Customer Reviews

Top 10 Barcelona (Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I decided to check out the Top 10 guide for Barcelona given the excellent experience I had in London with a similar guide on a past trip to the UK. I noticed the same compelling points with this guide as I'd noticed with the London guide -- a concise list of things to do in city, a list of various neighborhoods, list of best cafes/bars and sample itineraries for spending an entire day in each neighborhood, the top 10 things to look for at each attraction, and the best feature: the compact size of the guide.

But I was looking for more than just the above -- I was traveling to a city where people don't talk in English after all. What I really liked about the guide was the main map that showed all the important street in an uncluttered fashion, and the mini-maps that were included in the assorted Top 10 lists, making it a breeze to locate the attraction or cafe/bar. I also loved the list of the Top 10 drinks you'll find only in Barcelona like the "Orxata", the "Granissat" and of course, the "Sangria" that is refereshingly different from what you might have had anywhere else. There are similar lists for food items (definitely try the "Pallela"), shops, etc. These are the things that make you blend in with the locals with confidence.

I also loved the section on Streetsmarts -- when you're in a country where English is not the first language, you sometimes need a helping hand with even the simplest of things -- like what is the best deal on the Barcelona Metro? Should I buy single tickets or a "T-10" for 10 tickets? How do I make a local phone call? What should I avoid? (Answer: touristy scams at La Rambla). The Top 10 guide's Streetsmart section covers many of these "small" things on your mind and also include a few pages with popular Spanish/Catalan phrases with translation in English, eliminating the need to carry a phrase book, if any.

With this guide, I was able to see Barcelona according to my schedule and tastes. I took in all the touristy attractions and spent time exploring specific neighborhoods like El Raval, Eixample and interesting detours. Not a day went by when I wasn't glad for having this guide by my side -- and at under 10 bucks a pop, I'm quickly acquiring a collection.

I spent 7 days in Barcelona in Nov 2006 and though I did some research before I arrived, took only this book with me. As an independent traveler (no tour groups) I used it very heavily during my stay - not only as my primary map and metromap, but as my only reference for locations, hours, and priorities in determining my daily itineraries. I also occasionally used it for restaurant, tapas bar and shopping recommendations. It never led me astray.

It is very current - it even references that a few places will be closed for repair until month X to save you the effort of going there. And the way one large section of the guide is broken out by neighborhood makes it extremely easy to figure out the best way to spend your time in a given part of the city (it also suggests itineraries for each neighborhood if you don't want to plan them out yourself).

It's also a great size - easy to toss in a daypack, purse, or even jacket pocket.

I fully agree with the two previous reviews that the layout of the maps and color-coding of the sights makes it very easy to keep on track - even in a city as large as this one. And that Park Guell ought to be in the Top 10.

My only suggestion for how it could improve would be to give even more "tips" than it sometimes does on the sides of pages. For instance, visit the National Art Museum of Catalunya in the latter afternoon on a Fri/Sat/Sun and stay for the Magic Fountain display at dusk. Visit La Pedrera near sunset (unless midsummer does not allow it) and go up on the roof as the sun sets and the lights come on. It's magical.)

I've traveled pretty extensively and used a lot of different travel guides, others of which I can also recommend. But this is hands-down the very best I have ever used and I cannot recommend it highly enough if you are spending even one day in Barcelona.

It was the perfect guide for my independent trip to Barcelona. It is the most user friendly city guide I used (I've also used Rick Steves and Rough Guide). The guide first identifies the top 10 sites and then what I loved is that it marks them on a map with numbers making it really easy to spot. The map in the guide was great and in color. It made my trip so enjoyable because I knew what I wanted to do and where to get there. Also, becasue it showed all the locations of the sites on a map I could easily plan which sites to see all in one area and thus make the most out of my days. It also gives history behind each site and also lists the top 10 things to see at each attraction!
I loved this guide and wished they had one for more cities!

The one complaint I have is that I really think Park Guell should be listed in the top 10. I almost missed the park (where the tradmark colored frog is and Gaudi's home) but a hostelmate told me about it. It is listed in the top ten for parks but just be aware that that park is a must see.

After reading all the great reviews online, I decided to purchase this guild book for Barcelona, but since I never purchased a guide book by eyewitness, I was skeptical... so I bought the Rough Guides' Barcelona as well. Turns out, this one is SO MUCH BETTER and comprehensive than the Roughs' guide! During the week that my boyfriend and I stayed in Barcelona, we brought both books with us everywhere. I would say 90% of the time, this guide was able to provide us the accurate info to the sites we wanted to visit. One day, we accidentally left this book in the hotel, and got lost using the Roughs' guide! Anyway, I would highly recommend if you only going to buy one guide book for Barcelona, you purchase this one. It made our trip much easy and enjoyable.

This is the most helpful book I have seen on Barcelona. I believe it should be combined with a more indepth guidebook wo one can look up the most interesting locales in more depth. It is very hard to get perspective on sites to take in when there are so many fascinating places to visit. This helps with the highlighting and the winnowing. I got a total of five of these books and passed them out to all the other groups going with us.

OK--I am a real fan of quality travel books and I keep adding to my library. DK Eyewitness is slowly taking the lead. We were in Barcelona and are heading back this fall. I used another travel guide the first trip however this time I'll have the DK Eyewitness along. It is a quality book, on quality paper. It's a little heavy to carry if you have several countries on a single trip, however we find it well worth the effort so we have the others at home. Can be purchased at a lot of places at a discount except for the big book stores.

While there are a lot of Barcelona tour/sight seeing books out there, none has the presentation quality of this guide, lots of pictures and commentary. Keeping the restaurant guide up to date must be a challenge since some of the information was dated. After you visit the recommended Gaudi sites and the museums, visit La Boqueria (St Josep Mercat) and learn why I love the culinary and foods diversity of Spain. As it says when you exit the subway in Barcelona, mind the pick pockets, and leave nothing unattended. It will run away in the hands of its new owner.

Used this for a week in Barcelona on a business trip. Very helpful. Small enough to fit into a Levis hind pocket. Durable enough to take the use.

This book was fantastic for our trip. The maps were very helpful and the book highlighted all the major must-see's, plus extra sights for those with more specific interests. I highly recommend this book especially if you have a limited amount of time in Barcelona. The city is magnificant, you don't want to miss a thing!

When I first saw a friend someone using this series of guidebooks, I was skeptical. Top 10! Much too superficial for a sophisticated traveler like me! But on a recent trip to Barcelona and Lisbon I decided to try the Top 10 guide to Barcelona and the Lonely Planet guide to Portugal. Top 10 won hands down.

It's crammed with information but fits in a back pocket and has super-useful fold out maps. Although I bought a separate map of Barcelona, I never felt the need to use it. The authors are aware that they're not writing a novel: they present nicely formatted information that I found easy to scan quickly in order to pick out the attractions most interesting to me. They eschew the cutesy prose of some other guidebooks for terse, accurate descriptions. My only real complaint was that despite its recent publication date, it failed to note that the Maritime Museum was closed for the year!