travel guide books to spain

The absolute best are Maribel’s Guides, available online. She will answer any questions you have too. We used her guides for a month long trip in Spain. Next I use DK Eyewitness guides.
Then I also use Fodors.
I would use Rick Steves for the few areas and places he includes in this large country. He covers limited places in his guide books; they are not comprehensive nor meant to be. They cover where his tours go.
Because Spain is a large country, we use regional guide books too by any of the publishers I mentioned above.

thanks, suki! i'll look into those.

What I like about Rick Steves and Lonely Planet guidebooks is you know when the next edition will be available and I buy the one that’s most recent. I don’t know of another guidebook that does this. Every guidebook is limited on what is covered but Lonely Planet covers more places but often times that information is limited.
If you’re trying to decide on what places to visit, buy the Best of Spain. If you buy Rick Steves make sure it’s the 3rd edition that came out in Oct’19 and the next book will be available in Sep’23. If you buy Lonely Planet, buy the 3rd edition that came out in Sep’21 and the next edition will be available in Jun’23. You can read all that’s covered in both guidebooks before buying them.
What I don’t like about Foder’s is it does not tell you how to get from one place to the next like Rick Steves guidebooks do. Foder’s is written for those who want to read about places they’re visiting while on a tour, not for the independent traveler who needs help with logistics if getting around on public transportation.
Another thing I like about Rick Steves guidebooks is he has maps that show the hotels and restaurants he’s listed that makes them easier to find. The map also shows where the post office, pharmacy and metro stops are. He also lists mom and pop places to sleep and eat so you’re putting money back into that countries, economy not an American chain. Rick also lets you know if English is not spoken at the hotel. I then go into TripAdvisor and check to see if there are negative reviews.
Oh, and Ricks self-guided walks are easier to follow than Lonely Planet. You can also download Rick's app that also contain his self-guided walks.

thanks, MaryPat! great info.

I'll put in a vote for Lonely Planet guidebooks, which I've always found to be very satisfactory for my style of independent travelling (including Spain and Portugal). What I like best about them is the detailed logistical information they give: for example, many guidebooks may tell you that buses go from one certain city to another, but Lonely Planet will usually tell how many buses go each day, the times they leave, and the expected duration of the journey. Of course some of this information can change over time, but at least it gives a good "baseline" from which to plan.
My experience has been that their authors' judgments are usually pretty good, too; if they say a street is "dodgy," or a hotel is friendly, I find they're usually right. Also: their city and regional maps are clear and precise; and they do a good job of covering places off the normal tourist paths. There are some more discursive guidebooks that may be interesting to read before a trip, but I have not yet found any guidebooks that I consider better for taking along, and using en-route, than Lonely Planet ones.

I've tended to gravitate towards lonely planet and DK, I found them comprehensive and thorough

My two favorites are the Michelin Green Guides and Lonely Planet. I will also use Rick's guidebooks but beware that he omits some places, such as Malaga in Spain, which is wonderful, and Zadar in Croatia. He treats Malaga like it's nothing more than a transportation hub, and that is so inaccurate. Malaga is a beautiful city with so many interesting places to visit. IMO, you definitely need another guidebook in addition to Rick's, if you are using his guidebooks.

thank you all for the wonderful suggestions!

I have just planned 60 days in Spain using mostly Lonely Planet and Rick Steves guidebooks. I have also found the Spain.info tourism website very helpful. I tend to look at a mix of the 'comprehensive' and 'best of' guidebooks.

For itinerary planning for transportation, I find the old Rome2Rio website invaluable as you can plan a multi stop itinerary.

We leave for our trip in a month's time!

thanks, AussieNomad!

I always use regional guides, and if you pick a region not well covered, there is always online. Spain is just as regionally varied as Italy so one book would have to weigh a ton to be comprehensive. You can purchase just book chapters online.
Eyewitness/DK has a guide to northern Spain published in 2022.
I always gravitate toward Lonely Planet and Rough Guide. They are often older, but Cadogan was great--and history/culture info does not change.
I've found this forum specifically to be really helpful. There are some Spain residents and Spain aficionados who give tirelessly. Northern Spain can be a bit more tricky public-transport wise, so it's great to have this knowledgeable input.

I can't speak to Spain specifically, but I'd say Lonely Planet or the Michelin Green Guide. I like Michelin's easy-to-read maps and floor plans. Its hotel and restaurant listings are very limited, Lonely Planet's are better. Michelin's are long and narrow, easier for me to carry in a pocket or belt pack. But they're relatively heavy. Weight is my main problem with the DK guides -- much better for perusing and planning before a trip than taking along.

No one does better than RS at "walking" you through a city or between cities or into a country. But he's nowhere near comprehensive or exhaustive, which is what you're looking for.

I agree that Rick Steves guidebooks are not comprehensive or exhaustive. He does have good walking tours, but Michelin Green guide has detailed walking tours, too. We have used them several times, most recently in Nafplio in Greece.

thank you all for your input! looks like i have a lot of homework to do!

I like the "Rough guide" series. It is reasonably comprehensive, similar to the Lonely planet guide but I like it 10% more comprehensive or detailed than lonely planet; lonely planet might appeal to independent travelers who have a 10% higher toleration for risk or uncertainty compared to the Rough guide editors and the Rough guide is still 10% more comprehensive. The Rough guides are published in London, England. Maybe that has something to do with why none of you mentioned Rough guides, maybe Rough guides being less known or marked in the united states?

I used Rick Steves guide too because I liked how good a job he seems to do to transportation. That was before I realized that I can use rome2rio, google maps, RENFE, and so on, to figure out transportation. Yes Rick steves does a good job of guiding you to and telling you about the places his tours go. Yes Rick steves guides are not comprehensive. If you just only have 14 nights, maybe only go to cities and sites in Rick Steves guide. Just start with Rick steves guide and then make up a supposed itinerary, and then check the Rough guide or lonely planet guide and see if there are additional less popular museums or sights you want to add in or substitute in.

I don't like eyewitness guides because they waste too much space on illustrations and the text size is too small.

MikeL, I have used Rough Guides, too, and I was very happy with them. I used it most recently for our trip to Croatia about 3 years ago. But for the last couple years, I didn't use Rough Guides. No particular reason except that maybe Barnes & Noble haven't carried them for a few years. (I still shop at bookstores!) But thanks for reminding me about the Rough Guide series. I would definitely consider them for our next trip. They are easy to use and are comprehensive.

Kmkwoo: Amazon counts as a bookstore.... I wouldn't care if barns and Noble closes down. You can also buy right from the website of rough guides (or lonely plante or other publishers). I have bought guidebooks in electronic format and read them on a Samsung Android device. And you can still buy an electronic copy online even if the store runs out of hard copies. And the electronic copy gets sent to your accout through the internet right away.

I am old-fashioned and I still like reading "real" books. And I like to browse through a guidebook before I purchase it.