Lonely Planet Barcelona (City Guide)

 (16 customer reviews)

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:

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.

I took Eyewitness because it unfailingly has a good quality map, which in my view is LP's downfall. Eyewitness always includes...Read more

I am generally a big fan of the Lonley Planet series, having used several of their country guides (Mexico, Central America, and Switzerland). This was my first experience using a more specific, city guide for travel, and I was dissapointed in the overall usefulness of this book.My main concern with this book was its organization and ease of use. I found that the way in which the information was organized made it difficult to navigate the book and coordinate the various entries for restaraunts and attractions with their map locations. The guide is organized by topic - general info for the tourist, getting there and away, where to stay, eat, and things to do. With regard to the hotel, restaraunt and attraction sections, the information is further divided by city section. Once you have decided where you want to eat or what you want to see, you have to turn to the back of the book and find the corresponding map section. As is typical with the Lonley Planet maps, attractions are...Read more

I found this book helpful and easy to use. I liked it better that Fodor's. Those travelling in Barcelona should be warned against the muggers. I was violently mugged less than a block from my hotel off of La Rambla. I heard many other similar tales from those who were in Barcelona at the time or have been there at other times.