousadas are lovely places to stay and the staff is unbelievably helpful. The Barrio Alto region of Lisbon is an amazing place for all kinds of different ethnic restaurants, packed in a tight little area. I come from the world of trains across the rest of Europe, but the buses are always faster and more frequent in Portugal. Sintra, Obidos, and Marvao are must sees, the latter being somewhat hard to get to.

This guide includes inexpensive to
moderate accommodation recommendations,
excellent maps, comments on public transportation,
and knowledgeable advice.

I used this guide while traveling in Portugal with two friends by car. We visited Lisbon and Porto but we mostly wanted to hit the road and see the country. The guide was pretty useful at giving basic facts and history without being boring or too dense. The part on Sintra was brilliantly written (this city was the highlight of our trip). And the book had really good recommendations for travelers by car: the road from Porto to Spain (the N222) was beautiful and definitely worth the time. The maps were accurate BUT cut up in parts by neighborhood so make sure you have a good map of Lisbon (especially Lisbon) before you get there. We did not follow the hotel recommendations but used Hostelworld (where you have user reviews). On the other hand, I did check out most of the shops and restaurants mentioned and they were all worth it (especially the wine shop in Lisbon where I got my Dad some wine for Xmas).

I purchased the Rough Guide to Portugal for information on Madeira and Porto Santo. There is no information included for these two islands off Portugal. The rest of the guide looks useful but I found it disappointing to not include a section on the islands in the Rough Guide as the Rough Guide Madeira & Porto Santo looks to not be made anymore.

Like the Rough Guide for Spain that I bought some years back, The Rough Guide to Portugal is a great go-to source for very detailed information while on a trip. They do tell it like it is! And they present information on places that other guides do not necessarily delve into.

Downside: a black and white presentation, no color pictures, a very thick, heavy book that does not lend itself to being carried around during the day.

Glad I had it as a reference to use at night while planning the next day's activities.

This is a useful travel guide that is intuitive in the way it is laid out and formated. It gives a nice overview to each of the different regions then drills down to the interesting towns and sights.

Added bonus is a short section on Portuguese history and even a nice list of other books for continued reading. Obrigado!