Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Spain (Full Color Country Travel Guide)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I used to rely heavily on Lonely Planet and Brandt travel guides. They represented travel destinations written about by folks who had been there not too long ago, and who traveled on a budget similar to your own. The guides weren't things of beauty, but they had good information. The new Lonely Planet books look a whole lot better and have lots of color images, but this Spain guide has failings that would have been unacceptable in the old guides. The maps, text, and index do not match up completely, names are differently spelled and organized in the three different locations making it that much harder to find what you're looking for. The information looks good, but the organization is decidedly lacking. Maybe if you read it all ahead of time, scan and print the bits you're interested in, and cross-check everything online it would work, but if you plan to travel with this heavy tome in hand, you'll find it hard to locate the info you need in real-time.

This huge 896-page tome is a great resource for planning an extensive trip to and through Spain, for long-term visitors to the country, or for expatriates who live in Spain and want a detailed tourism reference that covers all parts of the country.

While Lonely Planet Country Guides have really set a standard in travel literature, I don't think this book is for everyone because it contains a ton of information that most casual travelers will never need or use. Those planning a short trip to catch the sights in Madrid, Barcelona with a couple days in Andalusia or Costa Brava will probably be better off with a less detailed book. Lonely Planet has the Discover Spain guide, which features shorter length, more pictures and illustrations, and more of a laser focus on top tourist sites. I am convinced Lonely Planet's "Discover" series is actually a response to the successful "Eyewitness" series by DK -- like their Spain guide.

But if you need depth and breadth, the Country Guide is the way to go. I have been using Lonely Planet since 1989, when I first bought the Japan Country Guide. Before getting this book, the most recent Country Guide I had seen was the 2008 edition of "Mexico". Even compared to just a few years ago, this latest-generation guide has important updates that make it more relevant and give it a welcome feel of modernity.

The first major change from earlier guides is the inclusion of a lot of "top" lists. The book starts out with the "Top 28 Experiences" in Spain. Each city- or region-focused chapter starts off with boxes titled "Why Go?", "Best Places to Eat" and "Best Places to Stay" on the first page. And there are countless smaller boxes within individual chapters, such as various "Top Five Beaches" lists or "Top Picks for Kids".

The other major, and welcome, change is full color printing throughout the book. The maps now bear a familiar resemblance to those on Google, color typefaces are used to highlight headings and keywords, and a few key tourist sites (like the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the Seville Cathedral, and the Mezquita and Alhambra in Andalusia) are presented in 3-D color computer renderings that map out the sights. (I'm convinced this is another response by Lonely Planet to the features in DK's Eyewitness guides.)

If you need depth, have real or borderline OCD when it comes to vacation planning, or just plain love reading detailed travel books, this guide is for you and gets five stars.

If you'll be spending a week or two in Spain for business or pleasure and you just want to have a good time, do yourself a favor and get something lighter. You may not be happy with the weight and extreme detail found here.

The best use of this book might be to start at the beginning with a box of paperclips close by and marking items of interest. My first instinct was to go to the index to find information on my "must sees." What a frustrating exercise. For example, don't bother looking for the Prado under "P". Once you understand the system of the book, it is much easier to negotiate. The guide begins with a broad overview by map and color pictures of Spain as a whole. The guide quickly moves to regions, suggesting various itineraries. Each area is then given a separate chapter, following the order listed on the map of regions. So be sure to paperclip the map. Each area, or in come cases city, is described with lodging, restaurants, nightspots, etc., and there are shaded boxes and separate pages for short articles about what is particularly noteworthy about the area. There are many easy-to-follow city maps, including Metro stops in larger cities.

There's a wealth of information in this book, not all of it easy to find. That's why this is a book to read at home, well before the planned trip, perhaps copy a few of the maps, and check websites and other travelers for their opinions on mentioned restaurants and sites. Depending on one source to plan an important and expensive trip could mean missing a site of personal interest. But this comprehensive guide is a great place to start.

I am both a fan of the LP series and the Kindle, but this is a match made in hell.

There is no table of context to speak of (it consists of about 5 items--stuff like About the Writers, Itineraries, and How To Use This Guide), no index that I could find (probably because there are no page numbers), the maps I saw were so shrunk down as to be unreadable, and page turns tend to be extremely slow (probably due to the pictures.)

So, let's say you want to find the chapter on Granada. The only way I could figure out to do it would be to search on the word Granada and check every one of the hundreds of instances until you struck on the information you were looking for.

Honestly, I am shocked that a terrific company like LP would even allow this version to exist. Kudos to Amazon for allowing returns of Kindle books--I assumed it would be impossible. I'm now off to the store to buy the paper version...

Lonely Planet's guide to Spain lives up to LP's usual high standards. The guide contains a good blend of practical advice, historical facts, travelers' stories, and inspiring photographs. It is the sort of guide that is useful both for trip planning and for taking along on the trip itself.

Those who are unfamiliar with Lonely Planet should know a few things before purchasing this book:

* LP targets independent, do-it-yourself types of travelers (who often have backpacks, railpasses, and youth hostel cards).

* Travelers who are focused on staying in top-ranked hotels and eating at expensive restaurants probably won't find LP's sleeping and eating recommendations to be very useful.

* Most LP guides that cover large regions, including this one, are written by a team of contributors. Also, new editions of a guide usually are updates of previous versions and are not entirely rewritten from scratch.

So, how useful is this guide to Spain? As with most things, it depends. If you want to travel around Spain in DIY style or you want better coverage of cultural and outdoor activities than is offered by more mainstream guides, such as Fodor's or Frommer's, then LP is a good guidebook for you. On the other hand, if you aren't interested in straying off the beaten path much, the LP ethos may not be a good fit for you.

Also, if you are only visiting a single region or just a couple of cities, this guide might be overkill because it covers the entire country. There are plenty of city and regional guides from LP and other guidebook publishers that will cover, say, Madrid or Andalucía in much greater detail than a national guide and omit several hundred pages of information you won't need.

Bottom line: I have used LP guides for many years and have always found them to be very useful. This guide to Spain is no exception. The redesign (see below) pushes what was previously a 4-star guide to a 5-star.

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Note for long-time Lonely Planet readers: there has been a substantial redesign of the look and feel of LP guidebooks. Don't worry, all of the information you've relied upon in the past is still there but there are many useful new features as well. One of the best is a FAQ of sorts near the beginning of the book called "Need to Know." It gathers together critical information that is frequently needed both pre-trip and intra-trip. Also, LP has done away with the glossy-paper photo sections and now uses color throughout the entire book. This change has especially improved the local maps by making them immensely easier to read. Finally, LP now includes a pullout street map of a popular city (for this guide, Barcelona) in its national guidebooks.

The redesign of Lonely Planet is fantastic, they really did a 5 star job. The full color pages are well balanced between a light weight paper stock and good quality matte graphics. The use of color throughout text, whether it is highlights, headers, icons or call-outs is very sharp and sophisticated. The maps also benefit from extra clarity and help filter out the noise from the key highlights.

From a design standpoint it's hard to go back and look at a 1990's era LP and not think it reads more like a phone book - and what an evolution there has been. The sidebar information, with topics like "what's cooking in catalonia" " seems to be bumped up in this edition and adds to the spontaneity of ideas when flipping through casually.

On the negative side:

The geographic map of Spain in the front of the book has been drastically reduced in detail from previous editions. Now there are no road names and less cities - this is a step backwards. The Madrid subway map is no longer easily accessible on the back flap of the book; instead it's hidden inside and shrunken down.

You also start to see LP slowly moving in the direction of cut-away illustrations (a la DK Eye Witness - I like it, although there aren't that many yet, but I see that helping travelers when you don't want to bring along 2 books. (The DK books are always nice to look at, but are heavy and a little less practical).

I recommend backpackers take an XActo knife to the binding and only bring the relevant sections.

Only recently have I realized the value of these guidebooks. I was always "that person" who flew in and blindly explored. My last trip (to Disney World, of all places), I read three different guidebooks before touch-down in Orlando. The difference? Well, we were able to see more, quicker, and really appreciate it. Much of the potential anxiety was alleviated ... we knew exactly what to expect. As I walked around the Magic Kingdom, I could hear the writers' voices in my head, "Be sure to avoid this ride until after 6:00PM, when lines are much shorter," "the Country-Bear Jamboree is old and worn, but still well-worth the visit," and "carry a large Ziplock for your camera so that you can jump on the water-rides." They were all correct. So much for my youthful "winging-it" days of landing in Honolulu and heading out in a rental car! I am totally sold on travel guides.

While my family's next trip is England and France, we are planning to visit Spain within the next two years. Now seems like a good time to begin preparing. Lonely Planet's Spain has proven an invaluable introduction to the country. At just under one-thousand jam-packed pages, this guide provides a thorough overview of Spain's history, sights, and culture. The full-color pictures highlight Spain's rich architecture and natural beauty. Likewise, there are an abundance of detailed, color maps (as well as a pull-out map for Barcelona).

Even more interesting, the text provides the current social/political climate of the country. Suffice it to say, I was surprised at how much I didn't realize about Spain. I was still in the mind-set that it was heavily influenced by Catholicism and deeply conservative. Turns out, I must have missed the nightly news for a few weeks! No longer under the oppressive crush of The Church, Spain is now quite progressive: it is (very) gay-friendly (as detailed throughout the text),it has relaxed its divorce and abortion laws, and it has legalized recreational marijuana (814). In sum, it has very much embraced a more modern perspective. (Our family found this quite surprising!) Moreover, the authors emphasize how family-friendly Spain is. Throughout, ideas are offered for families traveling with children: there is a small section on "Top Picks for Kids," "Madrid for Children," "Cordoba for Children" and "Tips for Traveling with Children"(420, 86, 742, 880). (I love the gentle "warning" to parents that Spaniards are openly affectionate towards children ... so, do not be alarmed when your children are kissed on the cheek, given candy, or have their hair tousled ... it is perfectly normal in a culture that celebrates youth) (880). (And, just a quick note to folks like me: the book is not heavily centered on traveling with children, so know that the majority of the text focuses on adult travelers and activities).

In addition to all the obvious material, the book includes a variety of information that other texts may not include. For example, love tapas? There is a small section which provides a "tapas tour" of Spain (94-95). Don't know about "frog-spotting"? Learn! (138). Need some luck? Kiss this lion statue in Girona (316). These little details make the text most worthy of your time.

If you are planning an extended stay in either Madrid or Barcelona, I highly recommend picking up Lonely Planet Madrid and Lonely Planet Barcelona. They are fantastic and provide a more in-depth look at the cities. (And, when you spend a small fortune on a vacation, a few more dollars really don't matter ... especially when these books provide such tremendous insight!)

These guides are an absolute must-have. Start perusing them early and becomes the tour-guide for your family. Happy travels!

Planning a trip? Want to know more about a country, it's archetecture and interesting places to see?

This handy book provides a wealth of valuable information.

My wife and I are planning a trip to Spain this year and items in this publication provide information about:

: When is the best time of the year to travel.

: Concerned about the clothes to pack? This also provides weather information.

: Interesting places to see.

: Getting there and traveling around the country.

: History.

: Things to do.

: Entertainment

The subjects covered enable visitors with different tastes to find the things that interest them and make sure those places are visited. Both my wife and I were interested in Madrid's Museo del Prado because it highlihgts the works of Goya, among others.

However, we found some things that just one of us wanted to see and there was such a variety that the other could visit something of their choice.

We both highlighted Malasana and Chuecaq, two inner city barrios with notable nightlife.

The book also has pull out sections so they could be carried around more easily and information about Spain's food and wines.

After reading through the booklet, our ideas of a vacation in Spain are based on more informative facts and we were able to plan with more expertise and the confidence that other's have found these places and experiences to be enjoyable.

I have been a Lonely Planet devotee for two decades. This is my first kindle edition. Complete waste of money. Maps are unreadable, finding a location near impossible. Except for the title, not even close to the paper editions.Lonely Planet Europe (Country Guide Lonely Planet Multi Country Guide)

I'll start out by saying that I'm a very seasoned traveler, so maybe I'm not the target audience for this book. I had a business trip to Spain scheduled, and the opportunity arose to review this book; the timing was perfect.

I am only visiting two cities. Madrid and Barcelona. In my opinion, the book makes some odd choices on the "what to do if you only have 2 days in the city" front. For example, Plaza Mayor in Madrid. I went during the day, and it was big empty square. Kind of dull. I felt like I wasted my touring time. I did walk back there at night and found it far more interesting.

The layout of the book is strange. It's divided up by neighborhoods, so if you know the place you want to visit, you have to also know which neighborhood it is in so you can find it in the book. Or, you can use their equally convoluted index. (Instead of looking for Museo del Prado, you have to first look under museums and then look for Museo del Prado. This is great if you know what you are looking for, but NOT if you are looking for something like "La Pedrera.")

For one place they had "Eglasia" on the map, but "Iglesia" in the index. Sagrada Familia on a map, and La Sagrada Familia in the index. Confusing! Since I was just looking to reference certain items, I ended up turning page after page trying to find what I was looking for.

That being said, the info provided is decent. But again, it can be confusing. For instance, if you want a quick glance at when a museum is open, you look and you see all kinds of hours. They have opening hours and free hours all sort of crammed in together.

It's just poorly organized. If you have time to read the whole section of the place you are going, it may be really worthwhile. But as a reference material, I found it lacking.

Incidentally, there's a "free pullout map of Barcelona." Which is ODDLY missing La Sagrada Familia touted by this book and all other references as the number 1 tourist attracting in Barcelona.

10 minutes on Google would have saved me a lot of frustrating and the lugging of a heavy book around Spain.