Let's Go 2006 Spain & Portugal - European Travel Books

Paperback - 29 November, 2005 - Let's Go Publications
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By: Inc Let's Go
ISBN: 0312348932

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Reviews by readers

For those traveling on the cheap

I read the reviews for the previous edition of the Let's Go Spain & Portugal book, so I was expecting a book with recommendations that might not always live up to my traveling standards. And that's what I got.

I still give this book 4 stars because it does a great job of suggesting inexpensive places, but sometimes you really do get what you pay for! For the record, I generally travel pretty cheaply and don't mind minimalistic accomodations as long as they are clean. These were generally that, but the bathrooms were often the downfall.

If you're 18-25, this is the perfect book. Many of the suggestions for accomodations and things to do are geared toward younger people who may not have as much money to spend.

If you're 26-40, this is a good book if you like to save money. When looking at accomodations, pay attention to the cost ratings (1-5) and you'll probably want to shoot for the 3-5 rating to get a place that's up to par and still inexpensive. For example, we stayed at the top recommended place in Sevilla and it was insanely cheap (15 euros per person), but the bathrooms were dismal and the showers so small you couldn't possibly bend over to get your shampoo. If you don't need to shower every night, then alternate your nights (1 or 2 star one night, 3 or 4 the next) as the rooms are often better than the bathrooms at the cheap places.

If you're 41-65, you may enjoy some of the places recommended. If you enjoy saving money and don't mind having small rooms and mediocre bathrooms, you'll save a ton and you can spend it on your food!

If you're over 65, I wouldn't recommend the book. The accomodations are almost all one or two stories above ground and few with elevators. They're often in the more bustling parts of town, which can mean noisier at night.

Fado in Lisbon
We took the book's recommendation for a Fado house in Lisbon, Cafe Luso, and while the book said that it was a minimum 20 euros, 22-29 euros per plate, we found it to be an extremely expensive night out. Granted, the music was wonderful, the ambience perfect, and we didn't worry about it too much because we'd saved so much on hotels. But all told it came to 160 euros for 4 people. They charged 8 euros per bottle of water and the food was so salty that we needed two. The wine, unlike any other place we went, was 25 euros. And the minimums were complicated and we felt like we'd been had when the bill came.

They had a 7 euro "couvert" that was required. This consisted of olives, cheese, a bun, and little sausage pieces. We had become accustomed to being charged for the olives and bread/cheese that were delivered to our table (this is customary throughout Portugal), so we tried to send them back. They kept bringing new things (bread, sausages) to our table and when I questioned it, they said, "no, no, you no pay." Oh, we paid. Whether we ate it or not, we would have paid as it was a required charge in addition to the 25 euro plate minimum.

So beware the Fado house. Luso was wonderful, but if you go, go for the drink option only. The music starts very late, so go out for dinner elsewhere and then pay 15 euros for the drink option versus buying dinner there.

Things to Do
The book has a nice system of listing things to do and places to see and they include nice brief writeups about these places. We found this to be very handy and helpful and generally hit the recommended places.

Food
We didn't use the food section very often, but when we did we found the recommendations were okay, but not great. The exception was Sintra. If you go to Sintra, you must go to the Sapa store for queijadas. Everything they sold was excellent and inexpensive.

Maps
The maps were excellent and we used them often for getting us into town before we had a tourist office map to get around with. In several cases, the map in the book was better than the tourist office map. I only wish they had parking indicated on them. We were often driving into towns where we wanted to park on the outskirts and then walk to find a place to stay.

One Recommendation
Photocopy the maps. I found them to be very useful, but carting around and using the massive book was not. So if I did it again, I would definitely photocopy (and enlarge when possible) all of the maps for cities I knew I'd be visiting.

Enjoy your trip!

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