Three Countries, Nine Cities: Lisboa, Porto, Faro, Sevilla, Madrid, Barcelona, Florence Venice, Bologna
An impartial judgment on key places of interest
Portugal, Spain, and Italy Travel Tips and Hacks
by A.Z.R.
Book Review
Portugal, Spain, and Italy Travel Tips and Hacks is a travel review of select cities in three European countries. In this book, the author shares his personal experience on the accommodation, local transport, service, and food in each of the nine cities he and his family visited. He also takes note of the general environment in each place. But, unlike what you would usually find in most travel brochures and write-ups where only the best is showcased, A.Z.R presents both the positive and negative characteristics of the cities according to his personal judgment and experience.
Generally, the book is informative. Portugal, Spain, and Italy Travel Tips and Hacks is a short guide of less than a hundred pages. But it contains several “to do” things. The author describes each place so vividly that he virtually takes the reader with him on this month-long tour. His style of writing is straightforward, making the book easy to read. He also provides very good photos of some of the places. A.Z.R’s comments on the foods, however, are subjective and very personal to him and his family. Whatever he may find disgusting or good, may taste otherwise for others. In this case, therefore, it is up to the potential tourist to take or not his word for it. After all, we don’t share the same taste buds.
On the technical side, I don’t find any spelling and grammatical errors in the book. Or, if there were any, it must have been negligible for me to notice. My only comment, and this is not a negative one at all, is that I find the title of the book not so appealing. A.Z.R might want to make it more eye-catching.
Nevertheless, I give Portugal, Spain, and Italy Travel Tips and Hacks a rating of 5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it to all people planning to visit these European countries for the first time. Personally, I haven’t been to these countries. But, I feel I could go there on an unguided tour, using only his advice as my guide. This book should be made available in all book stores, private travel and tour agencies, and in the official government-run tourism offices worldwide.
