Rick Steves' France 2012

You can count on Rick Steves to tell you what you really need to know when traveling in France.

With this guide, you’ll explore sleepy villages, romantic hill towns, and cosmopolitan cities, including Paris, Avignon, and Nice. Climb the Eiffel Tower, wander world-renowned museums, and dine at sidewalk cafés. Then escape to the sunny countryside, where you can explore castles of all shapes and sizes or pedal your way from village to vineyard. With its Swiss-like Alps, Italian-style Riviera, and Germanic Alsace, France offers Europe’s greatest variety. A good vin rouge is never more than a stroll away.

Rick’s candid, humorous advice will guide you to good-value hotels and restaurants. He’ll help you plan where to go and what to see, depending on the length of your trip. You’ll get up-to-date recommendations about what is worth your time and money. More than just reviews and directions, a Rick Steves guidebook is a tour guide in your pocket.

 (6 customer reviews)

I have used Rick Steves' books in Italy and in France, and cannot recommend them highly enough. He breaks down what you should see based on the amount of time you have to spend, the best ways to avoid huge crowds, how to get things like museum passes and train tickets ahead of time to avoid long lines and higher fees, and provides his own do-it-yourself tours so that you don't have to pay through the nose for tour guides abroad.

The level of valuable information and detail found in this book about anywhere you would ever want to go in France (including an outstanding section on Paris, no need to buy the Paris book separately) is priceless and makes you a much more prepared traveler. The cost of the book is nothing compared to the money saved by the tricks of the trade he provides and the time saved waiting in lines.

If you're going to France, you NEED this book!

There are many many books out there for travel, but Steves is practical, clear, detailed and he gives all the smart info you need for your trip. We used this for our France trip and it was a valuable tool, not only for the suggestions and time savings, but all the discounts he told us about more than paid for the book.

Before I bought this book, I borrowed Frommer's & Fodor's books on France along with Rick Steves'from the library.I found the print in the other two books to be so small that they were difficult to read and much too wordy. Rick Steves' is well-laid out and it's easy to find the do-not-miss sights. Also, his maps are large and easy to follow. We've used Rick Steves' books for other Europen trips and always found them to be excellent.