France (Country Guide) (Paperback)

by Nicola Williams (Author)
Key Phrases: tourist office annexe, good wheelchair access, rents city bikes, Getting There, Notre Dame, Hôtel de Ville (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Nobody covers the world like Lonely Planet.' --New York Post, May 2004


Product Description
Gaze at the gargoyles and ponder Quasimodo's fate as you laze in the park behind Notre Dame p133. Fly off-piste down glaciers near Chamonix on the notorious Vallée Blanche descent p534. Get lost in secret passageways beneath Lyon and discover why silk weavers toiled to build them p506. Spit a mouthful of Burgundy without causing offence at Beaune's École des Vins de Bourgogne p467. Six authors, 23 combined years living in France, 196 days of in-country research, 184 maps. You asked for it, we researched it - more value accommodation in this edition. Belle Île Romance, Marseille short-break, Tour de France trail - take inspiration from our itineraries and explore France your own way.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1024 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 7th edition (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 174104233X
• ISBN-13: 978-1741042337
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #200,374 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 1 in The Lonely Planet France Series Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You're going to LOVE FRANCE! , September 25, 2004

By	Richard R. Carlton (Ada, MI United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lonely Planet France (Paperback)

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!

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.

Frommer's
These are time tested guides that pride themselves on being updated annually. Although I think the guides below provide information that is in more depth or more concise (depending on what the guide is known for), if your main concern is that the guide has very little old or outdated information, then this would be a good guide for you.

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

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!

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.

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.)

Rick Steves' books are not recommended. They may be an interesting read but their helpfulness is very poor. They don't do well on updates, transportation details, or anything but the first-time-tourist routine and even that is somewhat superficial on anything but the mega-major sites.

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Easily Beaten by the Opposition, March 4, 2001

By	Moshe Reuveni "gawad" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lonely Planet France (Lonely Planet France, 4th ed) (Paperback)

I like the Lonely Planet guides, and I owe much of the pleasures I've experienced while traveling to them. But this one is lacking.

OK, it is young in spirit, and it does read like a book about France (i.e. high on atmosphere). And unlike most of the other guides of this series, it does cater for those who are not on a shoestring, as well as its regular low budgeted audiences.

However, when it comes to descriptions, it is simply beaten by the opposition, mainly the Eyesight guides. When it comes to France, the Lonely Planet's cheap format of black & white paper, without too many pictures, maps and photos, cannot stand up and face more modern competition.

As France is expensive anyway, you're better of with one of the alternatives even if you are on a shoestring; use other resources, like the web, for the kind of help you usually rely on Lonely Planet to supply you.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Transportation Info , August 12, 2005

By	E. Hanneman "SonoranReader" (Sonoran Desert, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lonely Planet France (Paperback)

If you're traveling to different regions and cities within France via train, bus, or plane, I'd definitely recommend this book. It offers very useful getting-to and getting-away options. For instance, if you want to travel between Normandy and Etretat, it requires a rather complex series of transfers using buses and possibly some trains - there is no direct train route (as I assumed before reading up on it in this book). This book alerts you to issues and offers alternative solutions. (Benefit: avoid unexpected, time-consuming problems and enjoy your trip more).

Lonely Planet Guides are not pretty, but they are useful when traveling around a country. I usually leave them back in the hotel room for consultation as needed. I've also carried photo copies of portions of them when I've been certain that's all I'd need. I would not be as likely to carry one if I was sure I was only going to stay in one city. They make it easy to take a sidetrip on the spur of the moment --especially when you're on a budget and traveling sans computer and Internet connection. (They also list cybercafes.) And, finally, I've found a few intriguing tidbits and advice not offered elsewhere.

If only staying in Paris, and it's your first visit, I recommend also carrying the AAA Spiral Paris Guide and the National Geographic Paris DestinationMap as they are pocket-sized. If you have more to spend, I'd also research using other books ahead of time and make hotel reservations based on other books, e.g., Michelin Green Guides, Fodor's Guides, etc. If you're on a budget and back-packing, make reservations using this guide. (Important to make reservations in Paris.)