Lonely Planet Experience Portugal (Travel Guide) Paperback – Folded Map, June 7, 2022

This book is well-written and referenced. Always great to have a hand-held book as a guide.

I've used Lonely Planet guide books for virtually all my independent travel (backpacking) in 40+ countries and I've always been so impressed with the well-researched depth and breadth of information in each book. This book was a big, BIG letdown. It's full of pretty pictures and nearly useless information and short on the stuff you really need to know when traveling abroad.Like for example here's the number one thing they tell you in the seven 'Things to know About Portugal' section on page 42,"Embrace the Detours: At first sight, Portugal might seem like a country easy to fully explore in a matter of weeks. But no matter how well you plan the time you'll spend on the ground, the local historical and cultural richness, intriguing and mixed cuisine, and the people you meet will most likely have you chasing an off-the-map adventure. Go with the flow, Portuguese style, and embrace the detours."Okay so that's a lovely statement but you literally could substitute almost any country name into that paragraph and it would be true so what's the point?And then there's number 4 in the list of seven,"Soak up the Sun in Small Doses: On average, Portugal has around 300 days of sunshine a year, so there's no need to get it all under your skin in one go."Thanks for the sage advice but I've got a dermatologist already who's pretty good.There's also a section on the carbon footprint from different modes of travel on page 242 where they point out there's a smaller carbon footprint from using public transport instead of driving. Who knew? While I'm an environmentalist and care deeply about our planet, I don't need my guidebook to tell me the ridiculously obvious. Maddeningly bland.I don't think I've ever returned a book, any book, but I'll be returning this one.

Not that helpful. Other lonely planet books more informational

Great information and beautiful photos!

This guide was perfect for planning experiences and destinations. Most of the topics open up to a two-page spread and are frequently organized into “Top 10.” The format and descriptions helped narrow down the top things to do/see among the abundance of options. Perfect for what I needed and was a great supplement/enhancement but doesn’t replace a more traditional guide with specific recommendations for hotel, restaurants, etc.

I really enjoyed this book. It focuses on experiences (recommendations for what to see, places to visit) and also has "trip builders" for various parts of the country. It does not have the usual listings of recommended hotels and restaurants -- if that's what you're looking for, I'd look elsewhere. For me, that worked out great because I find hotels and restaurants based on online reviews anyway. And excluding all that hotel/restaurant info makes for a smaller book -- I like to travel as light as possible and this was not super heavy nor takes up a lot of space compared to other guide books. (I prefer hard copies, not electronic versions which I find hard to navigate.) One critique is that it does have some relatively basic information/ guidance (e.g. "Soak up the sun in small doses") but found that to be a relatively small nuisance.

This is the barest of all travel guides. I would not recommend this guide to the first time visitor to Portugal. There is way too much white space for the money spent. No city maps, and one is better off buying a guide at the airport and referring to Tripadvisor.I've trusted Lonely Planet's past publications. This is purchase is a disappointment.

Lonely Planet guide content is probably good. However the conversion for Kindle is inconvenient. The pages are all images, two pages at a time, shown all at once on the screen. The Kindle app on Android phone (as in Dec 2022) did not allow zooming into the picture. So I could read nothing, except some of the bigger font section headings. I returned the purchase after a frustrating attempt to read the book. I have ordered a hard copy.