Can someone recommend a guide book for Madrid and surrounding area?

Things I am looking for:
- good maps of Madrid, transit system, and surrounding towns such as Toledo and Segovia
- up-to-date information with historical background on attractions
- small & compact

Things that are not as important for me:
- restaurant guide
- accomodations
- info on other parts of Spain

Thanks for any suggestions!

I love the following map:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312155689/

But Amazon says it is out of print. I love my copy, though, and it would be the first thing I would pack to take to Madrid. Maybe there are some floating around at local bookstores?

Hello del Sol,
I highly recommend Eyewitness Travel Guide: Madrid if you are looking for a general, informative and handy guide, this would be my first recommendation. It has the famous Eyewitness three-dimensional drawings, floor plans, and detailed area maps. It even includes the Metro map. In addition to the historical information, it has dazzling photographs, sometimes they can help you choose what to, or not see.

For Metro maps: You can go to Amazon.com and view You'll need it if you want to use the Metro!

If you cannot find a copy of the Let's Go map of Madrid that Taravb recommnended try Streetwise Madrid by Michael Brown You can also purchase this guide from Amazon. What I like about it is that it is small enough to be inconspicuous yet large enough to find the street you're looking for. The best feature is that it is laminated and quite handy.

Saludos,

I like the Streetwise Madrid map Booklady mentions as well...I love maps and tend to collect far more of them than I would ever need. I even have a small silk handkerchief map of Madrid that I keep in my jacket pocket!

Another good source of small, easily portable maps and guides is the tourist information office located in nearly every town or city. These small guides (with fold-out maps in the back, at least in the versions handed out last year) are free and have quick descriptions of major attractions.

del sol writes: I can tell you what you need but I can't tell you where to find one: Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid publishes a Plano de los Transportes de Madrid that has maps of MetroMadrid, Cercanias and all City and Regional bus routes. The one I have contains the Ayuntamiento de Madrid Logo and it was apparently printed by el Pais, Madrid. The one I have was given to me by a relative. It is about 12.5 cm by 25 cm (folded).
Guidebook: I don't think you can do much better than Baedecker's Madrid. It includes everything else you ask for as well as a pretty good map of the city. It's about 10 cm by 15 cm and 170-some pages (including some excellent pictures) and a fold out map.
P.D.
It looks like you may be out of luck with the Plano de Transportes I mentioned earlier: Antonio tells me there hasn't been one of those published for several years.

I've used a Let's Go City Map Guide and found it excellent, I'll have to look around and see if I can manage to find the Madrid one. Thanks for everyone's suggestions!