Cadogan Guide to Northern Spain, by Dana Facarous and Michael Pauls. I LOVE this book. It has a very witty style and it is clear the authors know their subject. There is a 2006 edition.
Discovering Spain, an Uncommon Guide, by Penelope Casas. This is a very personal guidebook by someone who obviously loves her subject. Unfortunately, I think the most recent edition is 1996, but it is still worth picking up. It's a bit too big to bring along but you can bring photocopies of the cities you need when you go.
Northern Spain: The Collected Traveler (An Inspired Anthology and Travel Resource) by Barrie Kerper. Part guidebook, part recollection. We found lots of useful tips in here and the essays and stories were fun to read on the road.
Originally posted by Shannon: Here are some guidebooks I've found useful:
Discovering Spain, an Uncommon Guide, by Penelope Casas. This is a very personal guidebook
I second Shannon's mention of Penelope Casas' book. I have used it many times and given copies to friends. (I have all her Spanish cookbooks too, which are wonderful.)
My husband and I have used and loved "The Rough Guide to Spain" for our family's trips to Barcelona and Catalunya, the Pyrenees, St. Sebastian/Basque region and the Picos de Europa/Cantabria.
We also stayed at a funky horse farm near Girona, which we found in Alistair Sawdey's "Special Places to Stay in Spain."
I'll come up with some more too.
Joan
Posts: 452 | Location: Chicago | Registered: 25 April 2006
DK Eyewitness Top 10 guidebooks for Madrid and Barcelona. For those tourist who have a few days to visit and really do not know what to see in short amount of time. Good street maps and subway maps are found in these small guidebooks.
Rick Steves guide book for Spain. For recommendation on places to sleep. All the B&B/hotels I stayed in have been from Rick Steve's guide book. Have not found a place I could not recommend.
I swear by The Lonely Planet guidebooks for Spain and specific cities like Barcelona, Madrid, and Valencia.
And I can SECOND Digital Traveler Bill's recommendation of The Wellington Society tours of Madrid. "The Chairman" is a true character and full of it... errr... I mean he's FULL OF "WIT!" hehehe.. Seriously, this English gentleman is a laugh riot nearly from beginning to end without hardly ever cracking a smile. I think that's called "Dry Wit" and he's a master at it and what he does.
Discovering Spain, an Uncommon Guide, by Penelope Casas and Northern Spain: The Collected Traveler (An Inspired Anthology and Travel Resource) by Barrie Kerper are two of my favorites. So I found it interesting that you mentioned them Shannon, I just wanted to agree.
Not a book, but I just love Maribel's guides. I think she is better than many books, free and very handy.
I wish she would come over to this forum as she is full of first hand experience.
Originally posted by WT: Not a book, but I just love Maribel's guides. I think she is better than many books, free and very handy.
I wish she would come over to this forum as she is full of first hand experience.
Actually, some of Maribel's stuff was on published on slowtrav at one time, very briefly. Maribel and Pauline were in contact, Maribel gave the go-ahead, and then after Pauline did all the work of getting them on the website, some lawyer wrote to her and asked it all be removed.
It kind of sucked for Pauline because it was a lot of work. I agree though, the guides are very useful.
Nature Guide to the Andalusian Sierras from Malaga to Gibraltar. This is a nature guide for this region, and the publisher also has books on the Coto Donana and Extramadura. More info on these books here.
I know Barcelonaman recommended the Lonely Planet Guides already, but want to point out Lonely Planet's World Food - Spain. This is a great little book that has all kinds of info about the regional foods and wines of Spain. If you are a foodie I highly recommend this book...
I like the Michelin Green Guide for both Spain and for Andalucia. A caution however, always check publication dates. I've found some booksellers have kept older editions on their shelves and charged the going price. If using one only for the historical/sightseeing info, an older copy may be had for substantial discount.
Other guides I've found helpful are TIMEOUT guides for cities and the one for Andalucia.
I still refer often to an old copy of "Baedeker's Spain".
The book "Andalucia and the Costa del Sol" by John and Christine Oldfield provides detailed car tours and hikes in the region.
For the more specialed traveller (walkers to Santiago) I've found the guides produced by Pila Pala Press ( http://www.pilipalapress.com )to be among the best available. They have one for the Via de la Plata and one for the Camino Frances. The one for Portugal however does not cover the Caminho Portuguese adequately. Again get the most recent edition.
Finally, upon request, the Spanish Tourism Office provides good pamphlet guides for cities and for provinces. They also provide accommodation guides. This was my experience with the Toronto office. I'm sure their other offices will provide the same service. I've found the more specific one is about one's plans and destinations the better they are able to provide guides to meet one's needs.
Posts: 190 | Location: Calgary, Alberta Canada | Registered: 08 November 2003
Actually, some of Maribel's stuff was on published on slowtrav at one time, very briefly. Maribel and Pauline were in contact, Maribel gave the go-ahead, and then after Pauline did all the work of getting them on the website, some lawyer wrote to her and asked it all be removed.
It kind of sucked for Pauline because it was a lot of work. I agree though, the guides are very useful.
Wow, that is a shame and obviously, I did not know this.
well for obvious reasons to some here, I do not buy too many travel books to Spain. However, looking at my library and digging a bit, I found one that is travel related and wine/food related in English. I will give you some insight First ,the book is in English, done by Englishman Marc and Kim Millon under HarperCollinsPublishing, UK book number 987654321 US ISBN is 0246138718. title: The Wine Roads of Spain. talks about traveling the vinyards of Spain with detail information on many of them and best wines:divided by regions.It shows maps of main wine growing cities and id for the bodegas to locate them easily. it talks about the history of these cities; the bodegas with contact info and the brand name of the wines they produce. give you hotels and restaurant to frequent on each city.with details contact, brief explanation, and price indicators moderate,inexpensive to moderate moderate to expensive, expensive, etc. It talks about the paradores also. give you a rundown on where to go for tapas, drinks, and ordering the best dishes for each region. with details contact for each place and brief description; give you info on stores to shop. photos of sites and bodegas and bars some center sections in full color.highly well index.
if you want to know Spain, in English, I havent found or read a better detail book on seeing Spain. Even if a bit outdated, i highly recommended.
Haven't posted here at Slowtrav for ages as have been busy guiding walks in the sierras and other things related to our websites. A lot of catching up I need to do by the looks of things...
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Clive
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Shannon,
Well well welcome back Clive, your were missed around here showcasing the beautiful Spanish landscape. Thanks for the sites.
I just came about a good friend who refer me to Michael Crouser, he wrote a book call LOS TOROS with over 120 B&W photos of bullrings in Spain, Mexico, South America, and France. It has an introduction by the one and only Mario Vargas Llosas (Peru) one of the great ones of Spanish literature. sports Illustrated call it,images of "Stark and stunning",and several prints can be found at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in Minnesota USA. You can buy the book thru Amazon,the publishers site is www.twinpalms.com and you can read more about the book at www.lostoroslibro.com or www.lostorosbook.com (english).
its a fascinating subject of Spain even if sometimes controversial by modernists. I highly recommended , its getting deeper into the Spanish mind, and thereby enjoying more your Spain visits.
I know my answer might ound boring but I have looked at all the travel guides and for many places over the years and constantly there were 2 books which were almost for the mostpart, up-to-date and reliable and easy to carry etc etc. They are the Lonely Planer series and the Rough Guides. They might be the most well known and that is for a reason. They are excellent books.
"Wine & Food Lovers Guide to Portugal" by Charles Metcalfe & Katheryn McWhirter ISBN: 9780955706905
For those of you who know and love the Culinaria style of books, this is better!
First of all you don't need to be a weightlifter to pick it up.
but mostly because it goes beyond Culinaria's concept of an armchair food tour of a country and adds the information you need to actually tour the country. Places to stay, places to eat, what to eat, when to eat, where the festivals are, and on and on.
My only complaint is that the pictures are all very enticing, but I need a magnifying glass to see them. There are very few pictures larger than wallet size.
But, then, if they were the book would be as big as a Culinaria, wouldn't it?
I LOVE THIS BOOK! And it makes me so want to go back to Portugal -- right now!
Deborah Horn In a previous life I was an Umbrian sunflower farmer. I want to do a past life regression and stay there. ----------------------------------- www.petsburg.com My blog: Old Shoes - New Trip
Posts: 4629 | Location: St. Louis, MO | Registered: 04 September 2001
Seriously, this English gentleman is a laugh riot nearly from beginning to end without hardly ever cracking a smile. I think that's called "Dry Wit" and he's a master at it and what he does.
