Best Tour Book

What is the best, most comprehensive, easy to use travel book about Paris? I am completely crazy about traveling and like to read as much as possible before I visit a new place. Thanks for the suggestions

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The answer is different for everyone and depends on how each of us processes information, likes to travel and has grown accustomed to. For me the basic guide that I give all my first time visitors is the Lonely Planet. It has a comprehensive list of all the musuems, some off the beaten path suggestions and, frankly, is the guide I use for most my travels.

My favorite general, English lang. guide is Paris ACCESS. The book is arraged geographically and has lots of insider tips.

I also love the Knopf map series guides for cities I am going to visit for a short stay.

Eyewitness, Frommers, Fodors, and a few others are all perfectly good, but not my personal style.

Rick Steves Guides are horrible for Paris, as the information is often inaccurate. Some feel this is okay, but if you show up at the museum of your dreams on the wrong day because a guidebook didn%26#39;t do its research, well, that just stinks.

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Thank you, I will check those out this weekend.

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Another nice book to take along is the AAA Spiral Guide. It%26#39;s likght and folds flat making it easy to carry. There are short (2-3 mile) walks around each neighborhood.

As for Rick Steves, one of the things I like about them is all the practical information, such as laundromats, Internet cafes, metro tickets, etc.

Enjoy!

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For the 117th time - sorry fo repeating myself ad nauseam - but here goes:

DK Eyewitness Travelguide PARIS, new edition 2006.

It contains many beatiful colour photos, some history, a logical way of presenting the areas, and many practical things about food, restaurants, shopping, means of transport etc. PLUS in the new edition there are trips into some of the more %26quot;secret%26quot; areas and villas, e.g. Butte aux Cailles.

Can be bought at www.amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/002-4413554-3988838?url=search-alias%3Daps%26amp;field-keywords=DK+Eyewitness+travel+guide+paris

I bought Rick Steves and Frommer%26#39;s a couple of years ago and found them both depressing. If you are a visually orientated person (like myself) they are WAY to much packed with text - endlessly page up, page down. If you are lucky there are a few ugly handdrawn maps, looking like something from Winnie the Pooh.

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Gitte - Winnie the Pooh is adorable.

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Yes - he is

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BTW, my daughter, imagegirl, has just started posting on this forum since she%26#39;s planning to honeymoon in Paris in August. Incidentally, she actually likes wine, unlike you-know-who.

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Hi mother-of-imagegirl

Then she must buy Thirza Vallois%26#39;s book %26quot;Romantic Paris%26quot;:

www.thirzavallois.com/romanticparis.html

I guess you are all excited about it, right ? There must be a problem with getting all dressed up really fancy as the bride%26#39;s mother - and then not being able to wear your beloved sneakers ??

(only joking,,,,,,,,,)

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The sneaker thing is only if the wedding were to be in Paris.

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The Michelin the Green Guide for Paris is very good, and the 5th edition was just published (12/06). Unfortunately it is not yet available here in the states... likely in the next few weeks.

The National Geographic Traveler: Paris, 2d Edition will be published sometime in February, and will likely have some great maps.

I leave for Paris very soon, so I will not be able to take advantage of either of the above, but if you can, they may be good options.

I bought the latest Lonely Planet Paris, published in October 2006. I generally like the Lonely Planet publications, and this one has good information. I am not too happy with the maps, as while they show streets, there is no graphical correspondence between the areas - Marais, Latin Quarter, Bastille - the arrondissements, and the maps in the book. But maybe I%26#39;m being picky... However, I was a bit shocked to read a blistering negative review over at Amazon. It%26#39;s not that bad! Nevertheless, I%26#39;m hoping to find a copy of the new Michelin Green Guide when I get to Paris.

I also bought molesikne city note book for Paris (moleskine.it/eng/…catalogo_city.htm) which is great, but a supplement to a real guide. It contains very good maps, and lots of organized places to write. It is small enough to carry in a pocket, and is more like a journal than a guide book full of information. I have put the places and restaurants I want to visit, and marked them on the maps. When in Paris, I intend to use it as a travel journal, or %26quot;Carnet de Voyage%26quot;.

I hope this helps!

Cheers.