Product Description

This title presents off the beaten track locations and doors into local culture including expanded coverage of Northern Spain. It includes themed colour highlights to cater to readers' interests and introduce them to new areas of Spain. All authors are Spain-based and experts in their respective areas of hiking, surfing and more. This work features a colour section on Green Escapes that inspires readers with ideas for top sustainable holiday options supplemented with GreenDex.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15877 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 924 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781741790009
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
From Antarctica to Zimbabwe, if you're going there, chances are Lonely Planet has been there first. With a pithy and matter-of-fact writing style, these guides are guaranteed to calm the nerves of first-time world travelers, while still listing off-the-beaten-path finds sure to thrill even the most jaded globetrotters. Lonely Planet has been perfecting its guidebooks for nearly 30 years and as a result, has the experience and know-how similar to an older sibling's "been there" advice. The original backpacker's bible, the LP series has recently widened its reach. While still giving insights for the low-budget traveler, the books now list a wide range of accommodations and itineraries for those with less time than money.

Here is an imagination-fueling guide on how to experience the best Spain has to offer. With lively features on Spanish history; coverage of Spanish Catalan, Basque, and Galician languages; more than 145 maps, including metro maps for Madrid and Barcelona; details on outdoor activities, including national parks; chapters on Madrid and Barcelona; plus hundreds of options for food and accommodations no matter what your budget, you'll be hard-pressed to limit your stay. --Kathryn True

Review
Lonely Planet guides are a must-pack --Toronto Star, February 2006

From the Publisher
Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Customer Reviews

Not Up to Standards
My wife and I have come to swear by Lonely Planet books for off-the-beaten-track advice on trips to Taiwan, Costa Rica, Thailand, and Peru. When we decided to visit Spain, we immediately bought the latest edition (3rd) of Lonely Planet Spain. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that what we needed instead were the City Guides for Madrid and Barcelona. The book covered all of Spain fairly, but was very skimpy on info about both of these cities. We found the detail we needed by exchanging this book for both the City Guides and an extra $5. If you are travelling Spain for an extended period, and will get all over the country, then this tome is for you (and will probably be worth it). If instead you are trying to hit the highlights of Spain, or want to base your vacation out of either Madrid or Barcelona, then skip it and find a better book.

And incidentally, I think it's a pretty lame gambit from LP to start yanking all the detail from the national-level books and slipping it into the city guides. You always end up buying more books, since you can't get the info you want in any one place! Not fair to your customers, guys!

Success has gone to their heads!
After checking out an older edition of LP's Spain guide ('98 or '97) I decided to order the '99 edition here. When it arrived I noticed immediately that the book was only about 2/3 the size of previous editions. After perusing the contents I could see why. The book contained less content and many more references to other LP guidebooks (eg Trekking in Spain, city guides, etc.) Lonely Planet has obviously pared down their info in each guide in an effort to sell more books! While not a terribly surprising tactic in today's marketplace I nevertheless felt a little cheated. At $21.95 I don't think I'll buy again!

Overweight, stale, out of date
I have used the Lonely Planet guides in Asia, the Middle East, and in Europe. Lately, they seem to have lost their way. Originally, the LP guides were for people who had travelled at least a little bit before and needed some pointers to an area. The guides usually had some sort of walking tours in the cities they indicated. Their guides have become filled with useless colour photos of generic scenes, The quirky, fresh information has largely disappeared -- In the summer of 2004, I used the LP guides for both Portugal and Spain. I travelled for about three months. I had been in both places before and had used a LP guide. The most recent guides are stale and minimally updated. They are also occassionally misleading; especially concerning food. Sadly, the LP guide to Spain is not worth the weight that goes along with carrying it.

A telling thing is that I saw several tourists with back packs hanging on both their back and front clutching their LP guides while staggering and sight-seeing through Spanish cities in the afternoon. This is telling for two reasons: (one) In the afternoon, in Spain, there is little to do other than siesta, eat, or drink; it is not the time to sight-see (two) Carrying two packs is carrying one pack too many; the prior generation of LP users were experienced travellers (not tourists) and would find two packs foolish. Anyhow, somehow, LP has lost focus and now better serves the Lets Go crowd instead of more experienced travellers.

My advice: If this is your first trip to Europe, consider buying Lets Go. If you already know how to get your bags off of the airplane, search for an alternative by looking at country specific guides; do not buy a LP guide just because you had happily used one before.