The Rough Guide to Spain (Rough Guide Travel Guides) [Paperback]

Mark Ellingham (Author), John Fisher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 2004

A guide to one of Europe's most intense and dramatic countries - Spain. It features in-depth coverage of all the great historic cities and monuments and provides information on the best hotels, restaurants, beaches and nightlife.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The best guidebook" M Temelkov from New York "Head and shoulders above the rest of the guides on Spain."

Product Details

• Paperback: 1152 pages
• Publisher: Rough Guides; 11 Sub edition (May 17, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843532611
• ISBN-13: 978-1843532613
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #752,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable!, July 18, 2004

By 

Z. D. Houghton (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Spain (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

If you are looking for a small book to fit in your back pocket, The Rough Guide to Spain is not for you. If you are looking for a guide that lovingly describes even the smallest Spanish town in careful detail and clear format, then this IS the guide book you should be looking for.

The Rough Guide to Spain does an excellent job in several areas where many guide books fail. For example, smaller attractions are often overlooked in favor of the larger cities, such as Barcelona or Sevilla. Rough Guide ensures that for those who want to go provincial, they won't be going in blind.

Another merit of the guide is in it's clear, concise format. Not overburdened with irrelevant maps/illustartions (a pet peeve of mine), Rough Guide has clean, simple directions and mapping. This is a vast imporvements over Guides like Lonely Planet, where I often feel the editors publish more with an eye towards their own self-satisfaction than towards the serious traveler.

The resturaunt/hotel features are adequate, frequently include useful maps, and will not tax anyone's checkbook too harshly.

Perhaps the greatest strength of this guide is the seeming conviction of the editors to tell you that which you NEED to know for that trip to Spain. Michelin might the cultural ask-all, DK may have lots of lovely photographs, but Rough Guide is for when you're ready to get serious about your trip to Spain.

Well-written, informative, with a clear and honest style that should impress both casual and budget traveler alike, The Rough Guide to Spain should be your FIRST PICK in guide books.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lots of info, but..., March 18, 2005

By 

Joe from LA - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Spain (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

Having been to Spain 14 times, I can say that this is a useful book, although some of the information and pictures are not essential. Given its size (1152 pages) and weight, this is a book to be read before your trip; be sure to have good lighting and good eyesight as the somewhat faint and small type will prove challenging to some.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but a little dry., May 25, 2005

By 

Anna M. "professional tourist" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Spain (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

In the past I've been all about the Lonely Planet guides but tried out the Rough Guide for a recent trip through Spain. Though it's a great guide, it lacks personality and reads more like an encyclopedia than a real travel companion. The small print and color scheme is also hard to follow. If you want lots of details and don't mind lugging this massive volume around with you, this is a good choice, but if you want a more concise and cheeky review of a place, this book probably isn't for you.