Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guide to Paris (Eyewitness Travel Top 10) (Paperback)

~ Paul Hines (Editor), Anna Brooke (Contributor) "The world's largest museum unsurprisingly also contains one of the world's most important collections of art and antiquities..." (more)
Key Phrases: Eiffel Tower, Les Halles, Arc de Triomphe (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

With a new design and unbeatable price, DK raises the bar on travel guides with its new Top 10 Travel Guide series.

Whether on business or vacation, take the work out of planning any trip with DK's Top 10 Travel Guides. Building on the success of the Eyewitness Travel Guides, DK has created a new series that makes finding the best every destination has to offer even easier than before. Whether searching for the finest cuisine or cheapest places to eat, the most luxurious hotels or best deals on places to stay, the coolest family destination or hottest nightspot, the Top 10 format allows travelers to use the insights of experts to make the most of their vacation. Accompanied by a companion website, readers can share their experiences and vote for their own personal Top 10s.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: DK Travel; 1st edition (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789483505
• ISBN-13: 978-0789483508
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #597,632 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Portable, April 20, 2002

By	Stephen McHenry (Olney, MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Perfect for someone who would only be in Paris a day or three, this book specializes in giving you the highlights in a lightweight, compact book that is ideal to carry around with you when on the streets. The classic DK/Eyewitness travel guide for Paris covers so much material it is almost too heavy to carry around all day. I left the heavier guide in the hotel room, reading in the morning or evening about places we had been or were going, took this Top Ten guide out with us, along with the excellent Insight Fleximap, having put post-it-notes in the Top Ten guide if there was some additional data for the day (for example, the Top Ten guide mentions nothing about the Catacombs).
This is not the book to get in depth historical or architectural information, but handy for use in the street.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A big help during my stay in Paris, March 25, 2004

By	Erik Olson "Seeker Reviews" (Ridgefield, WA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I spent four great summer days in Paris last year, and this little book was indispensable. Going through it before I hit Paris got me in the traveling mood, and I used it constantly while I was there. If you only have room for a single Paris guidebook, this is the one.

The fold-out Metro map expedited my travels around the City of Lights (once I got the hang of how the trains ran). Each Top 10 section helped me prioritize my wanderings, locate various sites, and gave good concise historical background. For example, the Top 10 exhibits in the Louvre are pictured and described, which provided a necessary focus in such a huge, overwhelming museum. However, the guide's Louvre map was not quite up to speed, although I didn't consider that to be a big issue.

The compact format was easy to use, and the color pictures were a great visual aid. It also fit perfectly in my Eagle Creek shoulder bag or my pantleg cargo pocket, so it wasn't a burden. When I was getting ready to depart Paris for London at the Gard du Nord, I left the book on a table and watched from the upstairs to see who would take it. I hoped the guide would serve them as well as it did me.

Looking for other information on Paris or France to prep for your trip? I found Rick Steves' books and the "Let's Go" guides helpful as well, and "60 Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong" by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow is great for insight into France and the French. Happy travels!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun to read, but question the recommendations, February 10, 2004

By	Tyeve (Victoria, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews

Any "best of" list is bound to raise the hackles of fans and experts. The Doris Kindersley "Top 10" series books are no exception.

I love books about France, especially about Paris and Provence. I've visited the two areas frequently over the last few years, so I feel a bit qualified to comment on the "Top 10 Paris" and "Top 10 Provence". Of the two the former is the more useful book.

First the similarities: fun to read, nice price point, nice photos, fits well in the hand.

If you're an infrequent visitor to Paris, the Top 10 book is helpful. The city maps and metro map are handy and useful. (Although I strongly recommend you also get the Michelin Paris Plan #14.) It's useful in recommending museums, parks, arrondisement highlights, etc.

However, don't use this book for hotels or restaurants. Its weakness in hotels is excusable. How can one possibly pick Top 10 hotels in Paris, or in any part of Paris?

Its failing in picking Top 10 restaurants is less excusable, and the reason I dropped the book down from 4 stars to 3. I go to Paris to eat. I have some credibility in this area (eating, if not reviews restaurants) and I found their choices disturbing and puzzling. The Top 10 restaurant list would be laughable, were it not so sad and infuriating.

Even so, I`d recommend the book. It's fun, you'll find it helpful.

I don't recommend "Top 10 Provence". It seems to be a collection of clichés gathered from other guide books. I wonder if the authors have any real experience in Provence. Almost all of the recommendations are predictable - and boring. I found little that matched my experience in Provence (except for the inclusion of Vaison-la-Romaine).

The restaurant recommendations for every place I was familiar with were bad to horrible. The lists of places to visit were equally puzzling.

Promise me one thing: if you do buy this book, immediately go to the wine section, rip out the pages, and burn them without reading them.

I give this one star for photos and price point.