1 comments about Frommer's Barcelona (Frommer's Complete).

1. It appears that some of the information in this guide is dated. A travel guide is only useful if the information is up to date.

1 comments about Spain Spiral Guide (Aaa Spiral Guides).

1. For an upcoming trip, I had already purchased two other books before
   I came across this AAA book. Wish I had started here. Whereas
   other books are just full of information overload, this guide
   has just the right amount of info and guidance to help you
   choose where to go, what to see, and how long it will take.
   
   The book is filled with plenty of excellent photos,
   as well as maps, transportation info, etc etc.
   
   If you're on a short stay like we will be,
   this is the only book you really need
   to plan your trip.

No comments about Barcelona, Madrid & Seville (American Express Travel Guides).

No comments about Season in Spain.

No comments about Hemingway and Spain: A Pursuit.

2 comments about Barcelona Spiral Guide (Aaa Spiral Guides).

1. There's no doubt about it, this is the best travel guide I have ever used. I have visited seven European cities (London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, Zurich, Barcelona) over the course of three separate vacations. Through my local library, I've had the opportunity to read dozens of different travel guides. I wish I had found the AAA Spiral Guides sooner. I bought the AAA Spiral Guide to Barcelona before my trip to Barcelona last month.
   PRO's:
   -- Full color with lots of pictures
   -- The articles are well written without being overly long and boring. They give color, flavor, and historical background to Barcelona
   -- The guide is "neighborhood-based", breaking down the city into manageable pieces, making it easier to digest the information
   -- Includes neighborhood maps for each section of town that is featured
   -- Includes a subway map (the subway system is outstanding)
   -- Includes excellent articles on the "must-see" locations in the city, and then smaller entries on the secondary "time-permitting" sights to see.
   -- the price is unbeatable for what you get
   -- Compact, so it's easy to travel with
   -- I loved the spiral binding. Though not a "technical breakthrough", it made the book extremely comfortable to work with.
   CON's:
   -- The only improvement I would ask for is a detachable map of the full city. Although the book is small enough to fit in a travel bag or large pocket, a full-city map might have come in handy.
   -- Although this didn't bother me, some people may consider it a negative that the book does not offer pages upon pages of hotel reviews. It only gives information on maybe a dozen hotels in the city.
   In summary, I think a good guidebook is going to fit three distinct needs:
   1.) pre-trip planning information
   2.) maps and sightseeing information to use while at the vacation destination
   3.) post-trip souvenir
   This book was excellent at all phases.
   
   Note: for anyone looking to supplement this book, my other favorite guidebook was the Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides: Barcelona. This book takes a unique and interesting "top 10" approach. I wouldn't want this as my only guidebook, but it makes a great supplement to AAA Spiral Guide: Barcelona (and is also very inexpensive for what you get).



2. This is the book to get if you are thinking about going to BCN and want more info. Great photos, peppy layout, jumps right into the heart of the city without getting bogged down on history. Good feel for modern culture, couple of pages on hotels, eating, shopping, then into the heart of a walking city with interesting photos, suggestions for walks/tours, suggestions for where to eat & shop in each of the five sections of the city. (Oddly enough, they lump the Old City, the Gothic, in with the Ramblas instead of its own section). It has a sense of not being too heavy, of being usable: 3 pages on the food/drink, followed by 5 pages on architecture, followed by 2 pages on the importance of the holy Barcelona football team and why Madrid is the real enemy (although 1/2 these pages in these sections may be photos). Easy to carry, great book if you are only going to be in the city a couple days. Good for general overview and planning. A feel good guide book.

No comments about Fodor's Barcelona, 1st Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides).

No comments about Karen Brown's Spain, 2009: Exceptional Places to Stay & Itineraries (Karen Brown's Spain Charming Inns & Itineraries).

No comments about Insight Pocket Guide Bilbao and Northwest Spain (Insight Pocket Guides Bilboa and Northwest Spain).

5 comments about South from Granada (Kodansha Globe).

1. At once a travel memoir, a work of anthropological observation, and an account of becoming a writer, Brennan's account of life in a Spanish Village in the 1920's is acutely observed. Rich in its account of the culture of the region, South from Granada also contains wry descriptions of the visits of various members of the Bloomsbury group (Lytton Strachey, Dora Carrington, Leonard and Virgina Woolfe) who, with varying degrees of adaptability, are confronted with the rather basic ammenities of the village. Strong, clear writing makes for an evocative read.



2. I bought this book in preparation for a trip to Andalucia this summer. What I found was one of the best character studies I have ever read. This would be the father of the "Year in Provence" type of book set in a facinating section of Southern Spain amid white-washed Berber homes and olive groves. Don't worry about the chapters on the visits from various famous writers (Virginia Wolfe, etc.) as they can be skipped without dimishing from the work at all. Nonetheless, I enjoyed them despite having absolutely no interest in Lytton-Strachy, et al.



3. As a British ExPat, living in rural Andalucia, I find Brenan's observations of the Spanish character and way of life still very relevant and curiously haunting in this, the first decade of the third millenium.
   The Historical movements of ancient peoples from Andalucia to Northern Europe, and their relevance to modern racial makeup, prove also fascinating.
   Altogether; a somewhat 'dry' book, but well worth reading especially if you have an interest, and some knowlege, of Southern Spain.



4. This book surely has its ethnographic merits, but there's another great reason to read it. Gerard Brenan is one of the most elegantly simple writers in the English language. The economy of his prose that never feels hurried perfectly suits the man for his observations of the unhurried, simple life he describes.



5. Although it was first published over half a century ago, Gerald Brenan's "South from Granada" is still considered by many to be the canonical text about the Albujarra region of Spain's Sierra Nevada, the standard against which all other work is judged. Does it deserve its exalted reputation? You'll get no argument from me.
   
   Brenan writes intelligently and fluidly, and his account is always interesting, whether he is writing about his own personal experiences, or about his neighbors and the local customs of the Albujarra. As he was friends with members of the Bloomsbury circle, the book also contains an account of (separate) visits by Lytton Strachey and Virginia Woolf.
   
   The following comments on Woolf nicely illustrate Brenan's perspicacity and generosity, two of the qualities that make this memoir so enjoyable to read:
   
   "I want to emphasize Virginia's real friendliness on this occasion and the trouble she took to advise and encourage me, because her recklessness in conversation -- when she was over-excited she talked too much from the surface of her mind -- made some people think that she lacked ordinary sympathies. I was young for my age, and rather earnest. ... She on the other hand was a writer of great distinction, approaching the height of her powers. Yet she and her husband not only concealed the impatience they must often have felt, but treated me as though I was their intellectual equal."
   
   Based on this book, I'm really looking forward to reading Brenan's writing on the Spanish Civil War.
   
   I highly recommend "South from Granada". Readers with an interest in the region might also enjoy Chris Stewart's "Driving over Leemons".