Michelin Atlas Spain & Portugal, 16e (Atlas (Michelin))

I have been a long-time fan of Michelin maps and guides. Their products are first-rate, and the detail has been the standard against which other maps are measured. Last year I traveled to New Zealand, an area for which Michelin does not have a map. I purchased what I felt was a good map, but it proved on the road to be lacking in detail, particularly when compared to the spiral-bound map of the country that my friend showed up with. His map had detail to make a map lover drool, and I knew that going forward I, too, would need to come up with a more detailed map to guide me. My wife and I were traveling to Spain, and so I purchased this latest version of the Michelin map with high hopes.

The reality of my recent map experience, however, left us extremely disappointed. My wife and I are both good map navigators, and we often travel extemporaneously, which requires clear information to change routes on the fly. The size of the map on the printed page in this book seemed to...Read more

If you expect to be able to drive all over Spain with this atlas alone, you will be disappointed. I bought this primarily to help plan a driving trip across Northern Spain, and in conjunction with the GPS we got with our rental car, had virtually no trouble getting anywhere. There just isn't enough city detail. Word up: you should not plan to navigate to your hotel in Bilbao with anything less than directions from your hotel because even the GPS is useless there (too much construction).

The pages are not particularly heavy or laminated, so this book is definitely for grownups - a certain delicacy is required when moving between maps so that you don't tear anything.

All that said, I didn't tear any of the pages, I'm glad I bought it and would do it again.

Outside of Europe, it's hard to find up-to-date map books for Spain/Portugal. This one was published in 2009. The pages are clear and well organized, with plenty of detailed city maps. It may not be as good as a GPS, but it is a heck of a lot cheaper.

One limitation of this atlas is that, on facing pages, the map splits awkwardly across the spiral binding. But then the same thing happens with bound books, so it is not a fault of the spiral binding. And a clear advantage of the spiral binding is that it opens completely flat, so there is no worry about cracking the spine.