Customer Reviews

The Paris Mapguide

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Of the three map guides I have used to navigate Paris -- the other 2 being PARIS PRATIQUE PAR ARRONDISSEMENT and the little Blue Michelin map guide -- Middleditch's is by far the most beautiful. Metro stops, arrondissements, tourist sights are included; the maps are large and bright; the book is large, but not too large; and yet...

To me, the most important thing a map guide could do is get me from Point A to Point B without too much time-wasting confusion in between. Where all the map guides fail is by not including good bus maps. The Metro is great, but you see only the dark underside of Paris; whereas a trip along Bus #69 will take you from the Eiffel Tower past the Louvre and Hotel de Ville through the Marais and Menilmontant to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. A comparable trip along the same route underground would involve one more more of the dread "correspondances," which are underground commuter rat races up and down stairs, ramps, and escalators to distant transfer points.

This guide actually tries to suggest the different bus routes by including widely dispersed little red numbers which are impossible to follow closely. If you really have to use the bus, you'd have to print the "plans de quartier" and bus routes from the RATP's website .

We had a whole sheaf of these route and quartier maps with us, so we enjoyed Paris to the utmost, taking the Metro only on Sunday and evenings, when the bus service winds down.

One additional gripe: It would not have been terribly difficult to include taxi stations, as the Michelin maps do.

Despite my criticisms above, the mapguide is excellent, but not that much better than the other two I mentioned. And I realize it would be much more difficult to do justice to bus routes (as they are so changeable), but the opportunity is there to make it a great guide.

I work in Paris but do not speak French. For work, my company speaks English. I also like to bicycle or skate around the city, but have found myself lost on several occasions using other maps. My son brought The Paris Mapguide with him when he came to visit. His French teacher had told him about the book. Since I've begun using Middleditch's Mapguide, how to get around Paris on skates, on my bike, in my car or via the Metro/RER is no longer a mystery. During the past six months or so that I've been here, I've bought many maps and guides -- the Middleditch Mapguide is by far and away the best of the lot -- and also the least expensive!!! For anyone wanting to explore this city on their own, this book is indispensable.

Having used the "London Mapguide" this past winter, we knew that the "Paris Mapguide" was going to be useful, and we were absolutely right! The Mapguide shows virtually every nook and cranny of the city, and it's almost impossible to get lost with the Mapguide in hand! Its compact size is great and we often took the Mapguide without any other guidebooks. There's some good information in the front of the book, along with good public transporation maps, and all of Paris's monuments and museums are also shown. Indispensable! Every city ought to have a Mapguide. Currently, I think only three are covered - London, Paris and New York. Worth every penny (or centime) and more!

I am not an impulse shopper, but I bought this little book when I went to Amazon to buy Rick Steve's Paris guide (also great). It has an amazing amount of information in a small but easy to read format - and this means easy to read for eyes that are not so young anymore. It fits in a pocket and weighs almost nothing. It has a Metro map, of course, but also maps of the city in small sections as you would expect in a really good atlas. You can find Metro stops, bus routes and numbers, small streets, and sights in each area. Because it is so much smaller than a typical atlas, it is easy to take with you and use - on a crowded Metro train for example. Although free maps are easy to come by in Paris, this is worth every nickel. It even has great sightseeing information. A bargain at twice the price.

I've made >20 visits to France all together. Here are my reviews of the best guides....to meet you r exact needs.....I hope these are helpful and that you have a great visit! I always gauge the quality of my visit by how much I remember a year later......this review is designed to help you get the guide that will be sure YOU remember your trip many years into the future. Travel Safe and enjoy yourself to the max!

MapGuide
MapGuide is very easy to use and has the best location information for hotels, tourist attractions, museums, churches etc. that they manage to keep fairly up to date. It's great for teaching you how to use the Metro. The text sections are quick overviews, not reviews, but the strong suite here is brevity, not depth. I strongly recommend this for your first few times learning your way around the classic tourist sites and experiences. MapGuide is excellent as long as you are staying pretty much in the center of the city.

Time Out
The Time Out guides are very good. Easy reading, short reviews of restaurants, hotels, and other sites, with good public transport maps that go beyond the city centre. Many people who buy more than one guidebook end up liking this one best!

Let's Go
Let's Go is a great guide series that specializes in the niche interest details that turn a trip into a great and memorable experience. Started by and for college students, these guides are famous for the details provided by people who used the book the previous year. They continue to focus on providing a great experience inexpensively. If you want to know about the top restaurants, this is not for you (use Fodor's or Michelin). Let's Go does have a bewildering array of different guides though. Here's which is what:
Budget Guide is the main guide with incredibly detailed information and reviews on everything you can think of.
City Guide is just as intense but restricted to the single city.
PocketGuide is even smaller and features condensed information
MapGuide's are very good maps with public transportation and some other information (like museum hours, etc.)

Michelin
Famous for their quality reviews, the Red Michelin Guides are for hotels & Restaurants, the Green Michelin Guides are for main tourist destinations. However, the English language Green guide is the one most people use and it has now been supplemented with hotel and restaurant information. These are the serious review guides as the famous Michelin ratings are issued via these books.

Fodor's
Fodor's is the best selling guide among Americans. They have a bewildering array of different guides. Here's which is what:
The Gold Guide is the main book with good reviews of everything and lots of tours, walks, and just about everything else you could think of. It's not called the Gold guide for nothing though....it assumes you have money and are willing to spend it.
SeeIt! is a concise guide that extracts the most popular items from the Gold Guide
PocketGuide is designed for a quick first visit
UpCLOSE for independent travel that is cheap and well thought out
CityPack is a plastic pocket map with some guide information
Exploring is for cultural interests, lots of photos and designed to supplement the Gold guide

Blue Guides
Without doubt, the best of the walks guides.... the Blue Guide has been around since 1918 and has extremely well designed walks with lots of unique little side stops to hit on just about any interest you have. If you want to pick up the feel of the city, this is the best book to do that for you. This is one that you end up packing on your 10th trip, by which time it is well worn.

Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet has City and Out To Eat Guides. They are all about the experience so they focus on doing, being, getting there, and this means they have the best detailed information, including both inexpensive and really spectacular restaurants and hotels, out-of-the-way places, weird things to see and do, the list is endless.

We had all sorts of travel guides with maps in them, but the easiest, most convenient one to use is the Paris Mapguide. It's small enough and light enough to carry around. It's organized well enough to find streets easily. I think this is an essential map to have if you're going to be walking around Paris. It also has all of the major sites, museums, etc marked out on the map. I still think it's good to have a travel guide to explain all the sights and also a restaurant guide if you care about that stuff. But, for maps, this is #1. My only recommendation for the guide is the Metro (subway) map doesn't have the same colors as the metro maps in the subway. They should be color coordinated. Beyond that, it's a great guide.

I have used this book on several trips to Paris - fits in a purse, very detailed, easy to read. I have recommended it to fellow travelers - even those who thought they knew their way around have switched over to this "pamphlet" sized book of maps. Just bought the London version. Note: this is essentially a book of maps. There's a few pages regarding the "sights" but not much. But it sure will help you get to the sights! Couple this book with Access Paris and you're ready to go!

This book is fabulous. It is so easy to use and lightweight for travelling. No need to bring any other heavy guidebooks on your trip to Paris. I have had mine for a few years and have loaned it to friends and my sister. They all agreed that it was helpful. Simple to understand and read. Maps are precise and easy to follow. Even gives insight on good shopping areas, restaurants and museums. I highly recommend this guide.

We just returned from a week in Paris. We used this mapguide exclusively. It was great. The compact size was just right for days of walking and sightseeing. We conquered the Metro using the Metro guide and wouldn't consider going back to Paris without this book. We have recommended it to all our travelling friends. Thank you, Michael

I have used this book on several trips to Paris. It is small and lightweight, perfect for carrying around. Easy to use. A must have when traveling in Paris!