Informative, accurate (at time of press at least), lightweight for carrying around
Disadvantages:
updated very 2 years so if you just miss the new edition it may be slightly dated
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Earlier this year I went on a week long holiday to Barcelona and, working in a bookshop had a great time going through all the travel books one morning trying to decide which one to take (for those of you that think I was slacking off work, this is what we in the trade like to term research - clearly I was doing it to better recommend products to future customers! ;) ).
My final choice came down to Time Out and Lonely Planet City Guide, and this one won out.
Last published in October 2004 (4th edition) it was, at the time at least, very up to date and on first glance seemed to contain everything I wanted to know. It proved to be extremely useful during my trip, so here are the facts.
PUBLISING INFO
- October 2004 - 4th edition - Published by - Lonely Planet - Size - 19 1/2 cm, 12 1/2 cm, 1 1/2 cm deep - Weight (very important in a travel guide!) - approx 300g light - Pages - 290 - ISBN 1740596730
(ISBN = unique number given to all books, and the best way to ensure you are getting the correct edition, as even a new edition of a previously published book gets a new ISBN if it contains any revised or additional content - although not if it has just had a jacket change).
Lonely Planet, and most other major travel guides, usually update every 2 years, and usually at very similar times to each other - Rough Guide and Lonely Planet both updated key titles this year. I luckily went within 6 months of the latest update, however this is not so great if you go 2 months before the next one! Always check the publication date before you buy a guide, and if in doubt get someone at the bookshop to check which of the guides you like is the most recent. Most shops should have access the information on their database but if not the info can also be found in the book - on Lonely Planet Guides it is usually on the inside cover, bottom right corner (very small though), on other guides it is usually on the page opposite the title page, along with publisher information. Most publishers will also have a website, LP certianly does, and none will mind a query by phone as to the publishing date of the next edition.
PRICE
RRP £11.99
Many places will have this on offer, especially over the holiday period, on Amazon at the moment it is listed as £8.39. They also have 2nd had copies listed from £6.27 - but again be careful with 2nd hand copies, make sure you are really getting the edition you want - finding that you have the first edition with all prices quoted in pesatas probably won't get you very far!!!
AUTHOR
Lonely Planet has a collection of freelance travel writers on their list who take responsibilty for writing and updating the guides. The Barcelona guide is written by Damien Simonis, who has lived in Barcelona for some time, and can give insights only available to someone who knows a city well.
THE BOOK AND MY EXPERIENCE WITH IT
The book begins with a neat little quick reference section right on the inside cover of the book - extremely useful this covers the sheer basics of things you may need to know -
key phrases: hello, goodbye etc
useful phone numbers: police, ambulance, credit card companies, local transport
usual business hours for restaurants and shops
guide to tipping
exchange rates (although these are from June 2004!)
text symbols and keys you may see in hotels, guidebooks etc
metric conversions
Then you are into the guidebook for real.
The first main page contains the publisher info and a content list
The Contents
Introducing Barcelona City Life Arts Architecture Food History Barris (Neighbourhoods) Walking Barcelona Eating Drinking and Nightlife Entertainment Shopping Sleeping Excursions Directory Language Index Map Section
Okay, a fairly substantial list, but does it really cover everything you need to know? In my opinion it pretty much does. The begining chapters give a few pages to each of the first 6 titles listed, with some great and interesting facts and insights that you may not have already known - like how long Picasso actually lived in Barcelona, famous authors from the area, and also about the Catalan language - long suppressed by Franco, and now a compulsory part of the school curriculum and daily life in Catalan as a whole.
But my favourite part of the book, and the part I found most useful are the chapters collectively called the Barris. This chapter is actually broken down into a series of chapters looking at each of the seperate Barri, or neighbourhoods, of Barcelona in turn. Each Barri's chapter looks at, the history of the Barri, it's orientation within the city, general desciption and places of interest for sight seeing (of which there are many, many, many!). Each place listed has a brief synopsis with all pertinent information such as opening hours, map reference (to own maps in back of book) cost at time of going to press, transport links etc. More than enough information to help you decide which to visit - not tons of info, but if you go there you'll get more anyway. Another great part of this is that it means you can plan your days out around the area - if there are 3 places you want to see in El Ravel then you can spend your day there, and the next day head to a different Barri to see what it has to offer.
The other chapters of this book are also divided on a similar basis, again very helpfully. If you want to find somewhere to sleep in Barri Gothic (my favourite place!), then turn to SLEEPING, BARRI GOTHIC and you a presented with a list of accomodation from budget to high end, each with a brief synopsis, contact details, address and map reference. Again not an extensive list, but certainly a place to make a start, and an opinion that you won't get in the local tourist centre.
The restaurant and bar guide not only gives reviews and average prices of places to eat and drink in each area but also gives advice on things such as tipping - 10% is considered incredibly high in Barcelona, and most places don't even consider adding service charge. We tried a few of the restaurants listed in the guide and I have to say, the guy has good taste!
MAPS
The maps at the back of the book are mainly designed to highlight all of the places talked about in the book, and as such they are not particularly detailed and roads without any attractions noted by the book are drawn in, but not neccessarily named, so don't rely on them to help you get around too much.
LOCAL AND TOURIST INFO
This book does give you advice on the atmosphere of the local areas, and also general safety tips. As with all major cities tourists are always targets for some kind of scam or petty crime, and this book does advise on the places where you need to take most care (Mainly La Rambla).
PHOTOS
There are some beautiful photos in this book (taken by Neil Setchfield), and they really help to make the book fun and colourful, as well as helping with your decision making - each photo has a shoet setance about it and a page reference for further information in the book.
INDEX
The index at the end is well presented and comprehensive, with each listing having a page reference for not just the mentions it receives within the book, but also (in bold type) and photos of it.
DISADVANTAGEs
Occasionally I did get a little riled with the authors style, at times finding it a little patronising. I can't quite out my finger on why so maybe it's just me, but some of the turns of phrase seemed fairly odd. However it is clearly a well research and informative book, and well written in general.
The maps, as previously mentioned, are not the most detailed, but then again they are not intended to be. Whilst they are useful I would recommend looking into getting a city map if you plan to spend much of the time walking as we did. Barcelona is fairly large, but not so big that you need to spend your day on public transport, walking between all the points of interest you get to see so much more that the guide books might miss out. It is definately a shame to miss everything by spending the day on the metro.
OVERALL
All in all I would say that I found this book incredibly helpful and also very interesting - a lot of the history in the book I hadn't known before coming to the city and it was great to read the first few chapters on the flight over. I also found that it was very easy to use - great to dip into each morning before setting out, or when we got back home to read up on things we had seen by chance. Also it isn't too big, and it doesn't weigh a ton, and so you can carry it around with you without too much hassle.
If you are going to Barcelona I would definately recommend it - other guides are good too, but Rough Guide tend to be good on history and culture but lack photos and fun, whilst Time Out have the photos and fun but are generally less comprehensive in terms of history and local culture, concentrating more on where to go than why. Eyewitness can be useful but lack any real detail and you feel like you're carrying a brick!
Lonely Planet Barcelona has the best of both worlds. It provides a well-rounded and balanced view of the city, with great and inspiring pictures, and in my opinion, contains everything you need to know to go out there and have a really great time.
It's also great to look at when you get home, when the last place you want to be is back at work!
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