I just got back from my first trip ever to Barcelona . I went armed with the following:
1.) Footprint Barcelona Handbook 1st Edition 2002
2.) Lonely Planet Guide 2nd Edition 2001
3.) Lonely Planet Guide 3rd Edition 2003
4.) Eating Out in Barcelona and Catalunya : by (Craig Allen)I'll try and center this review around the :
(A.) The FootPrint Barcelona Handbook (FBH)
(B.) The Lonely Planet Guides (LPG)
Basically, if i had to choose between the Footprint Barcelona Handbook (FBH) and the Lonely planet guide (LPG), the (FBH) would remain my main reference .
I carried it with me every day and planned a whole lot of my itenary out using it.
apart from the great many sites for hotel reservations on the internet and the ones provided by (FBH) , (FBH) had a greater listing of hostals,hotels and information about their services.
I was going on holiday to Barcelona for an entire week.
ie: from the end of July to the end of the first week in August -( Peak season ).
I booked late ie : 3 days before leaving, so after exhausting all the budget hotels in the (LPG) looking for one to fit my hotel budget at the time ie: no more than 100 Euros p/night, i found that the extra hotels listed in (FBH) saved the day.
The FBH has many handy maps of the city , its metro system and an overall map of some of the neighbouring towns & cities in the region.
As a quick break down:
I spent the first 3 days in Barcelona getting to know the area via the Touristic bus -(Bus Turistic), metro, taxi & bus.
sampling the local catlan cuisine , the highly recommended eating spots, bubbly -(wines) etc.. you name it.
I then took a south-bound day trip to explore the cities outside of Barcelona ie: to Reus & Tarragona via a guided coach trip organised by the Tourist Information office at Place de Catalunya. (Not to be missed)
The rest of my time was spent around the Coastal line, visting relics from the roman era, shopping et cetera. loved it all.
These are the key points between the 2 guides:
ie:
(Strengths,Interesting features,Missing bits of info b/w the two)
(LPG) strengths:
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(LPG) is strong on walking tours, it features some colorful, glossy pictures to whet the guide buyers appetite for the experience ahead. it also provides you with info on the museums, a bit on the festivals, touches on a few places to eat, where to get entertained et cetera.
it was also good on information about Tarragona ie: planning a quick itenary of places to see when you have but a limited window of time to carry out your visit. the eating spot in Tarragona recommended in LPG 2nd edition ie: (L'Ancora) served up a great seafood barbecue. (Not to be missed)
(FBH) strengths:
---------------
(FBH) is strong on maps by any quarter you find yourself in, including things to do or see while in that quarter, recommended places to eat in the neighborhood, the night life, places to have breakfast, opening and closing times for all restaurants featured -(so you know which ones are open on sundays and those that stay open till late w/out your needing to call first). it even gives you a listing of Barcelona by cusine ie: if you fancy french cuisine one night and mediterranean or catalan cuisine another afternoon; it even includes a locations index and price ranges for these eat-out spots in the appendix.
It features a useful plan of the metro which i found rather nifty for planning & finding my way via metro w/out having to get to a local station first. It was like one of those mini London metro/tube maps you get as a tourist, only this one's featured at the back of the guide already.
(FBH) is also strong on Entertainment,nightlife & History. I saw many interesting sights in Barcelona and the brief history section here gave me an idea of the forces that moulded & shaped the city into what it looks like today.
Both guides feature information on some of the places and sights outside Barcelona ie: Costa Brava,Montserrat,Sitges,Figueres,Port Aventura and bits about how to get there and things to see or do.
With the guide i was able to plan my itenary to focus on enjoying the many scenes -(tapas bars,museums,nightclubs) , eating well ,swimming in the sea , enjoying the many beaches , exploring the surrounding region, shopping and visiting relics.
Equally, although both guides provide you with some very useful phrases in castilian spanish and catalan, English is spoken by many although not entirely so . French is also very well entertained, though you'll find any attempts at communicating in Spanish rewarded with a smile and some appreciation.
Enjoy your visit!
Cheers.
