Rick Steves' Paris 2010

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...Read more

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.