Customer Reviews

Rick Steves' Snapshot Barcelona

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

GET THIS E-BOOK!!! I debated whether it would be worth the money before I took a big month-long trip to Spain this past October/November 2009. I was not disappointed! The most useful feature (there are tons) in the Snapshot city guide e-books are the self-guided tours through the museums. There are crowd-beating tips, updated cost, hours, locations, phone numbers, maps, self-guided walking tours in the city...Seriously, it's a no-brainer. Get this e-book. For so little money, you can save yourself a world full of headaches. He also points out cool things to see in the city that aren't in other tour books (the Sardana dances), and he gives invaluable tips of the good places to go for everything (food, entertainment, museums, neighborhoods, etc). Also, the local free tourist maps they give you are usually anemic by way of detailed, accurate information. Having this little tool as a backup is critical when you may not have time to hunt down bigger books and maps. It also gives you info about surrounding cities you may like to visit, as well as tips on language, money, phoning...Plus, it fits in your pocket (I used it on my iPhone with the Kindle reader). You don't look like a tourist dork reading your iPhone, like you do lugging around maps and books. You look way cooler...

This book is light to carry and has all the basics for walking tours, major sights, things outside the city, food and hotel suggestions. It covers all the essentials and has easy to follow maps. The print size is easy to read as you are touring the sights.

I purchased 3-4 travel guides for my trip to Barcelona. What to see, What to eat & where,What to buy & where,Where to have fun,etc. I bought this one to understand smaller details which other books dont cover. But was disappointed that the book is more generic.Maps are hand drawn. Suggestions are somewhat selective instead of consistent across all the places being suggested. It could have been better if the book had a good map. Some mention here that there was a detachable map and some mention there was none. I did not receive any map along with the book.
Its true that while visiting a place one good book cannot address all the aspects. Some of them good in maps, some of them good in suggesting restaurants/shops, some provide accurate information on reaching the places in the most easiest way,etc.
If you are looking for a cheap, economical & easy to carry book,this is it. But if you need a more detailed map (for locating a fine dining restaurant or a specific shop in particular) then this book wont serve your purpose.

I just came back from 10 days in Spain, including Madrid and Barcelona. Considering the cost and effort of a vacation, it is worth doing your research and I bought the relevant books from Lonely Planet, Frommers and Rick Steves'. While each had points to offer, Rick Steves' guide is what I took with me every day and I used it most to plan my daily activities. I actually prefer its B&W format over the color format of the Lonely Planet books; while the color is visually nice, I found some of the white text on a colored background very hard to read. After all, these books are meant to be read and are not coffee-table art books. I also preferred the form-factor and slightly larger type face of the Steves' books over the Lonely Planet. I did use the Lonely Planet books for planning and to cross-check facts. Just as with movie or food reviews, you need to match your travel style to the reviewer and for me Steves' was best, with Lonely Planet a second. While every book comes with a map, I recommend buying a laminated and very detailed (but larger) Streetwise series map.

This book hits all the highlights of Barcelona, plus close side trips from town. It is small enough to carry while sightseeing.

This little book was so helpful while we toured Barcelona. It isn't as bulky as other books we looked at in the bookstores. Easily fits into the purse and has many references to the many sights available to tour. Also, it gives helpful hints about what to see if time is limited, or what time of day is good to visit some of the more popular spots. Wouldn't leave home without it!

This little book is filled with excellent hints, and information. We are looking forward to our trip to Barcelona for 4 nights then onto the cruise ship for 7 nights......Western Med.

This excellent book was close to the perfect size for us. The detachable fold-out map had enough detail for most our needs and was easy to read in reasonably good light. Like the book, the map is made of water resistant stock (rather study stock for the map). If you do unguided travel, you may want to supplement the detachable map with a more detailed one. We did this because the extra map was larger and easier to read in poor light. But the book also includes one-page maps of different neighborhoods, and we thought the one-page maps were very clear and detailed. Both the map and book are small enough to fit in a cargo pocket (barely, but they do) or all but the smallest of purses. The book is well organized and indexed, and we found all the answers we were looking for - accurate answers - without searching through a bunch of minutia.

I use Rick Steves' guide books & Streetwise maps for every city I can...even the restaurant selections are good...It's best to read the guide before you go, however if you're going to multiple cities as I just did then that may not be possible...it's a good idea to go to the Rick Steves' website or to iTunes & download his tours on your iPod...so much better than having to have a guide...

I just got back from Barcelona and used Rick Steves book every time we explored the city. Overall it was very helpful and he had some good maps drawn out for certain areas of town. The one complaint I have is that he recommended these restaurants that were supposed to be a good deal and amazing food, but sort out off the beaten path. However, when I tried to find two of them, I had no luck. Even asking some locals where a certain street was, was unsuccessful. I wish there had been a map showing exactly where it was, instead of just saying "it's on such-and-such street behind the arcade" (we could even locate the arcade). For the main tourist attractions, it was quite helpful though.