No comments about Speak Portuguese for Beginners-The Michel Thomas Method (8-CD Beginners Program) (Michel Thomas).

No comments about Top 10 Gran Canaria (EYEWITNESS TOP 10 TRAVEL GUIDE).

No comments about Under Latin Skies: The joys of life in rural Spain.

No comments about Vasco Da Gama: And the Portuguese Explorere (Explorers of the New World).

1 comments about Let's Go Barcelona 3rd Edition (Let's Go Barcelona).

1. We used this book as our main guide for a recent trip to Barcelona and were very happy with it. The descriptions of sites are very comprehensive, and the details (opening hours, costs, etc.) are accurate and complete. We also appreciated the sidebars about things you might run across, such as cava or the sardana.

   The most useful feature is that every site, resturant, hotel, etc. listed in the book is also pinpointed on one of the maps in the back, making things extremely easy to find.

   Also helpful is a listing of restaurants by type. I'm a vegetarian and we used the list of vegetarian restaurants constantly. Unfortunately, some of the restaurants we looked for no longer exist.

   The other book we had was Time Out Barcelona. We found the site descriptions to be inferior, but it has a very good restaurant section and also a street index which was quite helpful.

   We mostly used the Sights and Food sections, so I can't comment on the other sections in the book.

No comments about A Great Weekend in Madrid (Great Weekend Series).

No comments about Fodor's Exploring Spain, 8th Edition (Exploring Guides).

No comments about Foreigners in Spain: Triumphs & Disasters.

2 comments about Karen Brown's Portugal: Charming Inns & Itineraries 2000 (Karen Brown's Portugal).

1. After digesting several other books on Portugal I received Karen Brown's book. Had I received her book first, I could have saved a lot of money and time because no other book comes anywhere close to providing the information and interest in visiting the places that she writes about. I cannot wait to read her other books. Wanted to have a vehicle there but was disuaded by the other publications. However, after reading her book I am anxious to rent a vehicle and visit all the wonderful adventures that she has written about. Sorry to say we only have 16 days this time, but rest assured we will return to finish the books descriptions of all the wonderful places. The web sites and phone numbers provided are extremely helpful; even moreso that the information provided by the state run tourism office. The encouragement to explore is there. Thanks once again for a wonderfully written guide book.



2. I used this book side-by-side with my Frommer's Portugal and found it to be a great complement. It excels at finding wonderful accommodations across the ENTIRE country. (My Frommer's book, I found, included only the most popular tourist spots, largely ignoring the Douro Valley, for example, which every traveler should see.) Each of the places we stayed was unique and spectacular, and many of them were not included in other travel guides. The regional itineraries were also very useful. While we didn't follow any of them to the letter but rather picked and choosed to suit our travel plans, the book pointed out lots of special points of interest, again not always mentioned in my Frommer's book. (Were it not for these itineraries, we undoubtedly would have missed seeing the medieval castle at Marvao, a highlight of our trip.)

   For in-depth coverage of all of the regions of Portugal and lodging recommendations you can trust, this book is it.

   This was my first time buying a Karen Brown guide, and it certainly won't be my last.

No comments about Barcelona Travel Pack (Globetrotter Travel Packs).