Madrid for Travelers

The Total Guide: The Comprehensive Traveling Guide for All Your Traveling Needs

By: The Total Travel Guide Company

Narrated by: Jon Miosky

Length: 1 hr and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

The Best and Most Unique Madrid Travel Guide

Madrid will charm you with its rich history, magnificent sites, and diverse cultural heritage. It has everything you can possibly imagine for a holiday filled with fun.

With all its complexity and density, Madrid is a city that promises adventure. High quality tourist facilities, gastronomic delights, stupendous views, and hospitality are the main reasons why Madrid is one of the most popular destinations in the world.

You probably heard of the city of Madrid hundreds of times already, maybe from that aunt who wanted to go on a fancy trip to Spain, or maybe from your cousin who saved up until last summer to be able to visit the city at least once. Perhaps you’ve seen documentaries or read reviews online on this or that museum wondering what it’d be like to see and touch those things in person. Whatever your reason might be, this guide will help you discover hidden secrets about the city, and will help you saving as much as possible while still being able to enjoy a full and incredible experience. At least, you’ll finally be able to tell your aunt or cousin something new when they ask how did you like the place. We guarantee that your Madrid experience will be unique and unforgettable.

Let this book guide you to the many places that you must see in Madrid to let your trip turn into a life-changing event. This book is filled with suggested places to stay, from budget to luxurious, places to visit, local cuisines to try, and places to shop. All these suggested itineraries have been experienced first-hand and are all highly recommended to tourists.

Experience a whole new world when you come and visit Madrid. In this total guide you will find:

• Areas covered: history lessons/best museums/surfing/adventure land off-road trips/wildlife spotting/medical tourism/learn Spanish in Madrid/cooking and drinking/accommodation/staying safe/music/festivities
• General information of each area
• Area transportation (how to get around, i.e. car, bus, taxi, train, bicycle, rickshaw, etc. and how much it would cost)
• Sightseeing (best sights to see, off the beaten path)
• Best shopping (where are the major shopping districts and what they are known for)
• Bargain alternatives (where the locals shop to avoid the high tourist crowds)
• Things to do (recreation outdoor, indoor, events and festivals)
• Local food specialties
• Farmer's and fish (meat) markets (locations, dates and times of various markets)
• Language, political and etiquette considerations (what the average tourist should know and how to get along with the locals; type of currency used and types of places that exchange currency)
• Seasonal considerations (typical high and low temperatures, if there is a rainy season, if it snows, floods or is known for "heavy" weather)
• Comfort services (massage, hair and nail salons, spas, etc.)
• Essential services (embassy locations, medical facilities, law enforcement, etc.)
• Area specific discounts

So, download now this total guide and start traveling as you listen!

©2019 Brenda Caizza (P)2019 Brenda Caizza

A Must If You Go to Madrid

Listened the 1st time for enjoyment. Will take notes the 2nd time. Such good and specific information.

Very basic

It is the same information that could be gathered in 15 minutes of internet research, but since I was driving it was a pleasant enough distraction for the hour.
One specific issue-the audio book says there are only a few key pictures or maps in the book but there is no pdf available for download.

This is a brief and helpful travel guide

I love how short it is. It is focused on what you need to know.

No story. Random facts. Probably AI generated.

I didn’t like the book honestly. Just random facts read out loud, this probably explains as probably generated using chatgpt or a cheap ghost writer.

Atrocious Pronunciation

I thought that suspending disbelief was only required when reading works of fiction. I was wrong.

The author makes a weighty biographical revelation in the preface: "It's quite challenging to perfectly describe Madrid from the eyes of somebody who's lived here my entire life . . ." Mind you, the first one and one-half minutes of this book are spent extolling the perfection of the Total Guide brand: "We do whatever it takes to make sure we have you covered." The reader is assured that the Total Guide people talk to friends and friends of friends to make sure they've gotten it right.

A mere one minute and forty eight seconds into Chapter 1, the narrator destroys the author's credibility and breaches Total Guide's quality guarantee. That is when he informs us that it is believed that Madrid was founded by Mohamed I of Córdoba, who buit a small castle where - wait for it - the Pah-lah-CEE-oh REEL stands today. That's right. Pah-lah-CEE-oh REEL. Total Guide expects readers to believe that someone who has lived in Madrid their entire life would pronounce the name of one of the most important historical sites in the city like an American who has absolutely no knowledge of Spanish pronunciation.

I wouldn't be writing this had the mangling of the Spanish language been an isolated occurrence, Sadly, readers who are sufficiently well educated to be familiar with the majestic sound of the Spanish language will endure serial mispronunciations in this reading of the book that is pitched as "the comprehensive traveling guide for all your traveling needs." It is a sad day when the readers and producers of travel audio books decide that travelers do not need to hear the correct native pronunciation of the names of local attractions.