Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Paris Encounter (Lonely Planet Encounter Paris) (Best Of)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

...then this book is a must-buy. Much information is wrong and/or outdated. I'm convinced that the author(s) didn't actually spend any time visiting the places in this book; rather, they either copied verbatim every press release they got, or took payment for placement in this book.

When I travel, I want insider information, and accuracy. This book provides neither. Example: The once-famous Le Caveau jazz club (recommended as one of "the best," per this book) is an overpriced tourist trap, that claims to present jazz, but its music is anything but. Prepare to spend $20 euros on lousy beer and corked wine. Or, better yet, just avoid anything this book recommends. The "Amelie Cafe"? (les deux moulins) -- bad coffee, lousy service. skip it. Yes, I know Europe is different, but every other place we visited had better wine, coffee, etc.

Avoid lonely planet. And while you're at it, skip the "let's go" series, too. We did far better with Frommer's, and Access is always on the ball, but Access tends to recommend the higher-ticket items/places.

This book had a number of problems, including wrong address information for several sites, mislabeled maps, etc. The suggestions made were as per usual with LP guides, excellent, but when the map and direction goofs adding so much time in looking for things in the book or on the wrong streets, the advantages of having a pocket guideare quickly lost.

The content is the typical LP-fare, well enough if you don't have that much time in Paris. But the maps (which you need to make this book useful) are of a so lousy resolution that they get all fuzzy and illegible on an iPad. There is always a link to the google map, fine - but mobile internet abroad is horribly expensive and therefore not a legitimate alternative for a decent offline-map in the book itself. The navigation inside the book could be better as well, in an e-book it is plain annoying to have to follow two or three links for a detailed description, and the bookmarks can't be named but show only the first few lines on the bookmarked page (so if you have bookmarked it because of a recommendation further down the page you will not recognize your own bookmark). Therefore: hands off the e-book version!

I had to reference other books- Lonely Planet France had more to add- and funny how the two books have different opinions on some things (like which store has better chocolate?) And don't plan to use the map on this one- its miniscule. The only advantage is- its small and easy to lug around versus other travel books.

Just wanted to comment on the crappy the lonely planet tour guide for Paris. I found this particular edition exceedingly difficult to navigate and to contain several aweful suggestions, especially the restaurants. The guide doesn't flow well, and one quickly finds themselves turning pages endlessly trying to coordinate location with destination. I have always been a devout lonely planet traveler but now it looks like something has changed and overall it seems to me that the writers have not traveled to the places using their guides or at least considered following their guides, i.e. they have not thought about walking a mile in our shoes. I would suggest going it alone over going with Lonely planet. However, you judge, give it a try, see how crappy the Lonely Planet Paris guide really is, support what appears to be corporate greed and a lack of investing in fact finding when it comes to travel guides.

I love this book! I'm going to Paris for a couple of months this summer and I went to Barnes and Noble and sat down with a stack of about 10 different Paris city guides... and this one was the best. It's full of great color pictures and a ton of cool sights and restaurants and things I'd never heard of but can't wait to try. Buy this book if you need a Paris guide! I'm having a blast sitting and planning my trip :) and it comes with a pull out map!

Love the book. Has all the vital information in a small package complete with fold out maps, pictures and to-the-point, succinct descriptions. This book and series is perfect for a cursory overview of Paris.

Also, I love the cover image.....which was shot by yours truly. [...]

A friend and I visited Paris for the first time together and Lonely Planet made it so easy! The book is organized very well and most of our itinerary we took straight out of the book. It also has great maps that made it easy to navigate the city (with the heart of Paris being able to be discovered on foot). I also bought the Lonely Planet China and have so fat found it incredibly useful. LONELY PLANET ROCKS!

The Lonely Planet Encounter series of travel books is my favorite, and the Paris edition is no exception. It's THE book to have if you plan on being in Paris for a few days and need the best highlights of the City of Lights.

It's broken up into easy-to-understand sections, based on the most popular Paris neighborhoods. The easy-to-read maps are also wonderful, as they show the best in restaurants, museums, shops and more, and clearly ID Metro stops that make getting around Paris a breeze.

Finally, it's the perfect size--it easily fits into a cargo pocket or back pocket of a pair of jeans...no bulky book here.

I only wish Lonely Planet would publish more cities in this format, especially Rome. But if Paris is on your agenda, you must buy this book!