Visiting Spain can be overwhelming. It is not just the hustle and bustle of a busy European country. There are lots of fellow tourists, things work differently than what we are used to and there is an immense number of different activities to choose from. With large crowds and too many options availabe, you will have to make choices. We highly recommend properly planning your visit to Spain. The travel books and travel guides in this post are here to help you on your way. We have hand picked all of these books!
Spain is one of Europe’s most famous destinations. It is also a country that has become known for overtourism. Espcially cities like Barcelona and Madrid can be extremely crowded. Over the last years, my wife and myself have traveled to Spain on numerous occasions. We know how crowds can make a city busy but also know where to find the quiet places. All our research has been done using the travel books we recommend here.
- All books have been handpicked by us!
- Books with bad reviews are left out.
- This post includes affiliate marketing links on which we can earn a commission.
We are a big fan of Lonely Planet! We use Lonely Planet Travel Guides for basically every destination that we visit. This Lonely Planet Country Edition has all major Spanish destinations in one easy to use edition. The book comes with full colour maps, highlights, itineraries and what we like the most about the entire Lonely Planet series: reviews for eating, drinking, hidden gems and going out. All Lonely Planet books from the Pocket series are easy-to-use and -unsurprisingly- fit in your pocket. These books are small enough to handle with ease but big enough to contain all the essential tips and tricks for your perfect trip to Spain.
While doing research for this blog, this book attracted our attention. Unlike some of the other books, we haven’t read this one ourselves and it isn’t necessarily a travel book. But this book is highly rated and we most definitely want to read it. With humour, this books seems to provide an introduction to Spanish culture with fun facts and interesting stories.
Written by outspoken, authoritative experts, Frommer’s Spain shows travelers how to experience the country the way the locals do. That means eating in the places tourists don’t know about, visiting top attractions at times when the crowds are at their thinnest, and patronizing the bars and clubs Spaniards hold dear. Whether you’re partying the night away in the Balearic Islands, exploring architecture and history in Barcelona or Bilbao, or running with the bulls in Pamplona, this book will make your vacation better. We also include advice the tourist board wouldn’t approve of: which sites to skip, how to avoid the crowds, and how to stretch your travel budget further, whether you’re on a lavish honeymoon or backpacking it.
Rick Steves is a famous American travel author and TV personality. Steves has published strong and useful travel books for many destinations in Europe. This travel guide for Spain is most definitely not an exception. It includes Steves’ ‘strategic advice’ on how to best spend your time and money during your stay anywhere Spain. It also has an overview of top sights and hidden gems. Each book by Rick Steves also comes with a chapter on how to beat the crowds, skip the lines and avoid tourists traps, which we absolutely recommend reading upon. Although the book is written with an American audience in mind, it doesn’t matter where you are from, you will find this book both entertaining and useful.
Fodor’s Essential Spain is a travel guide for the Italian capital. The book comes with a handy pull out map with top attractions that you can’t miss. Most importantly, the book has indispensable planning tools such as major attractions, top itineraries and dining recommendations. Fodor’s local writers vet every recommendation to ensure that you not only make the most of your time, but that you also have all the most up-to-date and essential information you need to plan the perfect trip.
By reading up on history of our travel destinations we can better understand the behaviour of those living in the places that we visit. Every place that we visit has its own unique history. Spain has a long and rich history. Although the country’s history is too extensive to cover in a single book, this book does a good job in summarizing centuries of history in an easy to read accessable book.
In all our overviews of travel guides, we include a travel book that is made for children. This Spain for Kids Travel Book is easy to use for children and will be really entertaining for kids making the life of parents much easier, even on longer trips. The book will help making the trip to Spain fun, easy and entertaining for you and the kids.
This book was inspired by a cruise in Barcelona as the author experienced overtourism first hand. Over the years, more and more people started traveling and overtourism became a growing issue. Although the coronavirus pandemic has forced us to change our travel behavior for now, we believe that we will travel again and that the return of crowds is inevitable. This book helps you to Avoid Crowds and is your guide on what (not) to do when it’s busy. The book includes a special chapter on traveling during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
