Can anyone tell me what travel books they would recommend. There are so many I wanted to get a few opinions before purchasing one. I am thinking of traveling to Seville & the southern part of spain in May next year. Also wanted some opinions on whether a Southern Spain book would be good or one of the entire country. Thnx

I always buy guides for the specific region if available as I find the country ones to be too high level. My favorites at the moment are the Cadogan series. Cadogan has guides for Southern Spain, Andulusia and a special one for the cities of Granada, Seville & Cordoba

..I think we all have favorite guide books but in general, the only one I bring with me is a Michelin green guide..It is compact and has what I want in it..specifically times things are open and a map. However, I use a multitude of guides before the trip..I borrow from friends, the library and use the internet... I know this isnt too specific but it explains my philosophy.

The Cadogan guides are some of the best out there, as OReilly states, but there are also the various regional guides put out by the Anaya Touring Club called "Guía Total", which are printed in Spain, but may not be available in your local area. You'll have to check the bookstores, or wait until you arrive in Spain. You can also download a copy of Maribel's Guide to Sevilla (http://maribelsguides.com) which covers the area around Sevilla.

Regional guides are the best, but I would also recommend you look at the "Spain Handbook" from the Footprint Series of guide books.

The Cadogan guides are good but I think I prefer the Rough Guide series - and if you are seriously into art & architecture - then the Blue Guide is the one, though don't know if they do one specifically for Southern Spain. Definitely agree that a book that covers the whole of Spain would be less useful. It's good to know something about the country as a whole, for sure, but regional guides usually include an overview and then concentrate on their area.

While it`s not a travel guide, I love James Mitchener`s "Iberia". It`s not his usual long winded book, and it`s non fiction. We followed places he talked about, that we wouldn`t have gone to otherwise. Well worth reading, if you are going to Spain.

Robert: Are these books in English and, if so, do you have a source for them on the internet?

regards

OReilly: I didn't look through all 1597 books on amazon.com that had "Guia Total" in the name, but I looked at a few of the ones with titles of regions of Spain. They were all in Spanish and either "out of print" or "limited availability."

Anaya Touring Club has a Web site, and it seems books can be ordered on line:

http://www.anayatouring.com/

By the look of it, all the guide books are in Spanish, unlike those of the Touring Club Italiano, many of which are available in English versions.

OReilly, The "Guía Total" from the Anaya Touring Club is only available in Spanish. We picked up the recently released 1st edition of their La Rioja guide last week while in Logroño for the annual wine harvest festival. The Footprint Series should be available at most bookstores.

Besides being addicted to this website, I'm also a travel book junkie. They are often quite expensive, so what I've been doing is going to second-hand bookstores and picking them up. Sure, they might be a year or two old, but things don't change THAT MUCH in Europe in a year or two it seems. My favoirites are the Eyewitness Travel Guides, Frommers, and Rick Steves.

(Sorry, I have Fodors current book on Italy, but while I love the photos, I don't like the way it is arranged, though my Fodors book on Provence was terrific help.)

I usually buy Frommer's.

I find "Let's Go" and "Routard" most useful, although Cadogan are OK just as a read. Fodors and Rough Guide quite good, Frommers less so, Lonely Planet fair to middling. Blue Guide too scholarly; Michelin a bit dry; Insight, Eyewitness, DK, all colour and little substance.