DK Paris: Must-See Sights. Culture & History. Detailed Maps & Tours. Covers Champs-Élysées, Le Marais, Montmartre, & more

by DK Eyewitness Travel

Your essential Paris travel guide

Cute café terraces, world-class art, walking along the Seine – Paris makes for an unforgettable trip. If you want to see the very best of Paris (plus a few surprises), DK’s Paris travel guide is the one for you.

Every page is designed to inspire you and make planning easy, with travel ideas, easy-to-follow itineraries and detailed area-by-area chapters so you can experience Paris your way, whatever you’re into. Inside this updated Paris guide book, you’ll

- our expert picks of Paris’s must-see sights and top experiences
- photography and illustrations that put you inside the city’s hot spots
- clear, dependable maps and easy-to-follow walking tours
- inspiring itineraries to match your time, interests, and pace
- cultural insights that bring Paris’s history and traditions to life
- tips on the best places to eat, drink, shop, and stay
- detailed area-by-area chapters, covering all parts of Paris
- practical advice: get ready, get around, and stay safe

Want the best of Paris in your pocket? Try Top 10 Paris.

Genres: Travel

328 pages, Paperback

Expected publication October 27, 2026

Reviews

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Mine is a 2003 Finnish version, but that's not available here so I chose this one.)

Ah, Paris. I have been there 4 times, and spent one schoolyear near it, going to the city on weekends. Of course, since my version is older, some information has changes (phone numbers, prices, what restaurants exist, and sometimes certain renovations are done or going in places where it's not mentioned). Notre Dame is no longer as dark as it was when I visited it (and I preferred it to be less light that it is now, but that's just me). Still, I like these guides because even when they are dated, there are still buildings to see in detail, and perhaps they could be used in writing stories about a certain time?

So what's in Paris? Churches, museums, shops, and parks. :)

The style of the book is structures follows the same route as in the other DK books. Introduction with some history, best sights, yearly events, weather. Then things arraged by city (or country, elsewhere) area, with some walk routs. Basic needs information and advice follow, ending with maps, some vocabularly, perhaps underground/rail map. Some sights are shows in deeper detail, and there's some groupings by type and contact informations.
There is much information, so these guides are a slower read. But it was interesting to read about places I didn't know about, or not enough about, and some I'd like to visit if there's next time.

There is also some views on places outside the main city area, including the Paris Disneyland, Versailles, and the Pere Lachaise cemetery. Five longer walking routes are included here, which are around 3 km long and take about 1½ hours to complete, of course depending on how fast you want to do it.

Some places I wrote down as having visited or feel curious about: Notre Dame church and its small park, musée Carnavalet, Les Halles, Centre Pompidou, La Samaritaine, Louvre, Palais Royal's stirpy pillars, Musée d'Orsay, Pantheon, the Middle Ages museum, rue Mouffetard, Luxembourg gardens, catacombs in Montparnasse, Eiffelt tower, Arc of Triumph and Champs Elysee, Sacre Coeur church...

Reading this book made me feel inspired and nostalgic. I'm glad I visited so much, yet also feel like I've done enough even if some things were such that I'd like to see them. Reading travel guides is a long read, a bit stubborn kind of a reading to do, but I enjoy it, even when the book gets dated.

[Corinne Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much good stuff in here. I LOVE how it is organized, the love the short walk suggestions, I love the color and little facts everywhere. It just gives you a ton of ideas but is super interesting at the same time. Maybe too big to take along but overall a total winner