Paris Guide Book

Hello all,

Can anyone provide a recommendation for a Paris travel/guide book? It looks like Frommer%26#39;s and Fodor%26#39;s both have a 2007 edition out now. Is one better than the other or should I go with a different brand all together?

I am only traveling to Paris for 4 days and will want a good guide for tourists. I did some searching through the previous forum posts and didn%26#39;t see a discussion on this topic. Thanks for your help.

John

|||

If you use the SEARCH function of this TA Paris Forum (located below the GREEN line on the openning page), using, %26quot;..Paris Guide Books..%26quot;...or %26quot;..Guidebooks..%26quot; as you basic Search criteria.... you%26#39;ll come up with dozens of threads on the topic of Paris guide books and maps.

But the short answer is that there are no singel, one (or two) %26#39;..best..%26#39; travel guides for Paris....but there are at least a dozen or so very good ones....and everyone has their own personal %26#39;..favorite(s)..%26#39; for their own reasons.

No doubt there are good bookstores and public libraries in Zurich. If you take some time and visit one, go to the TRAVEL stacks and pull down several of those Paris guides that will certainly be on the shelves. Scan through a few until you find one (or 2) that seem to %26#39;..resonate..%26#39; with your own personal preferences, priorities, special needs, interests and budget. Some will %26#39;..suit..%26#39; better than others. One-size-does-NOT-fit-all.

Among the most popular (among many) are--

MICHELIN Green Guide

BAEDECKER%26#39;s

ACCESS (our personal favorite for content %26amp; organization)

D. K. EYEWITNESS

CADOGAN%26#39;S

RICK STEVE (often favoured by budget traveles)

LET%26#39;S GO

ROUGH GUIDE

You may also come across other more %26#39;..specialized..%26#39; guide for dining, shopping, walking, art, history, architecture, etc that also suit your particular interests.

For a basic street map, it%26#39;s hard to beat the STREETWISE PARIS compact folding map for general planning and touring purposes. But for more and finer detail, the compact map-books from Michelin and L%26#39;Indispensable are great.

|||

I enjoyed Time Out%26#39;s guidebook to Paris as a reference.

I used the following book (LIttle Black Book Paris) daily and kept it in my purse. I thought it was well organized with small pull out maps. It%26#39;s very compact and provided good suggestions for shops, food,etc (although there isn%26#39;t as much description about the places as in Time Out, Fodors,etc). It was the perfect book to carry with you once you knew your plans for the day. I was able to discretly view the maps in public. Highly recommended.

amazon.com/Little-Black-Book-Paris-Essential…

|||

Hi John:

I really like%26quot;MICHELIN Green Paris Guide%26quot; that %26quot;KDK...%26quot; mentioned. I have used Frommer%26#39;s Walking Tours too.

Do get yourself the street map as it is so valuable!

Have a good four days trip!

|||

There are a couple of details to be on the look-out for when selecting %26#39;..specialty..%26#39; guidebooks. One is that some of the larger publishers (Fodors, Frommers, etc) of travel guides may publish abbreviated %26#39;specialty%26#39; versions---for dining, shopping, , etc. Always compare the main guide to the %26#39;specialty%26#39; guide. The same information may be contained within the main guide and you%26#39;ll wind up paying twice for the same information.

You should also check the published dates of guides (sometimes you have to check the publisher%26#39;s information page at the front of the book), to make sure that you%26#39;re purchasing the most recent up-date....but a year one way or the other probably won%26#39;t matter much...but if you%26#39;ve got a choice between the 2006 and the 2007 edition...go with the most recent.

But...if your bookstore has a SALE or %26#39;..remaindered..%26#39; section, check the shelves and bins here for slightly out-of-date, reduced price guides to use for additional %26#39;..filler..%26#39; information and detail.

|||

My favorite collection when visiting European cities is the Time Out guides. Very up-to-date in relation to accommodation, restaurant, cultural activities, night life: They also give extensive info about the sights and activities, including proposing self-guided walking tours through the touristic and not so touristic areas.

And no, I don%26#39;t work for them ;o)

|||

I tried to find the thread but someone posted the %26quot;Frommer Walking Tours%26quot; that is free on the internet.

Maybe they will come back and re-read and post the web site?

|||

%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;I tried to find the thread but someone posted the %26quot;Frommer Walking Tours%26quot; that is free on the internet.%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

FROMMER%26#39;S--

frommers.com/destinations/…0062010008.html

Others self-guided walking tours--

www.parisinconnu.com/promenades/index_us.htm

www.parisbalades.com/Autre/defaulte.htm

http://www.insecula.com/

http://troi.cc.rochester.edu/~tdip/S%26amp;IWalks.html

|||

Hi,

there will be a new guidebook from the %26quot;Hedonist%26quot; series of books for Paris out in December. Sounds, it is not for the budget-traveller ...

Petra

|||

I have the Paris Rough Guide but compared to the Lonely Planet and Eyewitness Guides I didn%26#39;t think it was very good - plus it is bulky. For city breaks I prefer the slim versions of the Eyewitness top ten guides or the Lonely Planet city guides.

|||

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.

To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Removed on: 3:22 am, August 27, 2009