Barcelona & Catalonia

This series just keeps me amazed!!! I have 9 books of the Eyewitness Travel Guide and it hasn't let me down just yet! This book has everything you need!! It has the maps of the Metros, helpful tips on how to save money, it has guided walks (I took them and they are fabulous!!) It has a very detailed map of the center of Barcelona with Street Finders (VEEERRYYY helpful). It has colorful pictures and the story behind them. I went to Spain on the Easter Holiday. Spent 4 days in Madrid and 4 days in Barcelona. I had been to Madrid before, but not in Barcelona. I went there with my boyfriend and it was his first time too. With this book we covered everything and didn't leave anything important out!! We didn't need any tour guide, since this book was our savior. I feel like I already know Barcelona like the palm of my hand, thanks to this book. With this book we found hotels to stay, places to eat, where to shop, how to get to Barcelona, important places to go with their explanation, daily schedules, where to save money, where to drink cocktails, how to go around Barcelona safely, how to use the metro (subway), how to get around Barcelona...in all, EVERYTHING!! The days we spent in Barcelona, we didn't feel like tourists, but like we actually lived there, like part of the crowd. We had a blast! Its worth the money and it even serves as a great collection. Once you buy an Eyewitness Travel Guide, you won't look at any other Travel Guide again. For those who already knows Eyewitness Travel Guide, its another great publication and guarantee you won't be sorry!!

Very useful guidebook. Compact and easy to carry around. Easy to read with great pictures and street maps (includes metro line maps too). Very helpful in deciding which sites are most important to visit. I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting an easy guide to travel around Barcelona and Catalonia.

I went to Barcelona recently, and in the planning of the trip I consulted four guide books: Lonely Planet's Barcelona City Guide Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Barcelona and Catalonia Cadogan Guides Barcelona (Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls) Time Out Barcelona All of them were good. I took two with me: Lonely Planet and Eyewitness. The reasons I chose those two: Eyewitness unfailingly has a good quality map, which in my view is LP's downfall. Eyewitness always includes a Street Finder Index which LP does not, and LP often misses out on streets other than the major ones, which can be very frustrating, especially in a city like Barca where there are many alleyways. I never use Eyewitness for hotels - the information is scant and usually more expensive than my (more Lonely Planet) budget, but it has fantastic colour photos and cutaways of buildings, and illustrations which place buildings within their streetscapes. It's a nice book to read on the bus or train going somewhere. LP specialises in listings, which seemed to be more up-to-date and comprehensive than either Time Out or Cadogan, It also had a good Excursions section which helped a couple of times when I travelled beyond the city. I also liked a couple of the walking routes they recommended. Information on matters such as public transport is comprehensive and detailed. I like the chapters on history, architecture and food as well. Time Out's great strength was in helping to plan. It had a huge array of hotels, and if you were especially interested in nightlife, I would take Time Out. I was there primarily for a conference, and many of my evenings were organised. And I'm also night a great nightclubber, perhaps contrary to Barca lifestyle!! If you are - consider Time Out. Its maps were pretty good, but not comprehensive for the area I was staying in, beachside Barceloneta. That is where the Cadogan guide excelled. Its maps were so good that I pulled them out of the book and took them with me. I would have taken the whole book, but for the weight in my suitcase! Its info about places and sights seemed accurate and comprehensive.

.Great Travel Guide, Beautiful Coffee Table Book!Summary:Every Dorling Kindersley Guide has been a great and interesting book... and delightful to have and use, even if you are not traveling to that location, but are only interested in learning more!The Guides are well organized in a logical and easy to follow manner. They are beautifully illustrated, well developed with accurate information (it is unusual for hotel and restaurant information to be that accurate), have enough history to help the reader understand the people and cultural background, and have a lot of useful travel information and useable maps in the appendixes.The really great attraction to this book is several fold; it is:............Very complete............Easy to read............Beautifully and artistically completed............Good shopping, safety and other tips............Gorgeous photographs too numerous to list.Specifics:The guides are organized as follows:How to use this guideIntroduction to Historical and Geographical informationGeographical Regions............Introduction Barcelona and Catalonia........................Intro to Barcelona / Catalonia........................Portrait of Catalonia........................Catalonia Through the Year (events, holidays)........................History of Catalonia............Barcelona Area by Area, each section includes:........................Introduction to street by street area........................Detailed pictorials of area buildings........................Architectural drawings, pictures, cut-aways of buildings........................Specific stops, historical monuments, churches, buildings, etc.........................Barcelona At a Glance........................Old Town........................Eixample........................Monjuic........................Further Afield............Catalonia Area by Area........................Llieda, Andorra, Girona, Barcelona Province, TarragonaTravelers Needs - includes full list with rankings and notes............Hotels............Restaurants, cafes, bars............Shopping............Entertainment............Outdoor activitiesSurvival Information............Practical........................Tourist info., Etiquete, Personal Security and Health........................Currencies, Telephones, misc info.............Travel Information (Getting to Barcelona )............Street Maps (Getting Around Barcelona )............General Index............Catalan Phrase Book ............Barcelona Metro and Train Routes (Maps)Discussion:The book begins with "Introducing Barcelona", including a complete map, a review, the city's history, and Barcelona thought the Year - including events, etc.Areas with an "At a glance" overview, then has subsections of specific blocks, or forums, then specific locations, churches, historical monuments, bridges, galleries, etc. Architectural reviews include various views, and cutaways; given greater understanding and better perspective. They are all attractive, if no

The cover says it all: "The guide that shows you what others only tell you." Each page is illustrated with breathtaking shots of Churches, Mountains, Beaches, City streets, or great works of art. Another remarkable feature of this guide is the detailed history given to each town or monument or region listed. It's a little shy on maps, however, because although there are detailed guides of certain sections of the city of Barcelona showing buildings, streets, and recommended walking cultural iteneraries, there is no good map of the entire city on one leaf. It also leaves a bit to be desired in the "rest of catalonia" category. For example, only a short vignette is given for the fine Roman city of Taragonna. Overall, I'd recommend this guide to anyone planning to visit Barcelona.