Please tell me which guidebooks you used to plan a trip to Spain and or Portugal.

Thanks!

I have not been to these destinations yet, but plan to in June 2010, I am using Rick Steves Spain and Portugal Guidebooks.

I also rely on Roughguides books when they are available.

Laurie

Fodors, of course!

Are you planning to visit a particular region or visit a broad area? I like Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Footprint and Cardogan - but in particular the more specialized regional books as they're more in depth.

Of course, Maribel's guides are an excellent resource for Spain:

http://www.maribelsguides.com/

CathyM suggests a good selection. Frommer's and Fodor's are good on the well trodden areas with regard to hotels and restaurants and they are improving on history and culture, but small towns are non-existent.

Somebody gave us Rick Steve's. Supposedly he knows about art but not if you read it. For example he describes Velasquez as the court photojournalist. Now being a photojournalist can be a dangerous and honorable occupation. But Velasquez was one of the most influential painters in terms of style and technique for western painting let alone Spain, and this description is either lazy or shows a lack of knowledge.

He also is narrow what in his geographical descriptions and inclusions. For example he recommends Santillana del Mar but does not include Santander, a nearby well known and beautiful beach often the two are mentioned in the same breath.

For Spain, apart from Fodors:

Cadogan--many regional guides

Penelope Casas' Discovering Spain (old but still most valuable)

Maribel's Guides (online)

Michael Jacob's Andalucía is a great introduction to this southern Spanish region:
http://www.amazon.com/Andalucia-Pall.../dp/1873429789

We used the Michelin Green Guide for Portugal and were happy with it.

For planning where to go I used Fodor's Exploring and Eyewitness. For actual travel I used Lonely Planet, and some pieces of Rick Steves, but he's not comprehensive.

One more comment on Steve's. Last night I took out my copy and was randoming searching through it.

The following is a direct quote from the section about Santiago de Compostela, "Packs of happy hippies pilgrims seek to find themselves while hiking the ancient Camino de Santiago to France."

First, where the hey do you still find packs of happy hippies in 2009? Maybe they share a room with the beatnicks?

There cannot be a more inane description of those who walk the Camino and less of an understanding of why people walk the Camino. There is no one type that walks the Camino. Their motives are as numerous as the country of origin.

Once again lazy writing and small if not stupid oberervations.

RS is not my cup of tea either. He seems to appeal to the less experienced travelers who want a broad taste of a country. However I think he's to be commended for encouraging people to travel on their own versus with a large group tour. His writing style is very campy and has alot of generalizations (Aduchamp1's example above).

Keep in mind that Rick Steves focuses on places that he has visited personally. This has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that he actually experienced what he is writing about; the disadvantage is that he might not have visited the particular city or region you are interested in.

I find a mix of sources useful when planning a trip (Rick Steves, a mass guide like Fodors or Frommers, something like the Rough Guides or Lonely Planet that is a more niche-oriented, plus lots of internet sources). When on the actual trip, I like the Michelin Green guides.

I always look at the Michelin green guides for planning. The star system is usually very accurate for sight seeing priority. The maps are excellent. The newer green guides also list a few restaurants and hotels.
I have used Cadogan guides for Spain and Greece - well written and informative.
Maribel's guide which you can find online is excellent for the cities she covers. I have used the Madrid, Seville and Granada guides.
Fodor, Frommers, Lonely Planet will give you all the basic information you need. I usually go to a bookstore, the library & do some online research to check ratings for hotels, restauants, etc. I do not stay in expensive hotels so Fodors is not usually my first point of reference.

Aduchamp1
RE Rick's book
Was "while hiking the ancient Camino de Santiago to France." your typing error or his? As I thought 99.9% of the pilgrims waked to SdC not to France.
Maybe every book has a failing, as a Lonely Planet I have says (basically) avoid the city of Lugo!!!! Who wrote that?
However I have used Everyman or Footprint guides
I will never say they are the best as what is best?

You are right Ribei, substiute "from" for to"

Sorry about that.

And I agree Michelin Greens are excellent sources of information.

Of oourse, every guide book has its shortcomings. But if one is holding himself as out a professional, one should write as such.

I think Steves purposly infuses a lot of humor (his humor, maybe not yours) into his writing to keep it light which as someone else mentioned is to make international travel seem doable for everyone. A lot of people that would not travel internationally do so because he makes it look easy and fun in his programs and books.

With his decades of traveling he could obviously write more comprehensive books on each country but realizes that the average person does not have that much vacation time. He focuses on what he considers the highlights of the countries he covers.I think his approach helps people not get overwhelmed with the endless choices out there.

I have used his books for trips to Europe but have supplimented and compared his reccomendations with info from the internet as well as every travel book I can get through the library. The wealth of knowledge available to plan trips today is just incredible. To each his own.

DK Eyewitness Guide- Great pictures and sketches
Frommers web site
Trip reports on Fodors forum, especially Indiacouple

This makes a perfect ammunation for a great tour.

I really like the Cadogan Guides by Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls best - they are excellent writes, and inject some humor into their books. They live in France and have regional writers help them with updates. I have used Rick Steve's books on occasion and sometimes you do get a gem in there somewhere that you would find no other way so it's worth bringing one along just for that reason. And I agree with ekscrunchy that Discovering Wine by Penelope Casas is a fantastic book. I wish she would update it!

Michelin Guides are great if you happen to be driving. For overall planning, I prefer Baedeker's: Portugal; Madrid; Barcelona and the Costa Brava (2-separate guidebooks). They come with Maps. Problem is: they are Expensive. I probably have more than $100 USD tied up in Baedeker Guidebooks/maps just for Portugal and Spain. I have others (Switzerland & Itlay, for example)

'On the Road,' I augment my collection with locally printed guidebooks from Editoriales Fama (Galicia) or whatever other publisher who's maps I can find at the Rail Station. So, it's a 2-step process: Strategic planning and Tactical or local planning.
For Spain, I know of no single guidebook that covers it all.

I always go the local library and look through multiple guidebooks before deciding which I want to actually purchase. I love the DK Eyewitness guides to page through, due to the great pictures and graphics, but have never purchased one because they are SO very heavy and I don't want to lug it with me. I actually purchase one or two guidebooks and pull out the pages for the areas I will visit. No need to take the whole book if you aren't visiting the whole country! I personally do like Rick Steves. He helps me cut through the overload of information.

In addition to a good guidebook or two, I check TripAdvisor.com, and, of course this forum.