Rick Steves’ Snapshot Madrid & Toledo

5 Responses to “Rick Steves’ Snapshot Madrid & Toledo”

1. Michael Sandman says:

   September 3, 2010 at 1:36 pm

   This covers Madrid and nearby Toledo reasonably well. The authors’ opinions are obvious, but they hold up pretty well, based on our experience. There could be a bit more information on using the superb but slightly complex Madrid Metro system. There is brilliant information on the Prado and on many of Madrid’s additional museums. The section on Toledo (which is worth a day’s trip via a 40-minute train ride) is superb. The only complaint I have is that the book is not printed on glossy paper, and the maps are therefore less legible than they should be.

   You can walk across the heart of Madrid from the Royal Palace to the Prado easily, and if you take your time, this book will help you get a feeling for the structure and beauty of the city.
   
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
2. Ingrid Nicholson says:

   September 3, 2010 at 2:53 pm

   GET THIS E-BOOK!!! I debated whether it would be worth the money before I took a huge month-long trip to Spain this past October/November 2009. Rick Steves just does not disappoint! The most useful feature (there are tons) in the Snapshot city guide e-books are the self-guided tours. There are crowd-beating tips, updated cost, hours, locations, phone numbers, maps, self-guided walking tours in the city…For so small money, you can save yourself a world full of headaches. He also points out cool things to see in the Madrid that aren’t in additional tour books (like rowing a boat in the lake in Parque de Retiro), and he gives invaluable tips of the excellent places to go for everything (food, entertainment, museums, neighborhoods, etc). Also, the local free tourist maps they give you are usually anemic by way of detailed, accurate information. Having this small tool as a backup is critical when you may not have time to hunt down larger books and maps. It also gives you info about surrounding cities you may like to visit, as well as tips on language, money, phoning…Plus, it fits in your pocket (I used it on my iPhone with the Kindle reader). You don’t look like a tourist dork reading your iPhone, like you do lugging around maps and books. You look way cooler…
   
   I loved this e-book bc it also included Toledo. There is a tourist info office in the main square area in Toledo (Zocodover Square), but it won’t boil down the city for a day trip like Rick Steves does. No one makes a city come alive like Rick Steves!!!
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
3. Louie Escober says:

   September 3, 2010 at 4:41 pm

   This was a excellent, light guidebook for Madrid and Toledo. It’s a bit light on background, and I establish the recommendations for dining a bit thin; but otherwise is a very excellent guidebook for quick visits where you’re just arresting the highlights. I used this guidebook on an iPad and an iPhone 4. Even in the tiny format of the iPhone 4, I establish the guide very readable.

   Some criticisms I would have is that for some reason this version of the eBook doesn’t have full maps. In another eGuidebook I bought, the Seville Snapshot guide by Rick Steves, you would get a full map and then on subsequent pages, you would get sections of the map (in quarters). I suppose this was to allow you to view the full map, and then to be able to zoom in to quarter sections for more detail. But, in this version of the ebook, I only got the quarter sections, which was very inconvenient and made it very hard to read the maps.

   Also, the book could use a better table of contents or pointer. It would make it much simpler to flip to point sites, museums, monuments, etc. The table of content headings are too broad.

   Finally, for persons who would use this guidebook on their phones, I learned a disadvantage of this format when I was trying to follow Rick’s self-guided walk through the Palacio Real. You’re not allowed to use cell phones in the Palacio! They don’t care that you’re using it to read a guidebook – they won’t let you use cell phones for any reason. I suppose they’re trying to keep people from using their phone cameras, but I was very brusquely told to place my cell phone away.

   I didn’t have any troubles in any of the art museums or cathedrals I went to, but it can be an issue.

   Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
4. Stephen Greene says:

   September 3, 2010 at 6:45 pm

   up to now I permanently got a brand-name travel book, but this one is how I would want one to be written- there’s a HAND-DRAWN map of many neighborhoods, with each attraction and the nearest restaurant locations shown. There’s a tour of the Prado Museum- what’s on each floor and room. Same for Toledo. Also buses and bus tours described, and which bus tours omit what sights. The formula Madrid books concentrate on describing all the hotels and don’t have this excellent stuff.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
5. Alexander Albrecht says:

   September 3, 2010 at 7:15 pm

   I am writing this review in Madrid. I just finished Ricks’ self-guided walk; it was absolutely the best tour of Madrid we have had. It was way better the the guided walk tours and the bus tours we took earlier. Although I am not what you would call a “budget traveler” the book also saved be a bunch of money. What I like is there is just the right amount of information. Enough so you can find the right places to sleep, eat and see, but not so much that you get bored with excess facts. If you are going to bring one guidebook to Madrid, this is the one.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5