This is the 6th Rough Guide, to various countries, that I've used on a vacation. The (positive) sarcasm evident in the other books helped me to decide which specific visit to make, especially when time was at a premium. This helpful tool is not overly evident in the 4th edition.
Too many factual problems in a new guide occured (Example Granada . . . .page 533....Bar Ferroviaria closes and does not open, as reported in the book, at 2 pm ......on Plaza Pescedaria, no's 8 and 14 were recommended. One was overly popular, difficult to approach the entrance and the other is now a building site.
The city maps are 'logically' oriented and not "north" (as in most other guides, including the Rough which I've used) making quick use of the map difficult and comparison with other maps virtually impossible.
Insufficient attention is made regarding entry to the main cities:
We wasted valuable time getting to the Alhambra in Granada there is a ring road not well indicated in the guide.
The parking lot (for Gibraltar) in La Linea is a great 'find' but the guide should indicate that it may be reached by following 'Gibraltar' signs, no need to drive all the way through the alleys of La Linea.
The Sevill maps (pages 274/5 and 278) are not easily oriented to each other. In addition, arrival by road is too 'sudden', the 'old city' arrives without any pre-warning of landmarks, making navigation in moving traffic extremely difficult.
Similar comments can be made about Malaga and Almeria, in both cases, appropriate parking near the Alcazars exist, but the Guide did not help us find parking.
I can not comment on the other major cities, as we did not visit them.
As a general rule, the Andalucian inter city roads are very well signposted, but those in the towns and cities, not. I would therefore expect my guide to over compensate for this and give me better data, at least, to reach the first where excellent city/town maps are usually available.
Overall, I like the 'personal' approach of Rough Guides, still evident in the Andalucian 4th edition, but less so than in other guides.
There are many 'tips' which make it a worthy guide.
There is a great deal of logic in the placing of sites. In addition, if my route strays from that logic, the index is detailed enough to redirect me.
Will I buy another Rogh Guide? Only if the maps are north oriented. Too much valuable holiday time was taken from me entering the cities.
