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Discover France
Discover why the Eiffel Tower expands during Paris' high
season
Tour the wild beaches and gin-clear waters of Corsica's Bouches de
Bonifacio
Pick up a bottle of locally made cider along Normandy's Route de
Cidre
Get an Alpine adrenaline rush heli-skiing above Chamonix
In This Guide:
Seven authors, 195 days of research, 157 maps, 105 glasses of
wine
New color food chapter detailing regional specialties and
country-wide staples
Interviews with a perfumer in Grasse, a Michelin star-awarded
Lyonnais chef and a paraglider
Content updated daily - visit lonelyplanet.com for
up-to-the-minute reviews, updates and traveler insights
Lonely Planet France a trustworthy travel companion.Reviewed by Dainius Juras, 2009-11-03
An Air Canada stewardess recommended the "Lonely Planet France" guide to me. She mentioned that all her stewardess colleagues used the Lonely Planet guides. I found the guide very useful in securing good accommodations throughout my travels. I walked down the west cost of France from Bayonne to Hendaye through to the Pyrenees, Collioure, Nice, Riviera, San Tropez, Lavondou, Toulouse, Avignon, Paris. The guide was terrific. Since then I have used their Austria and California guides and can highly recommend them. When I research my trip I always refer to the Lonely Planet.
Handy travel guide to FranceReviewed by Steven A. Peterson, 2009-10-04
This travel volume, by the folks at Lonely Planet, is well done! It
begins with the authors listing their favorite places, with nice
color photos to illustrate--from # 1, Avenue Champs-Elysees to # 16
Annecy. The book begins with an exhortation to prepare for a trip
to France well in advance: "Some parts of France are
tried-and-true, bona fide 'dream destinations' and as such require
planning weeks, if not months, in advance in order to snag the best
room in the house. . . " (page 18).
Introductory materials include a series of travel itineraries, such
as Paris to Provence. There follows a brief but useful history of
France--from prehistory to the present. Then, of course, a brief
treatise on French culture with nice boxed features (e.g., dos
& don'ts) and mention of such issues as sports, religion, the
arts, and architecture, among other subjects. After that, a section
on France's obsession with food, with some nice slick color photos.
Nice coverage of both food and drink.
The heart of the book, though, is its discussion of France,
district by district. Here, we get a brief introduction to
attractions in communities, where to eat, where to stay, sites to
see, and so on. Sometimes, I think, the coverage is a bit thin, but
the book is already over 1000 pages long, so more coverage might
make this simply too much of a good thing!
Paris, of course, needs to be mentioned. There are maps of the
major regions of Paris. The section on sights to see begins with
the Louvre (what a museum!), Jardin des Tuileries, Palais Royal,
Centre Pompidou, Place des Vosges, Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle
(the latter a small gem), the Sorbonne, the Eiffel Tower, Bois de
Boulognes, and so on. No great detail on any of these, but enough
to get a flavor of the various attractions, so that one might
wisely choose which would be priorities for visiting. There are
sections on recommended places to stay and to eat. Too, there are
sections on entertainment and the arts.
In the hinterlands? One example: Beaune. Once, I flew into Paris
and was then driven to Lake Geneva, going through the Jura
Mountains--and then returned on a parallel route. My driver stopped
at a wonderful restaurant in Beaune. One of the most delicious
meals that I have ever eaten! Beaune was charming. The description
here helps revive those pleasant memories. The writeup notes that
wine tasting is a favorite activity, and describes the bounty
available at Beaune.
And on it goes. . . .
Anyhow, a useful companion were one to contemplate a trip to
France.
Great book, great priceReviewed by Debra Hinthorne, 2009-08-24
This book arrived in approx. 1 week and was in excellent condition as promised. I will order my next book purchases from this site!
Great for planning...but...Reviewed by Susan Reilly, 2009-08-12
I found this book invaluable when it came to planning my trip to
France. It helped me to decide where to go in the country and had
good recommendations for hotels in smaller cities. Best of all, it
pointed me in the direction of the smaller cities' tourism offices
(which are VERY helpful!) for setting up tours of vineyards and
chateaux.
It didn't, however, give the best information on transportation. I
had a very difficult time finding the most basic information on
transportation (TGV routes and schedules). And it was pretty much
useless once I actually got to France. In Tours, only 1 of the
recommended restaurants was still open (and it was only published a
year before I went). Also, I found the maps to be very small and
somewhat misleading. It also omitted many attractions. However,
considering this is a book that covers ALL of France, this is not
surprising.
I recommend that you buy this book to plan from home...then go
straight to the tourism offices in the cities you visit for better
maps! Don't go out of your way to find restaurants that might not
exist anymore.
Go to FranceReviewed by Acurrell, 2009-04-18
Lonely Planet prints the best travel books, mainly because of their attention to the nitty gritty.
