Customer Reviews

Rick Steves' Paris 2010

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I've traveled to Europe several times over the past 8 years and purchased various guide books for the planning of each trip and as a guide during the trip. By far the best and most reliable is the Rick Steves series. Factual information. I like it because he has a back door philosphy. I feel like I'm getting the background information from someone that has lived there for years. I also love how I'm able to use it as a guide once I'm there too. He has walking tours of museums - of course I typically purchase the musuem audio tours but in the random time that I don't pay for it, it's nice to have one in the guidebook. I like knowing the hours and cost of sites. Also the restaurants and hotels he has reccommeded have always been better than expected. I will always use Rick Steves whenever traveling to Europe. I know that he updates these yearly! I just wish he made these books for other parts of the world!
- Love how everything is described in detail. Ina country where I don't speak the language, I expect to be prepared when I walk out of my hotel room and I was.

I have long used and appreciated the Rick Steves guidebooks, and thought having them on my Kindle would be an excellent way to save luggage weight and space on trips. However, on the Kindle the guides are disappointing. The neat walking tour maps that are so informative in print are so small they're unreadable on the Kindle; similarly, photo quality is very poor and there is no way to zoom these graphics. In addition, the guide text is organized so that what are "sidebar" articles in print require a link and a jump to another page on the Kindle and navigating these links on the Kindle is clunky and slow. I like my Kindle for novels but for guidebooks like the Rick Steves series, you are better off with the print edition.

Rick Steves is a real-live "regular" traveler, who understands that most of us don't stay at the Ritz Carlton, don't eat at 3-star Michelin restaurants, and that we crave authentic travel experiences. His guidebooks are updated every year, and they are meant to be used and tossed. Try tearing out the pages you need for a museum or site, instead of taking the entire book--it's liberating. You can also download free podcasts that will give you Paris tours! The advice is practical and affordable--with just one guidebook, you will have the best possible travel experience.

A previous reviewer only gave this book 3 stars, stating there was little information on the Carnavelet Museum and the Pantheon. I feel compelled to set the record straight. When we were in Paris in '07 we went to the Carnavelet and had the '07 edition. The detailed and informative descriptions of the various rooms in the Rick Steves book helped make our visit thoroughly enjoyable. Again, to set the record straight: I just recieved the '09 edition as we are hopefully going back in the fall--starting on page 286-300 is again his detailed section on this museum. If you are interested in history, I highly recommend visiting this free museum, and be sure and take the Steves guide with you. On pages 57-59 Steves writes of the Pantheon and certainly discusses who is buried there.

Steves is at his best in his detailed, informative, helpful, and interesting museum tours. In this book that includes the Louvre, Orsay, Orangerie, Carnavlet, Marmottan, Picasso, Pompidou, and others. Trust me, don't go to any of these museum without this book! He is also the best for all the practical information you need to know, as well as discussing interesting walks and neighborhoods. While I recommend a second guide book as well (Frommer or Fodor's), I would not even consider going to Paris without the Steves book. Apparently now you can go to ITunes and download Steves museum tours onto your Ipod!!!!!
Tip: If you visit the Carnavlet, go in the morning, and then walk to the nearby Place des Voges for lunch, and then visit the Victor Hugo museum which is right there in the square.

I received my guide today and the printing error has been corrected. Although my trip to Paris isn't for a couple of months, Rick Steve's guides are always top notch and have served me well in the past. The purpose of this review is to let buyers know that the errors noted by previous reviewers have been corrected.

My wife and I recently ordered several books in anticipation of a trip to Paris. This book was really outstanding. There were a few exhibits that were closed, but the directions were excellent and saved us a lot of time on an 8 day visit.

We ate lunch at the Jules Vern Restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. I checked my American Express bill and discovered that 270 Euros for lunch turned out to be $385. Ice tea was 10 Euros a glass. The wine was 22 Euros a glass. The fixed price meal was 85 Euros each. I have never spent that much for lunch before and doubt I will ever do it again. The views were wonderful, but the meal was not that great.

We were planning to have dinner at the Guy Savoy Restaurant at 18 rue Troyon; however discovered that the dinner started at $275 Euros each for a dinner in which the main course was stuffed breast of pigeon. We were told that the pigeons are not from downtown Paris, but are country pigeons so they taste better than pigeons that spend their lives choking of gas fumes. In the end we chose not to eat there as we felt the meal would run between $900 and $1,000 after wine.

There were some great restaurants that are not mentioned in Rick's book. A real standout is Le Petite Acacia, 58 Rue de Acacias in District 17. Their pepper steak is wonderful. We stayed near the Arc de Triomphe at a brand new Renaissance by Marriott on Avenue de Wagram that opened last month. Sophie at the front desk, Xavier the Concierge and the entire staff made our stay wonderful. To get around you must use the subway system. It is a very inexpensive way to travel. Our trip to the Chateau de Versailles was accomplished using the subway and RER train. Total cost from the Metro station near the Arc de Triomphe to the train station at Versailles was only 5.30 Euros each way per person. Plan on spending a day there and purchase a Museum Pass as recommended by Rick. We visited on Saturday and had to spend 8 Euros to visit the gardens because there is an additional charge for weekends when they turn on the fountains and that is not covered in the Museum Pass.

I could not believe it, but three of the scams mentioned by Rick were tried on us. An elderly woman tried the "I found a ring" scam and I just told her how lucky for her and continued. This occurred near the Ritz Hotel where Princess Diana ate her last meal before the accident. We had several people attempt to tie wrist bands on us, but told them we were not interested. Finally, we had a woman try the "Do you know English" scam as her friends were attempting to move in like vultures around us. I wore one of the neck wallets for my passport, credit cards and Euros. It worked great and I observed a number of other people using them.

One thing I would like to add is that we downloaded Rick's audio tours onto a couple of IPods and the tours were really good.

We went to the Louis Vuitton store, where we purchased three handbags for my wife and two of our daughters. The cost was a little less than in the United States, but there was no sales tax and we are receiving a refund of 12% of the 19% VAT so the effective savings is around 23% off the price I would have paid in California and you know the handbags are the real deal.

Most of the people I visited with at the airport paid $600 or less for round trip tickets from the US to Paris so this is a very good time to travel.

I would have to say that this book was the best purchase I made in anticipation of our visit to Paris.

Be sure to check pages 91-100 in this newly published edition of Rick Steve's Paris Guidebook 2010. These pages are from the London book and the Louvre tour information has been omitted. Be sure you get a correctly published version of this book before you take off to Paris!

We love Rick Steves on PBS.

He's done it again with this guidebook. We have been to Paris 7 times and even then found something new and intersting. We love his restaurant reviews! Can't wait to try some on our next trip this year. He has wonderful walking tours and detailed tours of all the major sights. But he also gets you off the touristy path to see the real Paris.
Nicely drawn little maps.
We are planning to go to Rheims--a day trip outside of Paris. Rick has everyhting you need to do this without having to go on an expensive group tour.
This is defintely a book to take with you on your next trip to Paris--whether it is your first time or eighth!

Just received my Paris book today (Sept 24, 2009) and pages 90 - 138 are from the London book. Amazon is sending me a replacement, we'll see if they get it right.

Update 9/28/09 - Amazon shipped replacement book - still had the wrong pages. I would not order this book from Amazon until they clear out the warehouse. Amazon=Fail.

I compared several travel guides for Paris and found this one the weakest for my purposes. Rick Steves lays out a comprehensive and detailed plan for touring Paris, but woe if you want to see other sites or stay in an area not to his liking. The only hotel recommendations he gives are for the 2-3 areas he recommends, and the same with restaurants. He outlines specific itineraries even within museums and attractions but barely glosses over others. The book is extremely opinionated, so if you're looking for someone to hold your hand through Paris this is your man. I, personally, just wanted information to plan my own adventure. The maps are quite weak and lack any sort of depth or coverage -- again, if you aren't in the areas he recommends eating at the places he recommends staying in the places he recommends this book is largely worthless.