Honorable Mention: Tuco Tours

National Geographic Traveler researchers talk to a lot of different people. Some of them are helpful. Some of them are not. Some of them are interesting. Some of them talk for an hour about history of the small wooden building we just called to make sure was still standing. When a source is obnoxious, it can be a little frustrating to see their business get good coverage in the magazine, no matter how good a service they provide. Conversely, when a source is super helpful, we always wish we could devote more space to them. Earlier this year, chief researcher Marilyn Terrell researched Andrew McCarthy's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (about spaghetti Western locations in southern Spain) for the April 2007 issue. She had so much fun checking it, she wanted to give a couple column inches to a source that helped her a lot, but wasn't mentioned at all in the original article:

While tracking down info for the story, I discovered a tour company in Almeria, where Sergio Leone shot several of his Dollars Trilogy movies with Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef.  It's called Tuco Tours, after the Eli Wallach character in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

They give personalized tours of the filming locations of the many movies that have been shot in this rugged and spectacular region. They are based in the U.K. and Spain, and I found them to be very knowledgeable.

Tuco offers three one-day tours of different locations, or can combine them all into a three-day jaunt known as "The Full Leone." Not sure how much spaghetti Western you want on your plate? Their website offers virtual tours of all the locations they visit, so you can assess your hunger level before booking.