Barcelona LUXE Guide
Every guidebook company from Fodor’s to Frommer’s publishes a Spain guidebook.
While all companies offer a book on Spain as a whole, the country’s territory and diversity of places to visit make for enough material for full guidebooks on specific regions and cities like Andalusia and Barcelona.
If you’re only planning on visiting one city in Spain, getting a specific guidebook for the city is a good idea. For example, The Rough Guide’s book on Barcelona provides in-depth coverage of the city and the surrounding area.
If you’ll be visiting lots of places in Spain, getting a larger guide like Lonely Planet’s one on Spain is a good idea. If you don’t want to lug a big book around while you travel, you can get the mobile app for your phone.
Once you know the type of Spain guidebook you need, look around for one that goes well with your travel style. If you’re backpacking, Lonely Planet and Let’s Go are some of the best options.
If you are into luxury travel, guides like the Hg2, the Wallpaper City Guides, and the LUXE guides offer upscale suggestions for hotels, restaurants, tapas bars, and shopping.
If sightseeing is your main objective, consider the Eyewitness Travel Guide to Spain. It has photos and illustrations on every page, and is great for explaining the details of the country’s many historic sites and landmarks.
Another tip for finding the best Spain guidebook: check to see when it was published. If it is more than a year old, forget it. It will be out of date and of little use to you.