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France '99: The Complete Guide with Paris Walks, Great Chateux and the Best of Every Provinc e
The best guide to France, updated every year
All the great sights -- from Monet's gardens, Chartres, and Chenonceau to Burgundy' s vineyards and Arles's arènes
Enchanting walks through Paris, Strasbourg, Nancy, Toulouse, and Lyon's vieille ville -- all by neighborhood
Shopping -- from designer boutiques to open-air markets
Going opera houses and theaters, clubs and casinos
Where to stay and eat, no matter what your budget
Châteaux and mansion hotels, stylish finds, cozy auberges, and comfortable hôtels de charme
Culinary landmarks, bustling brasseries, fashionable bistros, wine bars, and outdoor cafés
Fresh, thorough, practical -- off and on the beaten path
Costs, hours, descriptions, and tips by the thousands
All reviews based on visits by savvy writer-residents
55 pages of maps, 52 vacation itineraries, and more
Smart travel tips
Fodor's Choice
What's Where
Pleasures & Pastimes
New & Noteworthy
Festivals
Background essays, further reading
Comprehensive index
All the great sights -- from Monet's gardens, Chartres, and Chenonceau to Burgundy' s vineyards and Arles's arènes
Enchanting walks through Paris, Strasbourg, Nancy, Toulouse, and Lyon's vieille ville -- all by neighborhood
Shopping -- from designer boutiques to open-air markets
Going opera houses and theaters, clubs and casinos
Where to stay and eat, no matter what your budget
Châteaux and mansion hotels, stylish finds, cozy auberges, and comfortable hôtels de charme
Culinary landmarks, bustling brasseries, fashionable bistros, wine bars, and outdoor cafés
Fresh, thorough, practical -- off and on the beaten path
Costs, hours, descriptions, and tips by the thousands
All reviews based on visits by savvy writer-residents
55 pages of maps, 52 vacation itineraries, and more
Smart travel tips
Fodor's Choice
What's Where
Pleasures & Pastimes
New & Noteworthy
Festivals
Background essays, further reading
Comprehensive index
627 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1982
About the author
Fodor's Travel Publications Inc.
1,837 books63 followersFodor's Travel Publications is a United States-based producer of English-language travel guides and online tourism information. It was founded by Hungarian Eugene Fodor in 1936.
Fodor’s was acquired by Random House in 1986 and sold to Internet Brands in 2016.
Fodor’s was acquired by Random House in 1986 and sold to Internet Brands in 2016.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 18, 2009
An excellent guide to France's restaurants, hotels and exhibits. I find these guides usually list more expensive hotels and restaurants but do have finds and special little nooks. You can really use the guides in museums to just see the most important exhibits.
February 24, 2011
Taking it with me to France this fall. Great resource.
February 18, 2014
A traveler's guide to France
Fodor's guides are a kind of standard for travelers, since it contains destination detail, with their own ratings of tourist's spots, motels & restaurants, shops, and other attractions. Although Michelin and AAA also have their own ratings for tourists spots, I like the Fodor's a little better since it has greater detail and nicer pictures.
The book is divided into 16 chapters, which includes the 15 regions of France with a separate section on Paris. Exploring Paris includes numerous places of attraction. These include the magnificent Grand Palais, the France's largest Cathedral Notre Dame, and the details of tour of Eiffel Tower. Page 98 gives the overall guide for French dining, and page 119 highlights the places to stay. A tour of Versailles (Page 175) is one of the most interesting experiences of visiting France.
Champagne region situated in the North Eastern part of the country is known for some of the best sparkling wines produced from Marne Valley between Epernay and Chateau-Thierry and the slopes of the Montagne de Reims. Champagne tasting tours are usually at various houses miles away from Vineyards and farms. Some of the tours include maze like cellars (caves), and your experience could range from hilarious to despairingly tedious. Experiencing the underground crayers is a must for all visitors to the Champagne country. There are also many hiking trails in the region. Burgundy, one of the regions in Eastern part of the country is also another great place to visit.
St-Tropez in the French Riviera is a great place to be if you have money to spend because the place is outrageously priced and it is hard to get to the beaches.
Fodor's guides are a kind of standard for travelers, since it contains destination detail, with their own ratings of tourist's spots, motels & restaurants, shops, and other attractions. Although Michelin and AAA also have their own ratings for tourists spots, I like the Fodor's a little better since it has greater detail and nicer pictures.
The book is divided into 16 chapters, which includes the 15 regions of France with a separate section on Paris. Exploring Paris includes numerous places of attraction. These include the magnificent Grand Palais, the France's largest Cathedral Notre Dame, and the details of tour of Eiffel Tower. Page 98 gives the overall guide for French dining, and page 119 highlights the places to stay. A tour of Versailles (Page 175) is one of the most interesting experiences of visiting France.
Champagne region situated in the North Eastern part of the country is known for some of the best sparkling wines produced from Marne Valley between Epernay and Chateau-Thierry and the slopes of the Montagne de Reims. Champagne tasting tours are usually at various houses miles away from Vineyards and farms. Some of the tours include maze like cellars (caves), and your experience could range from hilarious to despairingly tedious. Experiencing the underground crayers is a must for all visitors to the Champagne country. There are also many hiking trails in the region. Burgundy, one of the regions in Eastern part of the country is also another great place to visit.
St-Tropez in the French Riviera is a great place to be if you have money to spend because the place is outrageously priced and it is hard to get to the beaches.
June 24, 2014
The review is of the physical edition. Travel information is evolving at light speed, and, but Fodor's makes a real effort to keep up,with both the books and their website. The books are updated regularly using comments from real travelers, not paid reviewers, which is a real plus. I made a long trip to France in 2013, used this book for general planning, background information, and to a lesser extent to find hotels. It does a very good job at what it does. I am planning another trip and am following the same procedure.
Once the plans and itinerary are nailed down, Fodor's has done its job. I did not take it with me: The cultural, historical, and architectural highlights were too slim to meet my needs,. I put the works into an app. In fairness, I have covered this territory previously. Once my daily itinerary and plans were complete, I carried Michelin Green Guides, which cover those items in exhausting detail, but some of which haven't been updated, or even the typos corrected, in years.
Travel publishers must really scramble in an effort to keep up, to keep current, and keep selling. Converting a physical book to vapor may not do the trick. They also have to compete the apps, many of them free, and the number of which for French museums is literally exploding.
Many travel books available online are of doubtful quality, They also are not inexpensive. So, I'll begin with the physical books and then see what, if any, I actually need to download.
I have always thought of the Michelin Green Guides as the ultimate, and have used them since the 1970s. My complaint today is exactly the sand as if was then: their site-seeing walks are difficult to follow, and they never correct errors. Especially spelling errors.
Once the plans and itinerary are nailed down, Fodor's has done its job. I did not take it with me: The cultural, historical, and architectural highlights were too slim to meet my needs,. I put the works into an app. In fairness, I have covered this territory previously. Once my daily itinerary and plans were complete, I carried Michelin Green Guides, which cover those items in exhausting detail, but some of which haven't been updated, or even the typos corrected, in years.
Travel publishers must really scramble in an effort to keep up, to keep current, and keep selling. Converting a physical book to vapor may not do the trick. They also have to compete the apps, many of them free, and the number of which for French museums is literally exploding.
Many travel books available online are of doubtful quality, They also are not inexpensive. So, I'll begin with the physical books and then see what, if any, I actually need to download.
I have always thought of the Michelin Green Guides as the ultimate, and have used them since the 1970s. My complaint today is exactly the sand as if was then: their site-seeing walks are difficult to follow, and they never correct errors. Especially spelling errors.
June 7, 2013
This is a travel guide to France -- it probably doesn't need much more introduction than that. Having used it on our recent trip to France (April-May 2013), I learned the following about the book:
- The "Essentials" at the end of the book really are essential, so be sure to read those before you go!
- Whole regions of the country are missing, so make sure you have a good sense of your travel route/destination before you select this book.
- Many of the operating hours listed for specific sites were wrong... not just once or twice, but regularly.
- The entrance fees listed for certain sites were often incorrect (not a big deal, but it would be nice to know in advance to make sure you have enough Euros in your pocket).
- While the book offers a thorough history of some seemingly innocuous historical sites, it only glosses over some of the more significant (though this perspective may be subjective, based on one's preferred historical period).
- The map of Paris was indispensable, although poorly indexed (make sure you know the approximate location of the site you're looking for).
Other than that, the book was actually quite useful, and my husband and I gained a lot from reading through the descriptions of various tourist sites/attractions before arriving at each. This wasn't quite the book we were hoping for (I'm much more partial to the Rick Steves collection), but it got us through.
- The "Essentials" at the end of the book really are essential, so be sure to read those before you go!
- Whole regions of the country are missing, so make sure you have a good sense of your travel route/destination before you select this book.
- Many of the operating hours listed for specific sites were wrong... not just once or twice, but regularly.
- The entrance fees listed for certain sites were often incorrect (not a big deal, but it would be nice to know in advance to make sure you have enough Euros in your pocket).
- While the book offers a thorough history of some seemingly innocuous historical sites, it only glosses over some of the more significant (though this perspective may be subjective, based on one's preferred historical period).
- The map of Paris was indispensable, although poorly indexed (make sure you know the approximate location of the site you're looking for).
Other than that, the book was actually quite useful, and my husband and I gained a lot from reading through the descriptions of various tourist sites/attractions before arriving at each. This wasn't quite the book we were hoping for (I'm much more partial to the Rick Steves collection), but it got us through.
November 30, 2010
Another Fodor's travel book. And a good one! The focus here is France. The book is almost 900 pages long, so a detailed review would make little sense.
The book begins with background information. Then, region by region coverage, including places to eat, places to stay, attractions, the arts, nightlife, and so on. Regions covered include: Paris, Ile-de-France, the Loire Valley, Normandy, Brittany, Champagne Country, Alsace-Lorrane, Burgundy, Lyon and the Alps, Provence, and so on.
To illustrate. . . . Paris is covered nicely. A fine introduction to the charming Isle St-Louis, a genuine treasure. One learns of the Quartier Latin (on the left bank). Area by area, one gets a sense of Paris, from the old (Place des Vosges) to the new. Want to dine in a fancy restaurant? Learn which ones here. Same with hotels--from nice but not overly expensive to top of the line. All sorts of usweful guides (such as how to tip, how to use the metro, etc.).
Another good entry in the Fodor's Library.
The book begins with background information. Then, region by region coverage, including places to eat, places to stay, attractions, the arts, nightlife, and so on. Regions covered include: Paris, Ile-de-France, the Loire Valley, Normandy, Brittany, Champagne Country, Alsace-Lorrane, Burgundy, Lyon and the Alps, Provence, and so on.
To illustrate. . . . Paris is covered nicely. A fine introduction to the charming Isle St-Louis, a genuine treasure. One learns of the Quartier Latin (on the left bank). Area by area, one gets a sense of Paris, from the old (Place des Vosges) to the new. Want to dine in a fancy restaurant? Learn which ones here. Same with hotels--from nice but not overly expensive to top of the line. All sorts of usweful guides (such as how to tip, how to use the metro, etc.).
Another good entry in the Fodor's Library.
November 16, 2017
I got this guide specifically for information on the Champagne region of France. While they do give a good introduction to the region (unlike Frommer's, which pretends it doesn't exist), I was disappointed in the hotel suggestions and that they didn't include a map of the champagne routes. Not to mention including random gothic churches like Amiens that are NOWHERE NEAR CHAMPAGNE in this section makes no sense.
April 15, 2008
The day that someone creates a guidebook where the stuff that is needed to plan the trip PRIOR to leaving can be removed from the guidebook is the day someone will make a ton o' cash. We got this Fodor's guide as a gift, but I'm more of a Lonely Planet/Rick Steves type of gal. This had some useful info, but due to the size, it'll be left at home.
Want to Read
January 13, 2016Get inspired and plan your next trip with Fodor’s ebook travel guide to France.Intelligent Planning: Discover all of the essential, up-to-date travel insights you expect in a Fodor’s guide, including Fodor’s Choice dining and lodging, top experiences and attractions, and detailed planning advice...
January 27, 2009
One should always be prepared. I'm actually reading the 2009 version.
November 8, 2012
Great guide for the different regions on France. Familiar organization of places with things to-do, restaurants and hotels. A reference when visiting France.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews