Insight Guide Southern Spain

By Insight Guides

A travel series unlike any other, Insight Guides go beyond the sights and into reality. Their incomparable photojournalistic approach captures the uniqueness of each culture they cover: their... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0887291422
• ISBN13: 9780887291425
• Release Date: December 1998
• Publisher: Insight Guides
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

A great overview of the area

Let's say you've decided to plunk down about $3000 to take a trip to Seville this summer. Your friends who have been to Spain tell you that you "must" see the Alhambra, or Gibraltar, or some other equally famous place, while you are there. Everyone has heard of Spain, of course, but you realize that you really don't know very much about the country or where the things are that you might want to see. If you're planning to do the trip on your own, finding out where to go and what to see is essential, but, even if you are on a guided tour, it really helps to know a little ahead of time about what you will be seeing, and makes the trip so much more enjoyable. Suppose I told you that for less than $25 you could have a team of experts, people who have spent a lot of time working or traveling in the area where you are going, who have even written guide books about it, come to your home at your convenience to show you beautiful pictures of the area and its inhabitants, tell you details not only about the places and the sights you should see, but also about the history of the region, the people, the food they eat and their customs. Would it be worth the cost? You bet! That's really what Insight Guides do for you. When I recently found myself in that position, the first book I bought was the 1998 version of the Insight Guide to Southern Spain. This was not by accident. I've used the Insight Guides before and have enjoyed them very much. I'd always been a Lonely Planet kind of guy until I bought my first Insight Guide: Chile. My initial reaction to the book was that it was a lot of money to spend for a picture book kind of guide that didn't even have the detailed type of hotel and restaurant listings that I was used to in the Lonely Planet guides. But I bit the bullet and bought it anyway and, surprise, I really liked it and found it very useful. I've since followed it up with Boston, Mexico City, and now Southern Spain. What I like about the Insight Guides is that they are eminently readable and give you a fantastic overview of the area. They're short on the nuts and bolts (which hotel to choose, where to go for dinner, detailed maps of the cities) at which the Lonely Planet guides excel, but with both, you have it covered. This is the guide you read beforehand and when you are planning your day's activities, the Lonely Planet is the one you carry around to figure out where you are staying or eating, and how to get where you are going.Southern Spain, as do all the Insight Guides, starts off with a history of the area, Andalucía, sometimes called "the Soul of Spain." If history's not your thing, you don't have to sleep in class, you can just skip that section, or return to it later to pick up a little perspective. That's followed by brief articles on subjects such as Bullfighting Heroes, Flamenco music and dance, Sherry makers, and "A Cook's Tour." The heart of the book is descriptions of the many p