John Noble (1) (1951–)

Ecco un libro a cui tengo molto per diverse ragioni.
Il volume è la prima e ultima guida della Lonely Planet sull'Urss, pubblicata nel dicembre del 1991, quando "di là" stava andando tutto a scatafascio. Dal 1992 l'Urss non esiste più.
Secondo motivo: la sua straordinaria ricchezza e precisione su un paese (in particolare la parte asiatica) di cui non si avevano informazioni turistiche accettabili.
Terzo motivo: se siamo riusciti a tornare a casa sani e salvi (e arricchiti da uno straordinario viaggio) dall'Asia centrale nella nervosissima estate del '92 lo dobbiamo anche a lei… (más)

This is a travel guide that should be able to fulfill all your needs for information on what to do, how to do, where to go, etc... when you are in Spain. The authors did a magnificent job putting together this magnificent travel guide.

I lived one year in Madrid and had an opportunity to travel all over Spain during that year and I can tell you that the descriptions and itineraries suggested by these authors are simple the best. The book starts with 28 top experiences followed by a Welcome to Spain section with very important information on currency, information sites, beaches, cathedrals, art galleries, nightlife, food, wine, hiking and a "month by month" top events. Then you are presented with some suggested itineraries that varies from a month trip to a two to three weeks trip. So far, they presented a high level perspective on what you need to plan your trip. After that they start entering into deep details on every place, like what to do, where to go and they even give you an idea on how much it should cost you to do the proposed attraction. The presentation is split into big cities and regions. Color photos are beautiful and at the end of the book there is a full map of the city of Barcelona, including full subway station map.

This is an outstanding result for a combined effort from eight different authors and it was published by Lonely Planet in April 2011. I recommend this book for those who are serious about planing their trips and also for those who want to remember details on previous travels, while wishing they can return to Spain some day in the future.

Amazon.com was kind enough to provide this book for me through their Vine Program for reviewing and I was not request to provide a positive review. Opinions expressed here are my own.

… (más)

Of the four Andalucia travel guides I just read, this is the one I'm hauling along with me. It's nicely information-dense in terms of history and culture for rereading on the flight over. And the detailed, opinionated recommendations give me the clearest idea of what will and will not be worth my time. The detail is such that I can tell which of their 'must-visits' are probably not my thing at all; it's not just an issue of following their lead. I also appreciated how this guide was more neutral than the others regarding the culture. There can be a fine line between praising a group and condescending to it. Now if they can just add DK-level photo sections...… (más)