Paris (Eyewitness Travel Guides) [Turtleback]

Alan Tillier (Author), Paul Hines (Editor), Anna Brooke (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE | Publication Date: January 31, 2003

Eyewitness Travel Guides are the original illustrated travel guidebooks-and they're still the best. Since 1993, the Eyewitness brand has established itself as one of the industry leaders, with sales of more than 6.5 million copies in the U.S. alone. Featuring more than 70 worldwide destinations, new titles are being added to the best-selling Eyewitness Travel Guides series each year. In 2003, to mark the 10th anniversary of the publication of Eyewitness Travel Guides, DK is re-launching the entire series, fully updated, and with a brand-new look.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A pleasurable read with ravishing photography plus maps and plans of supreme quality.' The Observer' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Turtleback: 432 pages
• Publisher: DK Travel; Revised edition (January 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789493896
• ISBN-13: 978-0789493897
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

130 of 131 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An almost perfect travel book, June 20, 2003

By 

Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Paris (Eyewitness Travel Guides) (Turtleback)

There are two kinds of travel books: those you use to help you plan a trip and those you want to have in your pocket when you make it. This exceptional book falls into the latter. Although it features some information on hotels and travel, these aspects of a prospective trip to Paris will be handled much more thoroughly by other volumes. Where this book excels is in its comprehensive coverage of things that any traveler will want to know, primarily the question: Where am I, and what do I want to see while in this section of Paris? Some travel books contain more information, but many of these fail to filter that which is likely to be of interest and that which is not. What is amazing about this one is the usability and pertinacity of the information presented.

The book begins with a brief history of Paris, and then provides an overview of the city as a whole. Much of the remainder of the volume consists of introductions to specific areas of Paris, letting any traveler know what the immediate highlights in any area are. The presentation of the information is as attractive as one can imagine, with beautiful graphics, beautiful photographs, and marvelous summations of the various highpoints in the city. The book ends with a useful index and a collection of high quality maps. Best of all, the book is amazingly compact and durable given the sheer mass of information it packages. Unlike its competitors, it will never be an encumbrance because of its size.

I have not looked at any of the other DK Eyewitness Travel Guides, but this one is so gorgeous that it is definitely the series that I would look at first in any trip that I was contemplating making. It is such a marvelous book that one could consult it with profit merely as a way of getting to know a city, even if one is not planning to travel there.

60 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just got back from Paris, This book is all you need, March 28, 2003

By 

C. Mar (Leesburg, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Paris (Eyewitness Travel Guides) (Turtleback)

I just got back from Paris and can honestly say this is all you need. I kept this book in my pocket the whole time. It has great maps for getting around. The Metro map is quick and easy to use for getting around. The book breaks down Paris into areas and gives you pictures and descriptions of all the interesting sites to see in that area. Each description provides a metro stop and a location on one of the maps. The maps give you locations of all the metro stops. This was an invaluable tool for my group. We would go to an area and have full confidence wandering around knowing that DK would help us if we ran into a problem. I bought a bunch of books before my trip, but this is the only one you need!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Try the recommendations in the book, they are spot on, July 30, 2006

By 

Larry Ketchersid "author of Software by the K... (Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Paris (Eyewitness Travel Guides) (Paperback)

My wife and I now have over 15 Eyewitness Travel Guides...obviously we like them. There are several reasons, and the Paris guide points these out quite well:
- the restaurant recommendations are spot on, at least for our taste. I have been to Paris more than 20 times, 5 or so for pleasure, the rest of business. I stay in different areas. I always pick a restaurant close to my hotel from this guide, and it never fails to meet my expectations (which were well set from the book)
- the maps and summaries of the attractions help you make the most efficient usage of your time. True, when on business, I do take a couple of hours to tour, but I cannot linger at the Louvre as I do when I am there for vacation. These guides help me map out what I want to see, where it might be in the museum, and even suggest when to go
- I try to go see Jazz and Classical performances while in Paris. I would not have had a great Jazz evening at the Bilboquet if not for finding it in this guide.
- What can I say, I am a convicted map-a-holic (which really irritates my wife, until we turn the corner and there we are!). I don't carry extra maps, I just carry the guide book, and use it's street maps and Metro maps to get around.

The final piece I like on these books are their simplicity. I had the rare pleasure to take my mother to Paris. Mom is not one for maps, but I let her peruse the Eyewitness Book, and she found some things that she wanted to see and where she wanted to eat (she loves mussels, and found several recommended restaurants in the guide book) and found places she didn't want me to take her (the Catacombs, but my son and I took her anyway).

Though many people do not enjoy these guides because they have too many pictures, I find that the pictures help me navigate the city, the attractions and the restaurants. Sometimes when in Paris I just wander and stop somewhere for a glass of wine...then I look in the guide to see where I've wandered to and if there is anything close, like a jazz club that I should go sample.