Spiral Guide Paris (AA Spiral Guides) [Paperback]

Before you travel to Paris, make sure this "Spiral Guide" book is included in your luggage. It's undoubtedly the very best guide book for Paris that I've ever come across, and includes all the major sights including the Eiffel Tower, the Musee d'Orsay, Musee du Louvre, Sacre-Coeur and Notre-Dame, as well as many lesser known ones like the Musee Carnavalet, the Musee Marmottan Monet, Espace Dali and the beautiful Sainte-Chapelle church, and some more quirky ones such as the sewer museum and the catacombs.

The book starts off with a "magazine" explaining what the city's culture is like (e.g. the Parisian cafe culture) and some bits of history including the French Revolution (and the fact that Louis XVI ate 16 pork chops just before his execution). It then has a "Finding your Feet" section which explains how to get into Paris from the main airports, as well as explaining where the Eurostar arrival point is (Gare du Nord), and then shows you how to use the various methods of public transport in the city, such as the metro, buses and boats along the Seine, the main tourist ones being the Batobus and Vedettes du Pont Neuf. It also has some recommendations for hotels, cafes and restaurants, shopping and entertainment. Then it's onto the main sections.

AA have conveniently divided Paris up into five main sections: Eiffel Tower to St-Germain-des-Pres, the Latin Quarter and Islands, the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe, Le Marais and Bastille, and Montmartre. Each section has an "In a Day" itinerary which enables you to visit the main sights in one of the areas in a day, and those itineraries are excellent - very good if you're not sure where to begin your travels as the book says. We tried one of them on our last visit (Eiffel Tower to Saint-Germain in a Day), although as we ran out of time we missed several sights out. Each section also has main entries describing all the sights in great detail, telling you what you can see there and telling you the best time to visit key sights such as the Louvre and Eiffel Tower. Each colour-coded category has a "Don't Miss" section telling you what the area's best sights are, and an "At your Leisure" section after that showing you lesser-known hidden gems in the vicinity. Don't be deterred from sights if they're not in the main "Don't Miss" section, as many of these hidden gems are unmissable, such as the excellent Musee Rodin we visited on our last trip there. It even describes the history of many of the sights - how many people know that Eiffel's old iron lady, the beautiful symbol of Paris and France, was considered (by some) a hideous eyesore when it was first constructed? At the end of each section there is a list of restaurants, shopping centres and entertainment venues in the area, as well as some "further afield" sights, including La Defense with its Grande Arche, the Pere-Lachaise cemetery, and La Villette, with the Cite de la Musique and the Cite des Sciences, the largest science centre in Europe. NB The nearest metro station to the Cite de la Musique section is Porte de Pantin - not Porte de la Villette as the book says. The science centre's nearer to Porte de la Villette.

After the city sections there is a list of excursions to destinations around Paris, for when you want a break from city life. Featured here are Disneyland and Versailles, among other destinations which are better in my opinion - the excursion to idyllic Giverny to visit Claude Monet's beautiful house and garden is a must.

After this there is a list of walks and tours around the city, including the previously mentioned Batobus, and a walk around Montmartre. Last is a Practicalities section, with information on when to go, how to get there, post offices, telephones, clothing sizes and useful French phrases among other useful information. At the back of the book there is a street map of Paris (spread across several pages), an index and a Paris Metro map.

This book is a must for all people travelling to Paris, and it will honestly make your trip ten times better! If you're worried that this book will be just like others with pages crammed full of information displayed in tiny format packed tightly together on the pages and all manner of other bad bits chucked in all together, you'll be glad to know that this one is an oasis in a desert. And, as another reviewer said (on the 2000 edition of this book), the spiral-binding is EXCELLENT - easily turnable pages without them closing when you put the book down and no damaged spines. Buy it - you will not be disappointed. NB The AA Pocket Guide for Paris is also relatively good (it's made by the same company and available from Amazon for around £3), and while it's not as comprehensive it includes some sights not included in the Spiral Guide. I recommend that (if you're able to) you buy both and use them alongside each other as we did on our last visit. Also I have both this and the blue-cover 2000 version of the Paris spiral guide and this pink cover 2010 one is better as it's more updated than the first (it includes some things that have changed over the last few years).

AA Spiral Guide Paris is a world-beater.

Slightly bigger than some pocket guides but still handy enough for a coat pocket or small rucksack. Of course being bigger it contains much more useful information than smaller guide books. It provides a good overview & mapping of the key areas you are likely to visit as a tourist. If staying in Paris for more than a short time however you may want/need a better map, as those in this guide don't give full coverage of the whole city.

Paris a Wonderful City and if you only take one Guide Book this one is a must. In fact with this Guide YOU only need the ONE! If you follow this guide you'll easily find your way around Paris & the best 'must see' sites. While my Husband was attended meetings through the day, I had no problem as a woman in my 50's following this guide touring Paris alone. I have over several visits slowly worked my may through this Guide Book. The size of the book makes it easy to carry. The MAP section with road names became a very useful aid to navigation. The metro map was great after a long day walking/visiting Museums to find//get the nearest metro station to get back to ones Hotel. :) I have purchase a second Guide Book to give as a gift, so my friend & her husband can get the most out of their forthcoming vist to Paris.
Spiral Guide Paris (AA Spiral Guides)