Update Service
(If you are already familiar with our Update service and simply wish to access the online service, please scroll to the bottom of this page)

Sunflower Books is known for its countryside guides for southern Europe. In the last ten years, many of the areas we cover have benefitted from EU funding. All of the destinations in which we specialise - Portugal, Spain and Greece particularly - have embarked on a veritable frenzy of road-building. This is good news for motorists, and they will not grumble very much if confronted with a beautiful new road not shown on our touring maps. But for walkers, the picture is very different. Centuries-old trails have been bulldozed overnight. Beautiful footpaths between villages have become overgrown within a year, because the local people now travel by road, not on foot. Even in the more 'stable' countries like France, landowners sometimes demand the re-routing of a long-established cross-country footpath. All of this means that a book can become outdated very quickly. There are still a few destinations that remain virtually unchanged, but many see substantial changes year to year.

"Well," say some of our users, "no problem - why not revise and reprint the books every year?". What they don't realise is that to be able to sell the books at their present price, there is a minimum quantity we must print to make it viable. Often, that quantity can represent at least two years' sales and to reprint before the edition had sold out would mean throwing away significant quantities of books. That simply isn't an option - we would go out of business. Of course it's not just Sunflower Books that faces this problem. All guide book publishers are up against it, though publishers of "general" guides (which sell in substantially greater quantities than the niche market occupied by walking guides) can normally afford to reprint more frequently.

To try to overcome problems of this sort, Sunflower Books maintains a uniquely helpful Update Service. An Update is issued for every book in print and even for a few books that are currently out of print. (Updates are not normally needed for new books until they have been on sale a few months). Each Update comprises anything from a few hundred to a few thousand words including, where necessary, diagrams or sketch maps for clarification.

Typical entries in an Update might include route changes due to the construction of new roads or buildings; warnings of landslides or storm damage; changes to bus or ferry services; paths blocked by land owners; alternative routes also suggestions for new walks. In short, the service enables you to be in possession of the most up-to-date information we have available just before you leave for your destination. Of course, there are times when Updates remain unchanged for many months - if no information comes in to us, then there is nothing to add. That's why we encourage users of the books to let us know of any changes that have taken place... don't assume that someone else will have already told us about something you discover! But if you are sending us any information, PLEASE tell us which edition of the book you were using. Unless we know this, it is unlikely we will be able to use your information.

Updates Online
Updates are available online free of charge. (Note that Updates shown are normally for the CURRENT edition, except that when a new edition is published, the update for the previous edition may be left in position until such time as information becomes available relating to the new edition.)

The postal service for hard copies which was advertised (at a fee) is discontinued. To access the Update for any book in the Landscapes series, we ask you to provide your name and address plus your e-mail address. This information will NOT be sold on to any other company. And if you prefer that we do not ourselves keep you updated with any improvements to the service or with news of additions to the series, just indicate on the form and you will NOT receive any further e-mails or other communication from us. There is a link to the relevant Update on the page for each destination featured in this site and you can use these links for subsequent Updates after you have clicked on the link in the next line for your first Update.

For Updates, click here.

After you have viewed (and printed out if you wish) the Update/s of your choice, use your "Back" button to return to this page. To return to the Home Page, please click here