Great Travel Tool My husband and I just returned from Paris and used this travel guide for our trip. Overall the book was great, the restaurant and hotel sections were extremely helpful and very accurate with the reviews and recommendations. The site seeing section was excellent and she really hit on all the sites that truly are must see. We loved the days that were laid out with a schedule, although we had a lot more time to spend in Paris the schedule was very efficient in being able to see multiple sites that were moderately close to one another. She also recommended an art fair on Sundays that was truly amazing and a great recommendation. The only section we had some trouble with was the shopping section, several of the stores had moved locations or closed since the publishing of the book, so we wasted a lot of time searching for something that no longer exists! The maps were only so-so for getting around as well, I recommend using the streetwise maps that have the city and metro stops all on one. Overall, this is a great book and I recommend using it for your trip!
One of of a thousand books, but a good one I actually know Paris quite well for a casual occasional visitor, but I purchased this book for my girlfriend when I scheduled a 22 hour layover in Paris while transiting back to the US from Spain. Due to Hurricane Ike, our 1 day trip turned into 6 nights.
The book was a valuable resource, even if only to validate my recoomendations of what to see and do. In addition, as our memory gets fuzzy, the guide provided an easy (and reasonably light) resource to look for metro stops for certain areas (Montmartre, Arc de Triumphe, Opera, Versailles, etc.).
Their recommendations for 1, 2, or 3 day tours are spot on.
I did not use the book for restaurants or hotels. I did notice that my nice hotel (Hilton Paris by Eiffel Tower) wasn't even listed. The Net is a better guide for hotels.
There are so many guides for Paris, but we wanted a decent guide that was not sized like a telephone book.
The pull out map was not useful. I would have recommended a metro map, in order to familiarize yourself with the main lines to and from the airport and around the city.
Good for a first time visit, but... Now that I'm old (well, 33), I felt it was time to graduate from the rough guide/lonely planet Paris guidebooks that I normally use and pick up one that covers more high-end suggestions than I could afford when I started visiting Paris 15 years ago. Flipped a coin between Frommers and Fodors, and got this one.
If this is your first trip to Paris and you want to make sure you know what the must-sees are, this is a great book to have. There are plenty of lists of "Best Restaurants", "Top Museums", 1-3 day walking itineraries, etc. There's a nice mix of hotel and restaurant recommendations for all budgets.
However, if you're a more adventurous soul, this isn't the book for you--it's geared towards the standard tourist experience. Their idea of offbeat is...the Institut du Monde Arabe. This is a famous building with incredible architecture by Jean Nouvel and fantastic rooftop views, not exactly off the beaten path.
Likewise, the foldout map covers central Paris, but doesn't even show the outer arondissements. (Nor does it have a lot of detail, so if you intend to walk a lot, then invest in a detailed arondissement guide, not a fold-out.) I was also irritated to see that while there's a map of the metro, the RER stops are not included.
Bottom line...great for the basics, but you'll have to look elsewhere for undiscovered or quirky Paris.
Must Have for New Visitors to Paris This was the greatest thing we had on our trip to Paris. Especially when it came to great places to eat. The book says to stay away from restaurants located near tourist areas and it is correct. The only great meals we had were ones we found from restaurants in this book. Cafe Constant was very affordable and superb! It also has perfect day itineraries that were great and easy to follow! This book covers EVERYTHING! If you are new to Paris, you will love this book. I particularly love how this book discusses a lot of the hidden treasures of Paris and doesn't just focus on the main attractions. We really got a great feel of what a wonderful place Paris is and a lot of it is because of this book.
So Much Great Informaton! This book is full of great information about the City of Lights! It includes everything from the top sites to see, hints about how to save on your trip,great places to eat, stay and watch Parisian life! It also includes three self guided walking tours, a quick history of Paris, and a Glossary of useful French words, including food, menu and cooking terms. The back flap has a handy Paris metro map, the front flap has a metric conversion chart.Of course, many datailed maps so that you know exactly where to go, includes a large pull out map of the entire city of Paris! Complete, accurate, easy to read and a must have companion for your trip to Paris!
Anything Goes Trivia
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